I was looking for a source of this information and found it on their Facebook page (translated):
ARI Schedules - Notifications
Starting today, those interested with applications from the second and third quarter of 2020 will be notified so they can make their appointments.
The Foreign and Border Service (SEF) began on 15 December scheduling in chronological order to grant Residency Authorization for Investment Activity (ARI) and citizens whose application has been accepted until 15 first quarter of 2020-979 notifications.
The SEF is thus continuing in an ongoing effort to ensure that all people have equal, fair and transparent access to their services.
Any estimates on how many quarters of applicants will be processed each quarter (1 for 1 or 1.5 for 1?) - because third quarter of 2020 now means, third/fourth quarter of 2021 would be a year away at best if 1 for 1, longer if it is even slower, also because end of 2021, there was probably a surge of applicants too
Actually, we know this already. According to SEF they invited 979 people for the period including up to Q1 of 2020, so the backlog was 979. Itās not clear if this is applicants or family reunions. In any event, I pointed out above that in the entire year of 2019 (pre-covid) SEF processed only 1,245 applicants. It might be that is not anywhere near a cap because its very possible there were only 1,245 applicants and they processed them all. So the capacity may be somewhere near 3,000+ a year. Based on their recent press release, I think it is safe to assume their capacity is much higher than the 1245 they did in 2019.
Based on those numbers it seems too impressive they are already up to Q3 of 2020. But if you stop to think about it there should not have been much backlog from 2019 and Q1 of 2020 because SEF was still operating in full-force in processing applicants up through Q1 of 2020. I would not be at all surprised if it takes much longer to get through Q3 of 2020. And when they get to Q4 of 2021 that will take even longer then.
Also, according to an article in āThe Portugal Newsā, more than 1/2 of SEF ARI appointments were going to waste because they were booked by no-shows. There has been extensive speculation that unscrupulous large law firms (described as a āmafiaā) were booking nearly all appointments in bulk, then selling the slots on the black market to anyone willing to pay. Unused appointments were often dumped just minutes before midnight. The system doesnāt allow booking of same-day appointments; those appointments just go to waste.
The new invitation-based system is likely to make better use of available capacity.
I will assume 979 notification including family reunions, as the appointment slot is really meant for individual residence permit.
As far as I remember, SEF opened appointment slots at least in July 2020, April 2021, Sept 2021 and Nov 2021, before they changed course to chronical order in Dec 2021. Those openings may clear some thousands of backlog as well. Therefore, I tend to suggest that the backlog till Dec 2021 (based on pre-approval granted) may not be very huge, say some 5000 including reunions.
That makes it sound like a lawyer could book an appointment without specifying the applicant and/or they could change the applicant at any time. That would be stupid IMO. If they had simply required the applicant to be specified at the time of booking and couldnāt change the applicant after, very few appointments would go to waste.
They book it for one specific applicant but then they can drop it and immediately rebook it for someone else using two computers in a synchronized manner.
It is true that they advanced from 2020 Q1 to 2020 Q3 in a few days but keep in mind that what they did was only scheduling appointments. They have not processed the applications so this does not tell us how soon our biometrics will be collected. For example they may advance to 2021 Q2 over the next few weeks but they may call an applicant from that period and give them an appointment for say November 2022.
Still better than chasing last minute appointments thoughā¦
I actually kind of feel bad for SEF. They are in a perfect storm:
flood of Americans discovering Portugal and applying on D7
(relative) flood of Americans discovering GV (note latest article in TPN where majority of permits issued are now American!)
flood of Brits from Brexit debacle
presumably at least some additional flow of people from other countries as well
pandemic lockdown/closures
getting screamed at from every corner with tales of woe from the Brexit victims in the press, at very least, phones ringing off hook, you name it
poor management which leads to disheartening work environment
law firms creating more chaos through gaming the portal
No wonder theyāre clogged and choked and frustrated. Sure they could have done some things better but how well do you perform when youāre drowning and stressed and your organization is getting bashed in the press and your bosses want to completely restructure your organization to boot?
Oh sure I want my damn residence permit like all of us. Iām anxious and impatient, even though I am far more fortunate than so many of you who have (im)patiently waited from before I even applied. But this Christmas week, I am sparing the poor SEF agents a thought and a break and a well-wish and perhaps we all could.
SEF did not contact us even though we were in the first quarter of 2020 batch. Our lawyers have asked SEF for more details, but have not heard back from them yet. It seems weird that SEF moved to 2nd quarter of 2020 without bothering to cover all applicants from the 1st quarter (our approval was in March 2020).
Another day, another week, another month ā¦ approved but still waiting on my residency card. Could be better, could be worse. On the bright side, Portugal is a basket case with their omicron panic meltdown, so I might as well stay home and stare out the window for now.
Iām guessing itāll be about 9 years from start to citizenship for the unlucky folks who waited 18+ months for biometrics. I might pull it off in 8 years. I wonder how many years it takes to get a passport once you acquire citizenship.
Indeed, nice to have; it spares me from having to worry about the Schengen clock.
My initial goal for pursuing a GV was to visit several countries that donāt welcome my birth passport. Portugal has a great passport. I hope I live long enough to obtain one.
18 months later, Iām all in on Portugal, learning the language and buying a house, but Iād still like to travel outside of the western bubble. And my savings on reciprocal visa fees will make me smile, even if it doesnāt balance out the GV program fees.
My personal update. My wife and I were pre-approved in November 2020. My lawyers informed me that they have been able to get an appointment in mid February for me and my wife. Still not certain if I will be able to attend, as with the current climate due to Covid, Schengen visa appointments are very hard to come by, and in my home country, most EU countries arent entertaining C-visit appointments. My lawyers said they dont know what the consequences of missing this appointment would be. can anyone shed light on this ?
You can apply for an E6 or a business visa instead of a Schengen visa. I confirmed with my lawyers and they talked to the consulate. Schengen is not required. Your lawyers can send a ābusiness invitationā and you will need to show SEF appointment confirmation email and say you need to be there for āthe business of getting your residency biometricsā. Thatās what I am going to do too.
SEF processing numbers for 2021 updated yesterday. The article focuses on the ARI category for jobs creation: Vistos 'gold'. Em nove anos foram criados 241 empregos. 10,170 ARI total awarded: two in 2012, 494 in 2013, 1,526 in 2014, 766 in 2015, 1,414 in 2016, 1,351 in 2017, 1,409 in 2018, 1,245 in 2019 , 1,182 in 2020 and 781 in 2021. Plus total 17,014 residence permits for reuniting family members of which 1,073 were for 2021.
Please clarify that when you say Schengen visa is not required, you mean that a visa is required from the Portugal embassy for business / E6 or are you saying that a visa is not required at all.
