Because there is currently no government in PT and no budget approved.
ETA is anywhere between March and June 2022.
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Hello,
I will. Please do the same.
BR
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Hi guys! My 2nd residency period of GV expired exactly today.
I am trying to reach my lawyers to know the status of extension for the last 2 years - but had no reply
Shall I change the law firm? Or is it common with all GV extensions?
And is it still possible to schedule myself through SEF portal if appointments get opened sometimes? I have a feeling my lawyers donāt try hard enough to get an appointment for me
You can read this thread where we have talked about the struggle to get an appointment for GV renewals:
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Has anyone who did your biometrics around Oct-Nov 2021 got your card yet?
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Has anyone else recently had their final approval and card issued by Porto SEF? How long did it take from your biometrics to receiving your card? My spouse has been waiting almost six months. Mine took far less time in Lisbon.
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I did my biometrics in Lisbon in August 2021, received final approval/paid fee in December, received my card c. 4 weeks later.
My spouseās biometrics were taken in September 2021 in Porto and still hasnāt been approved. Last we heard they told my lawyer it was all processed but āwaiting for the directorās final approvalā so presumably itās sitting on someoneās desk gathering dust.
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Any recent changes ? I got pre approved in Sept 21 and still no news on biometrics datesā¦ shall we hope to have something before summer ?
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I already mentioned above my estimation of the next phase of āactivityā by SEF - probably things will start moving again by July 2022.
I recommend regularly checking IAS news page as a pretty good source of updates:
And of course there is the SEF Facebook page to check for updates too:
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My spouse and I had our biometric appointment on 9 March 2022 in Faro. Our Lisbon lawyers had done a good job ensuring that our documents were correct, and the document review went smoothly. We were issued our one page āRecibo comprovativo de pedido de:
Arto 90/A - Atividade de investimento - Concessioā. Now we wait for final approval and card issuance.
One slight issue for others to note:
As the SEF agent was going through each page of our passports, she noted that there was no entry stamp into Portugal for the current trip. We had received our EU entry stamp in Frankfurt, and were on Schengen connecting flight from FRA-LIS - so no immigration at LIS. The SEF agent wanted a hard copy of our FRA-LIS boarding pass. We had electronic copies on our phones, but the hard copy BPās were back at our hotel. The solution was to go to a nearby magazine kiosk. At the kiosk, we emailed the BPās to the kiosk attendant, who in turn printed a hard copy of the BP (for a small fee).
So, for those travelling for their biometric appointments, be sure to bring your boarding passes if you donāt pass through immigration in Portugal.
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Thatās great news! Could you please tell me when you submitted your application, when did you get pre approval and when did you get the date for your biometrics? Iām just trying to see how long I can expect to wait. My lawyer submitted our application on the 30th of November 2021.
Thank you.
Here is our timeline so far:
December 2020 - ARI applications submitted
March 2021 - pre approval received
late December 2021 - notified through attorney of SEF appointment slot in March 2022
March 2022 - biometric appointment completed (Faro), documents accepted
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Congratulations after the long wait. And clever thinking to have it printed nearby, as you did!
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Thank you for your response.
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Wow, thatās a long time-line! Based on your experience, I wonāt receive an appointment until 2023! 
Congratulations on your success!
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We had a similar problem to yours: we entered through another Schengen country. The SEF agent did not observe this issue at the biometrics appointment but it was caught a few weeks later. SEF gave us a window (30 days?) to supply any missing paperwork. I sent a PDF of the documents to our attorney who printed them, and sent them to SEF. (He had also had us submit a complete copy of our passport which showed the entry stamp at the time of the appointment, but that was insufficient because of this entry through a third country.)
Moral of the story: save all the papers you have, such as original boarding passes.
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Many Schengen flights only issued electronic boarding passes. In what form would SEF accept?
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SEF in Coimbra where I had my biometrics accepted PDF copy of the itinerary. SEF in Porto never asked my husband for his proof of entering Schengen.
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Just an FYI - our lawyers today commented that SEF is additionally backlogged now due to the awful Ukrainian situation re refugee processing.
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This means No new opening for Fingerprints anyhow soon ?