Sharing our timeline so far:
February 2021 - ARI applications submitted
May 2021 - Pre-approval received
March 2022 - Notified through attorney of SEF appointment slot in April 2022
April 2022 - SEF appointment
Looking forward to the GV approval in around 6 months from April
I took a screen shot of my electronic boarding pass and sent to my lawyer to keep on file
I was also pre-approved in May 2021 (May 31st) and am still awaiting biometric appointment
I thought pre-approvals were being scheduled for interviews chronologically. Did you get an update around why yours was being delayed?
Does anyone have any updates on the Portuguese government budget being approved (or not?) so that this process of assigning appointments chronologically can restart?
Please direct me to a site or newsfeed where I can keep checking for updates. I don’t use Facebook or speak Portuguese so a non-Facebook site + English language medium would be great.
Thanks
We applied on Oct 15, 2021 and got pre-approved on Feb 15, 2022 (4 months). By all accounts on this thread, SEF appointment is probably 1+ years away, and the issue of cards another 4-6 months after that. So we’re setting our expectations to get the card by the end of 2023.
How is that read in conjunction with the extension of expired residence card till end of March 2022?
I am about to being crazy by what is going on my GV case.
I pre-approved on Mar 12, 2020 (Yes! more than 2 years ago) and however I received an email from SEF on Dec 28, 2021 that the scheduling for me shall be made between 28-12-2021 and 02-01-2022 based on chronological order, still all schedules are closed.
Is Portugal really such a country that no one answers you or I am very much out of picture that I can not find what to do after more than 2 years of waiting.
Can anyone advise me or has a similar experience to share?
Shall we keep it as it is or it is better to quit?
Surprised to see this. Do you know who has access to your Portal all this time? If you didn’t, your lawyer should have grabbed an appointment sometime by 2021.
My lawyer has it and he even made an appointment in Jul 2020 which was canceled by SEF.
Rather than him, I checked it myself from time to time.
Reza,
Your email states that you received invitation to book appointment but you did not select an appointment? I think what you are saying is that when you tried to book, there were no appointments open? Maybe it was just bad luck or your lawyer did not know where to look to make appointment.
In your case, I suggest your lawyer just show up a SEF office and explain the situation and see if they will let you make appointment. Otherwise, you need to contact SEF regional office to fix the situation. if you are waiting this long (28 months already) then maybe you need to make a change. That is a very long time. Boa sorte.
Exactly the same case here. Got pre-approved in March 2020, and still waiting for scheduling. Our lawyers are constantly following up but they say SEF doesn’t pick phones and neither are they replying to their emails.
Regarding going to regional SEF office, the lawyers said SEF does not entertain such visits so it’s not possible at all. Can someone confirm if what they are saying is true? I cannot actually believe that its impossible to meet someone in SEF office directly in person.
Bom dia!
Has anyone managed to get an appointment with SEF? My wife’s título (GV) has expired since January and our lawyer has been trying to secure an appointment for my wife’s 3rd renewal without success. Any luck with other SEF locations apart from Lisbon?
Thanks 
Well it seems after the brief period when appointments were given out in chronological order, the system has stalled once again. I was able to do my scheduled appointment in March 2022, but due to some reasons my wife couldn’t travel and missed her appointment (which was scheduled alongside mine). I have been told that I shouldn’t expect another appointment for my wife any time soon.
It seems that renewal appointments are even more difficult to get than the first biometric appointment. I have been trying to get a renewal appointment since the start of 2021. GV expired in April 2021.
There is another thread on this forum that is about renewals. Nobody on there has managed to get an appointment. ARI Holders (Stage 5) - #44 by supermoira
It feels like ARI processes are on hold or something?
Andrew,
This is true.
I think geopolitical issues have taken priority and no new appointments are being opened at this time.
Wow, that’s a long time. Are you in Portugal? My wife and I plan on going to Portugal next month. We are aware of the extention granted until June 2022 and our lawyer says there should not be any problems entering Portugal but I am afraid the airline won’t let her board 
Thank you.
As you said, I received an invitation to book an appointment, but my lawyer said the schedule was not open in the SEF site and agenda was closed.
I really wanted to do something and even talked to another lawyer, but she confirms that it is not strange. Anyhow such a long time forced me to think is it the correct way that I am waiting for.
I asked my lawyer several times to go to SEF, but he always says it is not the way and there is no other way than waiting. He always mentions that he is looking for his money and other clients rather than me has similar situation.
Really do not know what to do.
Hi Reza,
I guess you missed the booking when notified in Dec 2021. According to my lawyer, the last batch of notification was around 12 Jan 2022. No more notification since then.
While waiting for next batch of notification (not likely to happen in Q2 22), you should insist your lawyer to visit SEF office to explain the situation. I do know from my personal experience: the lawyer visited SEF office without appointment. Of course, there is no guarantee that the issue can be solved with such visit.
Hello Roger and Thank you.
Is there any way to find out if the booking was missed?
That time I was not checking myself. I was asking my lawyer and he continuously replied that the agenda is still remains closed. How can I verify that?