I talked to a couple-three who said ātime and expensesā to go to whichever SEF office outside Lisbon, you figure out which one you can get into when itās time.
We complete our biometric, and my lawyer said we were indeed pas the date of the FBI and Apostileā¦but that they FELT SEF was letting those expirations slide because of Corona Virus closures. If it turns out that someone stops the final approval because our Biometrics were outside the FBI clearance window, they told us we can just re-submit.
I was told to look for the cards in Mid Julyā¦ but again, that will depend on which region you are applying through. Lisbon is very backed up right now.
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@betsykehoe Thanks so much for coming back and reporting on your biometric interview. It is encouraging to read these reports of applicants finally being able to get this step done.
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Yes, this are very encouraging info. Thanks for sharing. Which city did you get it done?
These were not last minute cancellationsā¦ these were some of the first openings made available post Covid. I was told these meetings were completely shut down for the past 6 months.
Has anyone managed to get SEF biometric appointment off late? For months of July - November 2021? Will help if you can share which month is your biometric scheduled for, when did you get this appointment and when were you pre approved. Thank you
No. I was told that except for a few slots opened up last minute in September, there have been no appointments available for last 6 months.
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@Optimize My lawyer said that if SEF open up the appointment slots, they will be in November now after they confirmed that the article that @anon16151502 posted in another forum was correct and those October slots were all taken when the appointment slots were opened in May.
I taught myself to forget about this past few weeks and now am mentally thinking this wonāt happen til late 2022 (and thatās now a āgoodā case)ā¦
So which law firms work with the mafia, maybe we should switch LOL.
This is sad. But then new rules (at least EUR 500k investment in a fund and others) wonāt apply to pre-approved cases right? Biometric couldnāt be scheduled because the slots didnāt show up 
No, the rules apply with respect to when you apply not when you get approved or printed or anything else.
Finally have all paperwork done and filed. Finally. Took me long enough. Now waiting for fingerprints to re-process and for SEF to pre-approve; lawyer going to provide updated prints to SEF when they finally actually look at the application; not entirely sure what juggling act is going on there but presuming the lawyer knows what she is doing in this respect.
Planning to go in September anyway just to look around. Which reminds me I need to find somewhere to stayā¦
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Weāve submitted our applications and paid the fees late December 2020, still waiting for the biometric appointmentā¦ The property is in Lisbon, law firm is from Cascaisā¦ Poor experience.
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My application (based on investment in a fund) was submitted on May 11, 2021. My parentsā applications based on family reunification were submitted June 22, 2021. All three applications received approval on June 28, 2021. All in all fairly impressed with how quickly these were processed. Now we just have to wait for biometric appointments to open up, which sounds like it could be a long wait.
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I talked to one individual (UK resident) who got a biometric appt a couple of weeks ago, after having applied in March. Last minute appt, they went with the background check clearance but not apostilled , they need to provide it in 30 days
wow that is fast !
Yup. Thatās what our lawyers have told us that the only way to get an appointment now is to catch a last minute cancellation. They are usually 24-48 hours notice. So flying from the US is not feasible for us at the moment.
We are planning to travel to Portugal late Fall, bringing all necessary documents with us and trying to catch those last minute appointments. I would recommend anyone who plan to travel to Portugal before their appointments to bring your paperwork and try grabbing the last minute appointments!
Well sure itās feasible, if you donāt mind buying tickets last minute. Lately, last minute tickets donāt seem to be that bad. Itās not like there are a ton of business travelers. I can buy a ticket to fly to Lisbon tomorrow for the same price as for September.
It might not be a lot of fun, admittedlyā¦ but Iād do it. 
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Our fastest flight time is 13 hours. For us, itās definitely not feasible. Or we are just not wanting to risk it ā with loosing a day with the time difference and risking delays or flight cancellations on top of having to try to find a place for the COVID test, etc. Let say if our lawyer got an appointment for us on July 2nd, our only choice would be flying today afternoon and getting there on July 1 in the afternoon. 
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We havenāt even applied yet, but with a 21 hour flight time at best Iād be on the outside looking in at these cancellation opportunities.
I am not sure how regular the cancellations can be found. I did ask my lawyer if they could find me a cancellation if I am there in the next few weeks and she told me not to hold my breath and that cancellation appointments are not very common.
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