I am not sure whether you can check if it was missed. The fact is your lawyer did not book appointment when notified and slots were fully taken subsequently. My lawyer confirmed that no new notification after Jan/agenda remains closed.
From all Iāve read here over the months, itās clear that some lawyers are ā¦ more aggressiveā¦ than others. That sucks but that seems how the world works generally. Iām sure itās possible to visit if you are aggressive enough. And have the right rolodex entries. I imagine even then though itās going to be hit and miss.
At this point, SEF is in such chaos - the re-organization, covid backlog, the surge in US applicants both GV and D7, now ukraine - that you really do wonder whether pursuing GV makes sense for anyone new to the process. Honestly @tkrunning I might consider modifying your content to put up big cautionary flags - I realize telling people things they donāt want to hear is unpopular and bad for business perhaps but ā¦
I very stupidly didnāt keep my wifeās paperwork up to date so I had to cough up new apostilles in Feb when hers processed. Iāve heard nothing since, and Iāve more or less resigned myself to the idea that she wonāt be getting her card any time soon. But who knew itād matter?
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Iāve waited a year and a half with no end in sight. Its possible I might be looking at more than 2 years before I get my card. I have never been worried about the time to process in and of itself. Whether its 1 year or 3 years, I suppose it doesnāt matter that much. But what does matter is the external variables. Will your children age out of the process? Will your GV fund investment end, leaving you with no way to fulfill your GV requirements. Portugal hasnāt considered any of this, or maybe they have. So, my gripe isnāt the time itself but other factors. And you are correct. When I was researching this, my lawyer advertised 9 months to get the card. Last week I saw a sales presentation from a large GV company, and they were advertising 6-9 months all in. That is the big issue here, so you may be right that reputable websites should be telling people the truth and warning them about people who are not.
Itās honestly a little surprising to me that there hasnāt been consideration of temporarily authorizing biometrics at Portuguese embassies around the world. Ukrainian refugees obviously need to be processed urgently in Portugal and have no other options, so clearly that should be the top priority for SEF. They could go back to the process take place fully in Portugal whenever SEF receives clarity on their role and schedule but in the meantime I find it strange that such a possibility hasnāt even been discussed.
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Completely agree with you Jack. Why canāt Portugal embassies do this processing in the consulates? This offloading will help SEF navigate through the backlog.
My UK residency biometrics were done in the UK embassy in my country, and it took the UK gov barely 32 days to give me my first residency card. And here, we are waiting since 2020.
Yes, initially I had no intention of living in Portugal. But after 3 years I decided to move here. Luckily my card was still valid when we moved, so I am not sure how the airlines will handle it.
My lawyer told me that if I was in my home country, I could ask the Portuguese consulate there for a letter which would be accepted by all the Schengen countries. Maybe try that?
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I think people should be warned, this is definitely not what I signed up for. I also read a disturbing article about how there are a number of GV applicants who are denied the passport even though they meet all the requirements. 
I think more media should write about what is really going on in this program, maybe it would bring some much needed attention to the program?
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See Portuguese Citizenship application after 5 years of Golden Visa - #115 by sm33 which is a more cautiously optimistic take (I agree with it, having read the whole chapter and verse of the updated regulations). The rules have actually got better and more objective. GV holders are presumed to have a connection to the community by default, unless actively proven otherwise by the public prosecutor upto one year after āregistration of nationalityā. TLDR, IANAL, but you ought to have little problem with the passport application, especially given you have actually been living there for years and if it comes to that, can substantiate connection to the community way better than 95% of the GV holder crowd.
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Hello All!
I just discovered this forum during waiting for scheduling a booking to do the 1st biometric appointment for 350K GV. I (together with my 3 family members) applied in Nov 2020 my lawyer advised me that the approval of my application was received in Feb 2021. However, since Feb 2021, my lawyer said there was no response from SEF and he could do nothing about it. No appointment has been scheduled so far.
Itās already over 14 months. Is it normal?
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WesL.
It seems there is a large backlog of biometrics appointments for all types of visas, GV, renewals of all work permits, Brazilians, and now Ukraine etc; caused by the COVID-19 pandemic by shutting down face-to face contact at SEF and online scheduling system. Your lawyer should have been able to schedule you an appointment manually as the portal opened several times in 2021. SEF has closed that too. Now appointments are by invitation only in chronological order. You/or your lawyer should be monitoring this invitation closely.
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Is there anyone who had their biometric appointment recently and received their card? I am wondering about the time gap between the appointment and the card issuance these days.
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WB- The data shared for timing between Biometrics and receipt of Card (responses in 2022) is at this thread: Awaiting Final Approval (Stage 4).
Thanks. I wasnāt aware of a separate forum for that topic. Much appreciated.
Youāre right. This is definitely affecting the image of Portugal and wonāt be attracting more investors in the future. SEF is one of the worst entities to deal with. Always on strike, rude employeesā¦
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Being rude is still tolerable, but being completely unresponsive, with no recourse for GV investors is not good. It portrays the country in a negative light.
I can only speak of my personal experience.
I had a biometric interview recently in Faro. The SEF agent was courteous and polite, and in fact, helpful. She proposed a quick solution to resolve an issue with documentation of my entry into Portugal for the biometric.
Our attorney has handled most communication with SEF, but my single interaction with them (so far) was fine.
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Iāve had 3 appointments so far. (I had to withdraw my first appointment from Lisbon and re-apply through Porto as by that time processing time in Lisbon was dreadfully long)
In all cases the SEF people were polite, after all it was my legal representative who talked to them on the spot and I was simply there to provide my biometrics. So in reality there was very limited interaction with me and the SEF lady / officer.
I believe the real issue is responsiveness at all fronts, whether this is about having a working hotline, or someone simply anwering incoming queries (be it through emails or phone calls) Yet keeping in people dark or not opening calendar for +2 years is not helping anyone - it is also creating unnnecessary backlog/workload for SEF.
In its latest statements, (e.g. the one about providing chronological appointments for first time applicants) SEF refers to fair treatment and process, I think responsiveness and sticking to program timelines is an important element of fair process.
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2 out of my 3 appointments, they were on strike. That explains everything.
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Btw, isnāt a new agency supposed to replace SEF in dealing with residence permits starting this year?
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This has been the story for some time and has been delayed many times. But I just saw this article saying it is now scheduled for May 12th - Iām cautious to get my hopes up but maybe this is why they have been postponing all the processing? Things could get better if this goes through, but because of the scale of the change it could also mean even more delaysā¦
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