Hi everyone, just curious if the recent round of appointments was āfree for allā or you had to specifically receive an email invite from SEF? I see some reports from folks pre-approved as recent as March 2022, but I still had no communication from SEF (pre-approved Jan 2022).
If you received the āemail inviteā - was it sent to you or to your lawyer (or both)?
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I think people have been invited to book appointments. I had a call with my lawyers regarding scheduling an appointment for my wife (who missed her appointment in March, and I had to do mine alone). I was told by my lawyers that they had taken up this issue with the SEF regarding clients who missed their scheduled appointment, however, the invitation to book appointments is only coming for persons who havent had an opportunity to schedule it before.
Thanks Andrew. Just checked my email spam folder but nothing from SEFā¦ and the portalās calendar empty of courseā¦ I guess my case has not yet come up in the SEFās queue, although it really is bizzarre how their āchronologicalā system works.
Congratulations to those who finally get to move forward with the long process! However I got preapproved in March 2021, but still havenāt got notice from SEF. Is there any case like me? Does anyone know the email address that I could contact SEF? Thank you
Not yet. Still waiting. Only people who never got an appointment slot are being invited now.
@Vidur Hi, do keep us posted on your visa application. Do you have to travel to Goa to apply? How will your son (minor I assume) be eligible for a business visa?
hi Anand ,
you need to get invitation letter from your lawyer to give biomatrices .On this you can get short stay visa . I did same in feb when i have to give my bio. My son is Minor to
BR
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I live in Goa. I have replied to your DM
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I received my approval in September 2021 and 4 days ago received an invitation from SEF for the biometrics appointment. Could anyone please shed some light on what this appointment looks like? Should I ask my laywer to be present with me for any reason?
As long as most of us have waited for these hard-to-get biometric appointments, the last thing Iād want is for something to go wrong at the appointment. I would definitely have your lawyer with you, particularly if you donāt speak Portuguese.
The SEF agent will go through all of your documents. Be sure your criminal background check (3 month validity) and marriage certificate (6 month validity) are current. You should be able to provide support for your entry into Portugal for the appointment (passport stamp or boarding pass).
After the document review, the SEF agent will take your photograph, fingerprints and signature. Thatās it.
Then, you wait for the āfinal approvalā, pay the fee and wait for issuance of the temporary residency card.
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There is no validity date on my marraige certificate ( I must say thankfully ) what do you mean by 6 month valid marraige certificate? Do I need a new one issued?
Yes, they need it issued afresh - itās like getting a certified copy from the marriage registrar. After that the expiry is calculated from the date it was issued.
Yes.
And it must be legalized (apostille) and translated into Portuguese. Same for the criminal background check.
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Does the marraige registry issue marraige certificate if you need one? Or is it issued as a duplicate? This just doesnt make sense
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Vikas, are you from India? This thread may be useful. There is a similar thread for US residents.
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It might make sense since you can divorce. So there must be a document that shows current status of your marriage
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Did you manage to find a way to efficiently get your NY marriage certificate issued, authorised and Apostilled? I have the same problem - weāre living the same nightmare! If you have someone who can go in locally, it is possible to get in-person appointments at the records room in Manhattan, despite the website pushing for mail-only applications. Good luck
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I agreeā¦ it is SO RIDICULOUS that they will not accept the marriage certificate with apostille that we already provided (now āexpiredā) because marriage certificate does not prove that we havenāt since gotten a divorce, so getting another one is rather meaningless. Indeed, it makes NO SENSE. I had to stand in line outdoors for hours in very hot weather last summer to get that damn apostille (in front of the NYS Dept of State because they would not let people inside). 
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I believe there is no way to get the actual marriage certificate in person. I just sent my $35 money order to get it by mail. I hope it will not take as long as it did last year. I am local, I suppose I could have walked over there to double check but the website seemed pretty clear that it was by mail only! As far as the next stepsā¦ getting the pink page stamped by the other city office was no problem last year, but the apostille required me to book a flight to Portugal, request an emergency appointment with the NYS Dept of State and then go stand outside in hot weather for hours even though they had given me an āappointmentā. I was not pleased to say the least. I hope the process will be better this year. I will update as these steps occur.
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You were right! Thank goodness! We were able to book appointments in Lisbon for Sep. 1 and Sep. 2. Apparently there needs to be 2 separate appointments. My husband is the main applicant.
So now our timeline looks like this:
July 26, 2021 - GV by RE fund (Rock Capital) investment funded
October 26, 2021 - pre-approval from SEF
September 1 & 2, 2022 - biometrics appointments
Glad things are finally moving again!
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