It can and has been done (1) by asking the lawyer to add email access for the main applicant while the application is being set up (see SEF ARI Portal - Did you register yourself or just let lawyer handle this?), OR (2) by the applicant setting up the application and adding the lawyersâ contacts (HOWTO: SEF Account setup to allow your lawyer AND you to access the account).
In both cases, everything is visible to the applicant and lawyer, and the applicant gets an email from SEF for appointments, payments etc.
But joint access can only be set up before the GV application is made. Not later.
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It seems logical that the process number for the GV would be retained until conclusion, and if there is a switch of lawyers, the new lawyers could gain access to the original application to facilitate continuity. If one has direct access, this is via a switch of lawyersâ details/contacts on the application. But if the applicant does not have direct access, it is not clear to me how a switch can or does occur except by persuading the âoldâ lawyers to make the change.
Hopefully, others who have renewed and/or switched lawyers will have practical experience to contribute.
@consultant2b I have emailed the question to them - will let you know their response as soon as I have it.
Thanks Elle, appreciate it.
@consultant2b The reply from our lawyer is as follows:
There isnât a particular SEF e-mail for lawyers.
They send client requests to gricrp.cc@sef.pt which is the general SEF email address. The email is listed here - Online Services
To request appointment changes of date & place, they âalsoâ send the e-mail to the relevant âRegional Directorate of SEFâ and to the âSEF Delegation in questionâ. In my case this is the SEF Delegation to which we are trying to get the appointment moved and itâs corresponding Regional Directorate.
They were however clear that itâs possible they get no response from SEF or that the response is negative. They nevertheless advised that we all attend the appointment of the main applicant, irrespective of the appointments of the other family members, and they will try to have us all attended to. They said this has worked before with other clients although they couldnât promise it would work this time. If it doesnât work we will simply have to attend the other appointments as well.
In theory this means last minute cancellations could arise.
Our case is slightly different from yours in that weâve all been pre-approved and given an appointment, just different appointments on different dates & locations. I donât know what the situation would be if some family members havenât yet been pre-approved.
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Well it seems as though SEF actually replied to an email today - my lawyer got a response from SEF saying our appointments are moved so we can now all be on the same day - 6 March in Portimao.
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I had my biometrics appointment at SEF Lisbon office today. It was fast, 20-25min including the wait. According to my lawyer, we should hear back in 6 to 9 months. 421 days and countingâŠ
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My residence expired in may 2021.
Unable to get an apointment for the usual reasons, but with a new law it always have been postponed until 31 december 2022. Now there is a new law saying that if the visa expired on 31.12 or until 15 days before(this clause is strange) it is valid until the end of year 2023. So my visa expired not 15 days ago but 1,5 years ago.
Also my lawyer did read the rule but it looks it does not apply to me or anyone else in the same situationâŠ
If they would say expired december 2022 or before, this would apply, but when they told us december 2022 and only 15 days that is strangeâŠand leaves us outside
Any comments?
Thank you
Yeah, I read it and it sounds funny, but I think thatâs because itâs a patch on top of the original covid-era legislation of 2020, so it should be read as âany permits which expired 15 days before the 2020 rule came into effectâ which was March 2020 or so. See the context in the original announcement
Article 16 of Decree-Law No. 10-A/2020 , of March 13, in its current wording, is replaced by the following wording:
âŠ
8 - Documents and visas relating to stay in national territory, whose validity expires from the date of entry into force of this decree-law or in the immediately preceding 15 days, are accepted, under the same terms, until December 31, 2023.
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SEF replied to an email? Wow, what a miraculous story /s
Congrats! Good luck with the biometrics!
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In short, I think your permit which expired a year and a half ago would be covered by this extension up to Dec 2023, and so would mine which expired half a year ago.
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So this is MY story and I would really like anyone else who had this experience to comment. I applied in LISBON November 2021 and got approved about 10 months later, and then like all of you waited and waited for an appointment. My lawyer found me one for Feb 2023 but i am in Melbourne on that date, so he changed it to 6 January 2023 in PORTIMAO (near Faro). I flew in yesterday and met him before the appointment today. He said we had all our doc. The lady went thru the docs⊠I had the social security stuff which others have struggled with⊠and then ⊠MY POLICE CLEARANCE IS OUT OF DATE. WTF? It was in date when I applied, but obviously itâs been over a year since then - and my lawyer said that in Lisbon and Porto (where he usually works) nobody asks for it again at the biometrics appointment (and I donât see anyone above mentioning this). But she was adamant - in Algarve they need a new one. This is an absolute nightmare for me. Itâs incredibly hard to get one from Hong Kong - takes 3 months minimum - (and costs a fortune) - and they gave me a letter saying they need it in 10 days. I am beyond furious. What kind of fâd up system is this? Anyway - anyone with any ideas I am open to them. How can they have different rules in different places for a National scheme? I totally donât understand. My lawyer said he will appeal but that I should try and get a new one anyway. My recommendation is AVOID ALGARVE. No wonder it was easier to get an appointment there if this is what they do. This whole scheme is a scam as far as I can see. They take half a million euros and then treat us like we are refugees. Absolutely $hitty.
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The lady in Portimao is a dragon. Most unhelpful. I recommend getting every document up to date before you go, regardless of whether it;s actually supposed to be needed!
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Are refugees supposed to be treated poorly? What the hell
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Really sorry to hear about your experience. And giving you only 10 days to supply the docs is really miserable. What happens to your application if you are only able to obtain these docs after 3 months?
However maybe your lawyer is the one at fault here if s/he is relying on -
[quote=âfairhsa, post:1269, topic:37666â]
⊠in Lisbon and Porto (where he usually works) nobody asks for it again at the biometrics appointment âŠ
My lawyer has been clear that the police certificates/criminal record are valid only for 3 months once issued so I have to supply newly issued ones at each stage - initial application, biometrics, etc. My upcoming appointment is in Portimao and the lawyer asked for ALL our documents to be re-issued and has specified the validity period for each one. It may be that there are some random SEF personnel who donât bother asking for this or that piece of paper - and everyone will probably have a different experience - but Iâd have thought itâs a risky strategy to not have everything in order.
They donât. I think your lawyer messed up on this.
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Thanks Elle. Since I live in Hong Kong I was entirely relying on my lawyer to tell me what we needed. He actually has 40 of these on the go at the moment apparently. He swears blind we didnât need this. I agree - I think he messed up. But now, I still need him to fix it. I donât really know what to do!
By the way - ALL my documents were old, but it was ONLY the police clearance they wanted re-issued. Just FYI. I donât know how easy they are to get in other places, but in HK itâs an absolute nightmare.
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A refreshed criminal record is an essential requirement at biometric appointment. I do not see how your lawyer can get away after SEF issued the missing document letter.
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Yes, I was also asked to provide the same for our appointment in Lisbon.
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My sympathies. I agree with others here - my lawyer has been very clear that everything needs to be up to date at each stage of the process; I think your lawyer dropped the ball. Others on this forum have been able to get extensions to the 10 day deadline via their lawyers, in at least one case longer than 20 business days (see user âflyfreelyâ), but perhaps longer if you can show that it takes 3 months to obtain the document.
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