Thanks to share your experience.
Want to check if anyone pre-approved in late Nov 21 still waiting for biometric invites?
Me here again! Pre-approved in Feb 2021. (26 months and counting). Never got invited to give the biometrics.
Actually, I have consulted another lawyer firm about my situation but the lawyer also could not offer any help. She only suspected that my existing lawyer might have received the invitation (yes, I do not have access to the SEF log in) but overlooked. But my existing lawyer denied it.
I havenāt seriously considered taking the case to lawsuit, as I am afraid that it would waste more money. I have given up any hope now. I assume that my case will stay in the Portuguese bureaucratic black hole forever and ever.
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No idea why youād give up, seems like you have a good shot at a lawsuit including damages
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People win cases:
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I wonder if any of those that know the law well could comment on if there is any possibility for some shared leverage on these kind of lawsuits. Similar to what was contemplated regarding fighting the recent law change.
Not a āclass actionā as clearly it is an individual case, but some way to benefit from the fact that itās a path others are treading, so reduce costs and effort. Iām imagining almost a ātemplateā case, where all participants share the same law firm to take it up (so time is saved getting them familiar), and the applicantās details can be essentially slotted in into the correct place, saving time and effort. The additional benefit I would hope is that after winning one case, the law might process subsequent ones more quickly based on it looking extremely similar to those previously processed. Something along those lines.
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Hi Nik,
One small group of us are working on a short but detailed list of the changes that need to be made to the proposed laws (Article 44 and Article 45) to enshrine our rights under the 23/2007 of 4 July Law - 11th version, 84/2007 of 5 November Regulatory Decree - 7th versions d SEF ARI Process Manual that is mandated by Article 65-J of the Regulatory Decree.
This will form the foundation of a lawsuit template that depending on your place in the ARI process could be a standard multiple choice type. We know a couple of lawyers who have expressed interest in taking cases. I think a person needs to file the Administrative Legal Complaint because it has to do with a law change in the location of their ARI investment first. Appeal to an interim court and if necessary appeal to the Constitutional Court.
This bullet point list should outline what is need to protect our rights of the Confidence of Trust of Article 2 and Retroactivity of Article 18 (3). Amazingly my analysis shows that Article 2 claims with regard to the Protection of the Confidence of Trust is a bigger winner at the Constitutional Court level, however both are always plead to the court.
We will have something for comment early next week, so it can garner comments, be edited and shared widely well ahead of what we are reading is a first hearing of the proposed law sometime 5/15.
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Thatās excellent, thanks as always Joel.
Can I ask you which lawyer filed the court action for you? May need our lawyer to do this but they are not very responsive. Thanks
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Garrett, you got your biometrics appointment right after preapproval, didnāt you? Was it āthe next slotā for biometrics after December slot? Or now people are being invited for biometrics just after preapproval?
It was part of the biometrics openings that happened then. Not an invite specific to me. So I assume the way it will work from now on is you get pre-approval whenever, then the next time biometrics open you are invited to book an appointment. So how long you wait after pre-approval is going to just be how long it is between pre-approval and the next opening, which could be fairly quick or up to about three months
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Garrett, thank you for such a promt reply)
I suppose, I missed the information regarding the new slot, which was open in y2023. What was the period for appointments: from march to ā¦? Just trying to figure out the period of appointments for next slot.
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The last two I think have been:
-
Emails sent out 16th Dec 2022, with a 10 day window up to 26th Dec in which to book appointments during Jan/Feb/Mar 2023 - (these seem to have gone to those who applied in roughly Oct/Nov 2021)
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Emails sent out 28th March 2023 with a 10 day window up to 7th April in which to book appointments during Apr/May 2023 - (these seem to have gone to those who applied up to mid-Dec 2021)
So I think the presumption is at the end of May thereāll be another batch opening for Jun, Jul, maybe Aug ? (Changes in law permitting)
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Thank you!
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Hi - just thought Iād give an update on my failed SEF Faro biometric appointment, due to their strike on 6th April.
Thank you to everyone for your comments, support and advice! Like everyone, my very strong opinion was that suing SEF to free up my incomplete Biometrics appointment would be the ONLY way to resolve my predicament.
I have spent the last three weeks since the whole debacle treading water: waiting and watching the whole āend of the Golden Visaā scenario continue to unfold, with all its changing proposals for law changes, and trying to ascertain if the GV, in its new form, would be something we actually would still actually need or want 
. It turns out, after the rollercoaster we have all been on since February 16th, I think we do still want it!
In parallel, Iāve been talking with my lawyer about the prospect of suing SEF. She wasnāt particularly keen with that suggestion, and felt I should ātrust the processā, - that a replacement invitation for biometrics would come without any legal action being required. I pushed back pretty hard for starting a case. She had emailed SEF, in an effort to reschedule, but surprise surprise ā¦ had not received a reply. So, in the last few days Iāve been literally on the brink of instigating an action against SEF!
And then yesterday, at 5pm, a miracle occurred! I hope you are sitting down for this ā¦ā¦.prepare to be amazed ā¦ā¦.
SEF contacted my lawyer with a replacement biometrics appointment!!! 
Itās short notice! Again! Iām flying back to Faro tomorrow for an appointment on Thursday afternoon. Darenāt not accept it!!! I feel like Iāve been given another chance, and there was no way I was going to dice with messing around with trying to reschedule it 
!!! So I cancelled my Wednesday and Thursday plans, and booked flights and a hotel immediately.
Thank goodness I am close enough (UK) that I can do this. Geographically and practically, less than 72 hours notice would probably not work for many people.
I thought I would post this update as a beacon of hope to others - that it seems, occasionally, SEF can actually do the right thing! And it shows they must have some flexibility in their scheduling to be able to offer me an alternative appointment in the current Biometric appointment slot, even though the ARI website had said there are currently no available appointments! 
(or so my lawyer tells me, as I donāt have access to the system).
Anyway wish me luck 
, for take 2 ā¦ā¦ā¦ hopefully without any of the drama this time!!
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Having related your horror story a few times to other folks recently, Iām very pleased for you! Thanks for updating us.
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Thanks for the update and good news!
Do you know if this contact from SEF came completely out of the blue, or did your lawyer somehow get in touch? My husband is in a similar situation although slightly different - my lawyer contacted SEF to try to swap my daughter with my husband as he couldnāt make it. SEF havenāt replied to rearrange in over 2 months, so it seems heās now stuck in the black hole of a āmissedā appointment. Issue is that SEF never respond to emails and they canāt be contacted by phone for GVs. So later this week weāre speaking with our lawyer about filing a case, as that seems to be the only way to get their attention.
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Astonishing!
ParabƩns!
Iām sure others will be interested in how you managed that, if you donāt mind asking your lawyer the exact process
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Thank you, and youāre welcome Nik!. And I will update the forum with how it all goes after my appointment on Thursday.
I just thought it would be nice to get it out there, that SEF have actually done something right for once - given how much they seem to do so horribly wrong most of the time!
The user experience in the last couple of years really hasnāt been great for any of us sadly, has it! 
Hi Selina - I donāt know much at the moment. Except that my lawyer sent e-mails to SEF three weeks ago after my āfailedā appointment. She told me she had not had a response to those e-mails - which I expected given all the horror stories you read about here on NM.
She said ātrust the system. They will realise they didnāt see you and they will issue another invitationā. My faith in this happening was close to zero, but to their credit ā¦ it has happened!
I guess the difference in our scenarios is that I did attend my meeting, and they did not allow it to proceed (because of the strike).
(I do still find it utterly incredulous that SEF did not contact me, or my lawyer, even 24 hours before the strike to say ā this appointment will not happen, due to a strike. Please do not attend . Wait for a new appointmentā. Zero communication, and with the unbelievable situation of them not answering published phone numbers or answering e-mails to their official e-mail address, I had no choice but to go to the meeting).
Turning to your scenario - has the date of the appointment for your husband passed by already, or is it in the future? If itās gone already, you probably are right to instigate the suing option, as I guess the system will show him as a āno showā, and his application will probably be āstuckā in the system now.
Similarly if itās a date in the future, experience and advice from everyone here on NM seems to be ā¦ move heaven and earth to keep your appointment, as trying to reschedule will lead the application into a deep dark hole, which again ā¦. only suing can extract you from 
.
Others may be able to comment more specifically about their experiences with substituting others in for Biometric appointments. I donāt know how feasible that might be. I can share with you that my husband has an application in, under family reunification. He has not been invited for Biometrics yet. My lawyer said that this is because I am the main applicant and mine must be processed first. (There was a delay in his application as well which is probably contributing to that, although he was pre-approved at the same time as I was).
Based on what my lawyer told me - perhaps itās worth asking your lawyer if it is actually feasible for your daughterās biometrics to be held before the main applicantās? Maybe it is, but that doesnāt seem to align with my lawyerās comments.
I will ask my lawyer for more information about specifically what happened comms wise in my case, when I see her on Thursday and Iāll let you know what she says - ie: did she successfully find a way to make contact with SEF, or was the appointment instigated by them, āout of the blueā?
Good luck with progressing your situation
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