How long does it take from the biometrics appointment to receiving the resident card? Do you mind sharing your time? Which SEF is the fastest and slowest these days? I had my appointment in sept and am waiting for news. Thanks!
AI-generated summary
This Stage 4 discussion tracks the long and highly variable wait from Portuguese Golden Visa biometrics to final approval and residence-card delivery. Early reports suggested cards could arrive within 2–6 months, but delays grew substantially, especially for Lisbon applicants. A user analysis found roughly 5–6 months for 2021 Lisbon biometrics, increasing to 9–11 months for early-2022 cohorts data analysis, while later cases commonly waited 18–24 months or more.
Processing differs by office: Lisbon has often been the slowest, while Porto, Faro, Coimbra, Portimão, Guarda, Madeira, and the Azores show mixed but sometimes faster results. One reported explanation was that only three staff members were handling Lisbon final approvals staffing discussion, although the process also involves document checks, updated criminal records or investment evidence, decision preparation, and central card printing by the Imprensa Nacional-Casa da Moeda card-production explanation.
Many applicants eventually received approval without legal action, but lawsuits or urgent summonses sometimes prompted decisions. Outcomes varied: some court cases produced approvals within weeks or months, while others continued waiting. Several applicants explicitly chose patience and were eventually approved after two years or more, including a Lisbon applicant approved after roughly two years and a family whose cards arrived after waiting over three years. Status changing to “Transferred” is commonly understood as indicating final approval status update.
After approval, applicants receive a DUC or payment instruction, usually around €6,045 initially and approximately €6,179 in later reports. Payment-to-card delivery commonly takes several weeks to a few months, although delays and address or NIF errors occur. Cards are generally valid for two years; examples include cards arriving 8–9 weeks after payment card timeline and a card forwarded to a Portuguese address after payment delivery update.
Dependent applications frequently trail the primary applicant’s approval and card, sometimes by weeks, months, or longer. By 2025–2026, approvals and cards were still moving, but many applicants had spent four to six years in the process, far beyond the originally expected timeline, creating widespread frustration over costs, uncertainty, and changing citizenship rules.
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Benn, My appointment was September 16, 2021. I was told to submit an updated background check (since mine was almost a year old at this point), which I did on November 1. I am still waiting for my residence card. I have read a few recently (somewhere on this site) that got their card in as little as 2 months, but most that I have seen are 4-6 months.
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Hey @bn2nt08, we did the biometrics on Aug 24th, 2021, still waiting. The biometrics were done at Lisbon.
@tortoiseexplorer where did you have your fingerprints done?
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Update to timeline:
December 28, 2020 Application submitted
March 23, 2021 Pre-Approval Received
September 16, 2021 SEF Appointment in Faro
November 1, 2021 Updated Background check submitted
January 31, 2022 Approval Notification Received
TBD Card received
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3 months to approval and < 1 month for the card. out of the faro office.
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fingerprint taken at Portimao office on 12 November 2021 still waiting
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Congrats, your case is approved today!
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Took 12 months from august 2019 to august 2020. We were a family application and had to get one of our forms appostilled mid approval process - that originally only had to be signed in front of our Portuguese lawyers.
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Biometrics in Lisbon Sept 6. Cards in hand Jan 27.
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Lucky you! Wonder how this actually works…
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In Portugal all “smart” documents identifying a person and incorporating an electronic chip – eg Portuguese electronic passport, citizen cards, the driving licence and residence permits for non-EU nationals etc. are centrally printed at the Imprensa National Casa de Moedas. The INEM is the consequence of merging the National Printing Office (Imprensa Nacional) with the Portuguese Mint (Casa da Moeda). In the case of residence permits – the INCM website explicitly mentions that they print cards of non-EU nationals: https://www.incm.pt/portal/gs_docid.jsp?lang=en
SEF offices provide the necessary information (including biometrics) to the Casa de Moedas and authorise printing and dispatch to the Portuguese address of the resident or authorised representative.
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Hi @tortoiseexplorer
Did you have to return to your home country to get another background check, can you do that remotely? I go my original background paperwork in the US.
Also do you remember what paperwork you needed to bring to the biometrics appointment?
Thanks!
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Matt,
I was able to do it from Portugal. I had to go to the embassy to get fingerprints, then mail them (DHL) to the FBI. I then used a facilitator to get them apostilled.
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Final timeline:
December 28, 2020 Application submitted
March 23, 2021 Pre-Approval Received
September 16, 2021 SEF Appointment in Faro
November 1, 2021 Updated Background check submitted
January 31, 2022 Approval Notification Received
February 14, 2022 Card received by Attorneys
February 18, 2022 Card received by me
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This is very helpful, thank you!
Do you remember the name of the facilitator that helped with this?
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I used Dan Hickman at Southeast Spanish. Apostille took about three weeks.
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Thank you!
Me (primary applicant):
- Biometrics in Lisbon Sept 1st, 2021,
- Visa approved Dec 20th, 2021
- Residency card received Jan 20th, 2022
Spouse:
- Biometrics in Porto Sept 17th, 2021
- still waiting for approval. SEF says waiting for regional director to sign-off
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Has anyone here got Approval since biometrics ?
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Biometrics in October, waiting for Regional Director to sign off.
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