Ahmet. I would greatly appreciate if you could let me know when your DUC is activated. I also did my biometrics in Lisbon on the same day as you. I received final approval approximately one month ago, but we have not yet received the ability to generate the DUC. My lawyers tell me that these delays are not uncommon, but I am concerned that I have fallen through one of the many cracks in the system.
Hi Noah ,
I got notified an hour ago that DUC was activated (my lawyer said they received my approval notification yesterday and her assistant issued the request to activate immediately) . So I made the payment Euro 6,045.20/- and now my wait starts for card issuance and approval for my spouse
I am guessing that once the approval comes , then there is something to be done to request activation of the DUC? Do you have access to your account to check? I hope your lawyers missed something and can figure it out for you.
Hi Ahmet:
Thanks very much for the update.
I do have access to my account, but It is not showing me the ability to activate the DUC for payment. My lawyers tell me that every case is different, but with only one exception, it seems as though everyone was able to activate their DUC with a couple of days of receiving final approval. My lawyer is reaching out to AIMA to see what the story is.
Noah
We had our biometrics in Lisbon in January 2023. I have not seen any biometrics appointment in Dec 2022, so I hope we are very close 
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I visited AIMA in Lisbon with my new attorney yesterday. I had an appointment which was ostensibly for biometrics but that made no sense because I already had my biometrics appointment at the same SEF/AIMA office 21 months ago as described in a previous post. My prior attorneys had filed a lawsuit at my request in June which resulted in an order from a judge in Lisbon to AIMA in July to respond to my complaint if they had any valid reason for the delay in making a final decision. The only response from AIMA was to notify me in late August that they had scheduled a biometrics appointment for me for November 5, despite the fact that my file showed that I had done biometrics on February 7 2023. I spent most of September and October waiting for something to happen with my lawsuit and urging my attorneys to go back to the judge and ask for an order to AIMA to make the final approval decision immediately, which they wouldn’t do. I changed attorneys a couple weeks ago and they recommended keeping the appointment and using the opportunity to press for final approval. So I did. The appointment was scheduled for 2:30 pm. We waited for the better part of 2 hours AFTER the scheduled time for our appointment number to come up. When we got to the window the agent surprised us by informing us that my file had been transferred to the Azores office of AIMA as part of a strategy to spread the Lisbon office backlog across a number of remote offices with a lower workload. Suspiciously the date of the transfer was the same day as our appointment. I can’t help but wonder if the transfer was done while we were waiting in the outer office after the agent assigned to our appointment reviewed my file and discovered the lawsuit and the fact that my biometrics were done 21 months prior. Anyway AIMA characterized this as a positive development and suggested that I should receive my final approval within a few more weeks. Nevertheless I am going to have my attorneys change my NIF address to my Portuguese one in advance of my receiving my initial residency card, which they assure me can be done, because I don’t want to miss the rapidly closing NHR window. While all of this was going on over here I sold my US home so beginning in January I will be living here in Portugal year round. There is no way I would move to Portugal without the tax benefits of NHR 1.0
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Shivers go down my spine hearing such experiences…anyways hope everything works out for you.
I have been notified by my lawyer that my process is being approved and I need to make a payment of Euro 6,045.20. I transfered the amount to the lawyer. Lawyer also said that my family is also approved but only after my payment completed, theirs can be processed.
Now, I will be waiting for the card issuance and information for my family.
SEF Registration- 30-03-2023
Sef Analysis fee (me) - 05-04-2023
Sef Analysis fee (family) - 21-04-2023
Law suit submitted 13-05-2024
Fingerprint at AIMA - 06-09-2024
Additional documents to AIMA- 04-10-2024
Approval notice from lawyer - 05-11-2024
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Wow congratulations, would it be possible to share the biometric office?
Thanks, Porto.
not gonna lie. 2023 applications already seeing final approval feels really great to those who applied in earlier years.
nice of you to cut in line after waiting 3 months! (i would do the same)
Can you share you law firm?
Antas Da Cunha
My contact is
Vanessa Camara
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Antas is my law firm too. Their lawyers are pretty good.
Wow… I’m just getting started with this process myself and this post makes me hopeful. Seeing all the 2022 folks being stuck in purgatory is sad but it’s nice to see a more time appropriate win come through.
We finally received the approval and cards for my wife and son. Everything started moving only after I submitted a case.
Approval for wife: 15 Sep
Cards for wife and son: 20 October
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They’re collecting biopsies now? Wow, the GV process just gets worse and worse.
(sorry)
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Nov 2 2024: Lawyers got the card
Validity: 2 years.
I started this whole process in March 2021. All things considered, still quicker than my US green card.
0 or negative expectation is key for lack of disappointment (or pleasant surprise depending on your philosophical persuasion.)
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Today, lawyer informed that final approval of 02 dependents was sent by AIMA.
Lawyer also mentioned about paying fee.
My dependent’s data is here
From online submission date to final approval with payment request: 4 years 7 months !!!
Now I am waiting the next email from lawyer to pay the fee and let’s see how long it 's going to take for the cards.
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Congrats! Just in time for them to apply for citizenship?
Still no regulation for the new law… unfortunately!