I shall certainly prepare to contact SEF in due course if Iām not in receipt of cards within 90 days, as I have a hard deadline myself where I must obtain the residence permit by a certain date due to the Customs requirements. Luckily that date is later than the 90 days, but not by far.
When is/was your biometrics appt? Mine is in Lisbon in mid march, Iāll report back with how long until I receive my cards. Also not opposed to flying back to pick them up in office, which several people from the Americans and friends Portugal group have done. One guy recently said that his card had just been sitting there, he went to the office and they got it for him right away.
Mine was in Porto in the early Jan 2023.
I was offered the option of collecting the cards by myself physically at the same SEF office, or my lawyer collecting them in person (for an extra travel expenses charge).
The other ānot recommendedā options were postal delivery to my Portugal home address or to my lawyerās office in Lisbon. However the lawyer said the risk of losing the cards in the post is not worth taking.
Adding on to say, itās absolutely wild (strategic?) the difference In processing times between the D7 and GV. Someone on Americans and friends Portugal just posted that he received his residency cards in the mail today from a Jan 10th biometrics appt in Lisbon. Craaaazy
Small update and question for those who can answer:
I did my biometric in Lisbon back in late July of 2022, and when I requested a 6-month update from my lawyers they said that SEF told them they were still processing May 2022 biometrics for residency at this point.
Can anyone who did biometrics in Lisbon in March or April 2022 confirm that theyāve already received their cards, or at least been granted final approval? If the numbers provided to my lawyers by SEF are to be believed this would make the current lead time of a Lisbon biometric between 8-10 months.
My wife and I did the biometrics in Lisbon in early February, 2022 but I have not received any news at all. Anyone who did the biometrics around February, 2022 in Lisbon has been approved? We have waited for too long indeed!!!
We took first available appointment anywhere in Portugal. Not in a position to pick and choose particular offices or dates if we want to actually move forward with this process.
Hi! Have you requested any information from SEF directly of from your lawyers?
As Iāve mentioned previously, at some point I figured out that SEF was missing several documents that had been submitted during biometrics, so basically they were sitting there silently without notifying me and/or my lawyers.
I encourage everyone to ask SEF directly by email and request a status update.
What I normally get from them is this:
Blockquote
Em resposta ao email infra informa-se que o processo se encontra a aguardar instruĆ§Ć£o por ordem cronolĆ³gica, de acordo com a entrada do pedido.
or this:
Blockquote
Na sequĆŖncia do e-mail infra, informa-se V. Exa, que o processo em causa aguarda decisĆ£o superior.
The email to be contacted is the following: DRLVTA.ARILx@sef.pt
My lawyers booked it, and Iāll take what I can get! Also, do enjoy Lisbon and met some nice friends there as well. Quick three day holiday in Lisbon aināt too shabby! Maybe since itās just a one person application etc I can catch some luck and hope it goes faster. Iāll wear a head to toe Portugal footy kit, come with pastel de nata and a smile? Hahaha
Wow thatās a huge difference!
Would it be possible for you to post an update once he gets his approval? I had my biometrics 2 months after him in June in Lisbon. And my lawyer says itās taking about 9/10 months for the approval in Lisbon.
Hoping to get some indications on if theyāre right, and how much longer I need to wait from your case.
And hope your partner gets his approval soon!
My friendās son who had his biometrics in Lisbon last March 2022 got his GV last January. Thatās indeed 10 months for his case. Letās see if this holds true for my partner who is now about to reach the same period in around 2 weeks.