Sorry, I just did Lisbon, as (a) that’s where I did my bio, and (b) there was more data
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No worries just didn’t want to miss any.
I’ve asked my lawyers to prioritize faro office for our biometrics, we’ll see if I can get one
Just saw my lawyer in Faro as we have our biometrics on Monday in Portimao. I asked how long she expected it to be from appt to cards (for Portimao) …. she said 3-6 months! I was pleasantly surprised and repeated the question a few times. Each time she said yes, 3-6 months, provided all your documents have been submitted and are all ok!
She also said normally they prefer making appointments in Faro. I’m not sure if this is because they have an office in Faro or because Faro is quicker. I suspect the latter because they also have offices in Lisbon and other locations. So my guess is that at the moment Faro and Portimao are probably two good options for appointments in terms of speed to cards.
She also said yes the automatic/online renewal system is working well - it is literally raining with renewed residence permits (lol) - and she feels it is likely that this process will continue beyond this year because it is the same renewal process for all other residence visas - only the GV had been different until now - and there is such an enormous backlog of applications to process that this is the only way they will be able to cope. And for the online renewal there is nothing you have to submit.
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Automatic renewal remaining an option indefinitely would take a loooot of stress out of this situation! I just need to get the first residence permit…
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I’ve posted before but can’t find my earlier post. We submitted our application November 17, 2020, received by SEF Nov 26, 2020 as reflected in the portal
We had our biometrics in the Azores a year later November 19, 2021.
No word at all until November 2022, when SEF requested three documents that had already been submitted (regarding the purchase of an apartment building we bought), but updated documents since it had been two years since the original documents were submitted. They needed to verify the building was still in an area that was approved for the golden visa, etc. (The building had not moved nor had the area changed)
Our attorney resubmitted them within a week.
A month later, the attorney finally received a request from SEF for payment in early December, but it came via an email (rather than the portal) and our (overly careful) attorney requested verification that the request was legitimate.
That verification came December 27, 2022, at which time the attorney paid the fees.
It’s now March 3, and still no cards. Our attorney wrote another letter to the director of SEF in the Azores, and says there’s nothing else we can do.
Exceedingly frustrating to say the least.
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Thanks Chris, we submitted our biometrics on 2nd Feb 2023, in case you want to add to the sheet, although not expecting anything anytime soon :).
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Thanks for the update. I wonder if there is an excel for Porto updates? I did mine at Porto too and just curious to see what the processing times currently look like in Porto.
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Let me remind about this topic Portugal Golden Visa Timeline Database
I see 9 records there with Porto location. 2 of them are “completed”. But it may appear that the data is not up-to-date. According to this spreadsheet several applicants have been waiting for more than a year already.
I had biometry in Porto on 26 Oct 2022.
Hello! We did our biometrics in Portimao on April 14, 2022. Got our approval last week of August (that’s about 4 months after biometrics), and got our residency card around 6 weeks from payment (a bit longer than expected). So all in all, it took close to 6 months for us, from biometrics to issuance of residency card.
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That’s quite quick. Which location was the biometrics at?
Yes this is consistent with the estimated processing times (biometrics to cards) for SEF Portimao according to my lawyer - 3-6 months, and closer to 3 months if all your documents have been submitted in order.
btw we just completed our biometrics and everything went smoothly. We were in there for about 1 ½ hours total for the 4 of us. The staff were very friendly and it seems all our updated documents were in order. The lawyer still needs to send our ‘no debt’ declaration and the original declarations of investment from the bank but she said this will be a matter of days only and will not cause a delay. Fingers crossed we will be only 3-4 months for final approval. It’s a relief to have got to this stage.
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Nobody responded to my question, however as of yesterday afternoon I am happy to be able to reply to my own question as I received the good news of final approval from my lawyer 
Status becomes “Transferred”. Situation remains the same (Compareceu).
For those who are wondering; we had the biometrics on 26th April 2022 in Lisbon and received the final approval yesterday, 7th March 2023. I submitted the form to update the database.
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congrats! that rules
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Great news @WBishop Congrats!
And now we also know that GVs are still being issued, at least to those already in the system.
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Does anyone have more info on the last paragraph in this article?
“It remains to be seen what will happen to holders of existing visa holders, According to some reports, their residence permits will only be renewed if they are actually living permanently in Portugal.”
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I don’t know if DW (German news) has any inside info on Portuguese politics, I would guess they are just repeating what was already said about real estate investors needing to rent out long term or live in their real estate to renew the GV.
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I believe this news is outdated. Here is latest update I got from Rossio Palace:
Good news — the Government announced that the public discussion on the Golden Visa End was prolonged until the 24th. Thus, the earliest the new law can be enforced is in mid-April.
What exactly just happened?
The Government prolonged the public discussion period for part of the new law package. The discussion on Golden Visa and short-term rentals was extended until the 24th of March. For the remaining proposals — focused on the residential market — the public discussion will run until the 13th of March, as planned.
Why did the Government extend the public discussion?
The National Association of Municipalities in Portugal, alongside other stakeholders, requested an extension of the public discussion.
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@jpgoldenvisa JP, just curious - did you/your lawyers mention the country of birth anywhere on the GV application? I assume you are and have been a U.S. citizen for a while? Our lawyers did not mention any paperwork that we would need to provide from the country of birth…
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