Fantastic! Thank you very much for the update
Great news James, youâve had a long wait
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Great news. Hopefully we are next in a month or so. Please keep us posted when you receive the card as well.
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Wow, so Lisbon approvals are taking 14 months? I just canât believe how obnoxiously long this process has taken. How does it possibly take remotely this long - two to three years to get a visa approved?!
Does anyone know what the upcoming replacement of the SEF with the new agency means for us?
Hi Onward
Please can you add our details to the Non-Lisbon Biometrics records.
I (as the main applicant) had my biometrics appointment on 27 April 2023. Husband (under family reunification) has just been invited and is scheduled for biometrics on 1 August 2023. Both appointments are for the Faro office.
Many thanks!
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Congratulations!
For me, I did the biometrics in PortimĂŁo on 17th May. Family (spouse and 3 kids) still waiting the invitation for biometrics, no update yet.
Good luck to everyone.
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Thank you. A 16-month wait to apply for a residency card valid for 24 months!!!
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What is more, I have paid to SEF more than a week ago, but the âsituationâ has not yet changed to âPagoâ. How come!
It will take another 24 months and you will get an expired card.
I wonder if the continually increasing timelines for Lisbon are because resources in that office are being shifted to getting the backlog of preapprovals shorter for the Dec 2022 applications. The time for final approval is definitely getting noticeably worse.
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Lisbon must be working on them, we got questions from SEF on one item. So they wouldnât ask if they werenât at least doing something.
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My agent paid the fee of 5812,12⏠for me 9 days ago which was 5 days before the deadline. But the SEF platform said âPrevious reference for Government analysis fee expired. Please issue a new reference for Government analysis fee.â 
Are there anyone who encountered similar problem before? I asked my agent to follow up. What else I can do?
Same situation with me. How many broken things to deal with. Its plain stupid.
Now I have to wait for the refund. Make arrangements to send another 5812.12 convert etc.
It feels like a wider issue with the payments to SEF. My payment was through Bison Bank.
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Utterly absurd! If they can arrange the refund, why donât they accept it and issue the card right away? Did they mention how long it would take? My lawyerâs transfer is through Novo Branco.
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Is everyone having this problem with final approval payments? How long has it been going on? First Iâve noticed it, but Iâve got final approval hopefully coming up in a few months
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What is the start date on the very first residence permit? Is it the biometrics date or the final approval date?
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Do you have the âcomprovativoâ from the bank payment?
If so, send it along with the DUC as attachments to your SEF office by email.
Use the specific email for the SEF office where you attended biometrics, the one that starts with âdirâ from this page:
They should fix it the next day or so.
But then again, I am with SEF Porto, they may be special 
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Thanks for the suggestion. Did you use this method to get your payment reflected properly on the SEF portal ?
I am with SEF porto as well.
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Yes sir, I did.
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UPDATE for edandmegan: Ed received residence card on 23 June, effective as of 9 June.
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