Congratulations, Roger!
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Perhaps even more crushing than the modern wait for pre-approval, would be getting pre-approval in ONE MONTH and then waiting two years for biometrics. Congrats on the visa!
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Please, a month and a half 
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I had my biometrics in Faro on Jan 2023 and got final approval in mid-June. Waiting for the card now.
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Congrats Roger.
Hoping to see more approvals of members who did their biometrics in Lisbon in July and August 2022.
it is not an either or - some of the applicants get hit on both milestones, and the one after which is issuance of card after approval. it is roughly a 3 year process unless you catch some lucky breaks (like biometrics in Porto recently) - definitely far away from the 6 months (worst case a year) I was told when I started the research into this in mid 2021
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Yes, even in 2022 we heard “about 6 months”. 
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Woo, thank you for sharing
Big hype for more faro data points
Side note one of the waiters at the restaurant in faro on the water is really friendly and they make great food. Strong recommend
Hey all, Thomas from Nomadgate has built a tool for us to track our timelines (and migrated over the data from the previous Google Form/Sheet based one). Would be great if everyone could update their timeline so we can use the tracker he built. Announcement: Introducing the new Golden Visa Timeline Database
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I wonder if it is just a coincidence that your final approval came 2 years to the day after your application. Could it be that Lisbon SEF is trying to avoid waits longer than 2 years?
I thinks it’s a coincidence. The scheduling of biometrics dates are not totally within the control of SEF (I mean the exact day within the window provided). From invite to biometrics could be months. I do not think SEF believes that timeframe should count against them for their quota.
SEF is happy to pat themselves on the back saying they have approved more this and last year than they ever have before. Even if it’s 1 or 2 more and they have had tons more applicants and spend no time on renewals since that’s automatic now (for the vast majority of people).
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We are abandoning our pursuit of the GV. Because of the SEF delays we researched EU citizenship through ancestry and received a passport from Poland. Moving to Portugal in 2024 anyway, and this makes it much easier and less costly.
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@Ron - No doubt you posted your dates in an earlier thread, but would you mind sharing when you applied for the GV and if you received pre-approval (date) and/or biometrics?
Also, did you use a special agency for citizenship through ancestry?
Thank you in advance for your time and reply. ;<)
Applied 11/2021
Preapproval 4/2022
Biometrics. 1/2023 in Lisbon
Polaron handled the Polish citizenship. They do other countries also.
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Thank you!!
Some striking figures on the ARI backlog quoted in Expresso. Suggests there are 7,800 primary applicants in the queue, which equates to about six years worth of approvals. 96% of applications are eventually approved.
The Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF) is analyzing 7,802 applications related to the Residence Permit for Investment (ARI, commonly known as “golden visas”) regime, from which 13,562 more family members of the applicants may benefit.
According to information provided by an official source of the SEF to the Public, most of the requests must be approved, despite the intention of the Government to stop the allocation of this type of regime. In total, there are 21,364 foreigners who can still benefit from the program and the number may increase.
The Government had intended to end this type of visa from February 16, as part of the More Housing package that is being discussed in Parliament. The Executive eventually retreated, however, following a proposal from the PS.
Since the creation of this regime (in October 2012) until June last year, the SEF granted 12,396 “golden visas” and 20,90 family members benefited from the regime through family reunification. The purchase of real estate was the main reason for the attribution of the overwhelming majority of ARI (<>%).
According to SEF data, the refusal rate of this type of requests is below 4%.
I think and hope it should not be true.
Good news for those with Faro biometrics. Just received a note from my lawyer advising that SEF has approved my Golden Visa application along with my wife and daughter.
Our Biometrics were all on February 16th so just under 5 months for a July 11th approval.
Good luck to everyone waiting!
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Congratulations! My daughter and husband have theirs in Faro in August, 6 months after my son and I in Coimbra. Hoping this means they won’t be too many months behind us.
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