The transition to the new agency could have an impact as well.
Our lawyer told us over 4 months ago (early June) that SEF Lisbon was processingā¦August 2022. This is utterly ridiculous.
Pretty sure weāve already seen some final approvals post the law coming in.
Good news! I finally received my approval. I made my payment a few days later via our attorney when the DUC was available in the portal. I did my biometrics in Coimbra. IMGA was my investment vehicle. I updated the database. Here are my dates:
Application - Nov 22, 2021
Fees paid - Nov 26, 2021
Pre-approval - Aug 1, 2022
Biometrics - Jan 16, 2023
Follow-up docs - Feb 22, 2023
Final approval - Oct 11, 2023
DUC fee paid - Oct 18, 2023 (FWIW, my fee was the āold feeā - EUR 5.800)
Final card received - still waiting, but attorney estimates 3 weeks from payment.
Note my spouseās family reunification application was submitted right after my pre-approval in August 2022, but we have never heard anything about her application.
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Yes, thatās correct. Iāll edit the OP to clarify.
Curious . Is there a reason you submitted reunification applications in 2022 after preapproval
Instead of 2021 after DUC payment ?
@Garbonzo - we were following the guidance of our attorneys who seemed to think that the reunification process would only work once I had pre-approval. Iām a bit annoyed by that approach since it seems others submitted both simultaneously. In hindsight, I would have pushed them to submit at the same time and not wait nearly a year for her application.
More good news! I received our final approvals today for all family members!
We did our biometrics at SEF Portimao on March 6th, and I noticed that SEF sent the final approvals email notification to my lawyer yesterday, who forwarded it on to me today. So itās taken Portimao 7+ months from biometrics to final approvals.
I had raised the idea of a lawsuit with my lawyer about 2 weeks ago as I was concerned about the lengthy wait. She said this would take time and money, but offered instead to write a āspecific letterā to SEF so as to push them, as opposed to a mere email enquiry (about our applications). I canāt say whether this had any impact on SEF, but thought Iād mention it fwiw.
So my timeline is as follows:
MAIN APPLICANT
- Online submission of application - 26th October 2021
- Date of payment (DUC) - 26th October 2021
- Pre-approved - 9th March 2022
- Biometrics (Portimao) - 6th March 2023
- Final approval - 19th October 2023
- Fees paid - 20th October 2023
FAMILY MEMBERS (spouse & 2 kids):
- Online submission of applications - 8th November 2021 (spouse), 12th November 2021 (kids)
- Date of payment (DUC) - 10th (spouse) & 13th (kids) November 2021
- Pre-approved - 13th May 2022
- Biometrics (Portimao) - 6th March 2023
- Final approval - 19th October 2023
- Fees paid - 20th October 2023
Currently trying to make payment to SEF of the EUR 5,000+ x 4. Online bank issues, not sure what.
btw we are on the old fees.
Update to timeline above: Fees paid today! I donāt have access to the SEF portal (as everythingās been done through my lawyer), so I donāt know when the fees payment will be reflected on the portal. Hopefully the cards wonāt take forever to be sent out.
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Congratulations Elle !Shame that other SEF locations donāt move as fastā¦
Update on our application/approval that may be of interest
GV Applied Dec 16, 2021
Biometrics appointment May 2023 in Portimao
Updated apostilles provided June 2023
At the time of our biometrics appointment in May our attorney told us the time frame for Portimao approval was about 3-4 months - so we were hoping to receive approval by October.
I just contacted our attorney for an update and they stated Portimao SEF is just now processing biometrics applications submitted in March 2023 (consistent with Elleās post). They did not provide a specific time frame but stated SEF has been working very slowly and the upcoming changes to the organization may further delay, but this is all unclear. So no specific time frame.
ā¦ Perhaps this protracted process is purposefully in place to train us Americans to become more relaxed and patient as are the Portuguese and Europeans in generalā¦
to paraphrase the Dalai Lama- if something is to be, there is no reason to worry. If something is to not be, worry will not change that.
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Just a note; in my opinion 3-4 months process time āmight beā more realistic for renewals - and only if they are done at Faro or Portimao (or offices that have a good track record of processing)ā¦ From what I hear even at the southern offices the initial approval takes around 7-8 months which is in line with what you have heard - Mar 2023 applications being currently processed.
I have done two ārenewalsā at the southern SEF offices, one in 2019 the other this year and both of them were completed around 3-4 months.
I wish you the best and hope that you receive approvals shortly.
All the best
You couldnāt do automated renewal this year?
I did my biometrics literally during the first working days - just before auto-renewal option became available for meā¦
Congratulations!
How did you get all the biometrics appointments on the same day?
Hi Elle1, If you donāt mind me asking, Why did you take too long to schedule your biometric appointments? 1 year after pre-approval? Was it because there were no appointments available or due to your choice?
SEF only issued appointments twice in 2022 - Jun and Dec.
And by invitation based on chronological order. Mine was pre-approved in July 2021, invited to book biometrics appointment in June 2022 and had my appointment in July 2022.
What I dont get is how your lawyers could be so (unintentionally) wrong. Things at the SEF office were slow when you did your biometrics, too, we can assume, so the rosy estimates were never realistic.
Leading me to wonder, why dont more people involved in the GV funnel, lawyers in particular, give realistic timing info? Any firm with a decent number of clients should have no problem being more accurateā¦at the very least, they should be far less incorrect!
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If lawyers/advisors provided realistic timings, many people would not embark on this tortuous journey. Being honest would not be good for business 
I read all sorts of PT GV articles in the Portugalist, Portugal News, Fortune, CNN, etc. - almost nobody mentions the 8,000+ application backlog, or that youāre looking at perhaps 3 years from start to residency cards. Where thereās an opportunity to comment on those articles, I certainly call them out on this. Sometimes those comments get approved (shown), often not.
Also extends to their GV cost estimates. Nobody mentions that youāll likely have to pay for your apostilles and notaries all over again once SEF finally digs you out of their pile because theyāve expired (and whoās fault is that SEF?). Or that youāll take out the requisite health insurance for a year or two for basically no reason, as you canāt be in the country for more than 90/180 - and your travel insurance covers your āvacationā time there anyway. Or that while you spend years in the queue, they jack up their fees by 30% as they did this month.
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