thanks! so which office seems fastest with getting biometrics, then processing after biometrics?
(maybe the two are different?)
Based on feedback here in order of biometrics to residency:
Faro has seen the fastest biometrics to approval reported above (~2months).
Coimbra seems next taking ~6months from biometrics to approval.
Lisbon seems to be ~8months
Azores seems to be the slowest based on some issues/delays at SEF in Ponta Delgada. Ppl waiting for >10months.
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We also did our biometrics in Azores in Nov21. Still waiting for final approvals.
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For what it is worth, we just had our biometrics last week in Lisbon and asked the question of how long the cards will take. Our attorneys said they saw them working on the Feb 2022 biometrics so that it is currently 7-8 months, although that could change. Our attorneys said it had been approximately 6 months previously.
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My biometrics was done in Lisbon in early February this year but I am still waiting for the final approval. Hope that your attorney is right. And I will let you all know when I have got my final approval.
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Thank you for parsing through everything, is Faro consistently faster? If so sounds like I’ll be asking my lawyers to take a small vacation down to faro 
Following up on my previous post from Aug 29th. Soon after posting it I figured out that SEF actually LOST part of the documents that we had submitted previously. So basically what happened is: we did biometrics in Lisbon in August 21, later in November SEF asked to submit some of the documents that had already been submitted during biometrics. Our attorneys did so early December. Then in July 22 they asked SEF what’s going on and why our case is taking so long. The reply from SEF was “we’re still waiting for the missing documents to be sent to us by post” 
The attorneys have provided the mailing slips from December confirming that the documents had been sent. Nevertheless, they re-sent the missing documents to SEF and now our case is “awaiting the superior decision”…which basically translates as the “final approval stage”.
To all those waiting for over half a year after biometrics I strongly recommend to reach out to SEF directly via email and ask what is the status of your case - you might be surprised…
Look for the email you received from SEF previously and write to this email.
Good luck everyone!
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Wow, the plot thickens with every step… Thank you for sharing.
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Hi, I had my biometric appointment in early February this year in Lisbon but I have no news of my final approval yet. Does anyone know that if it is NORMAL? It is already 8 months and 2 weeks now. Does anyone of you know someone did the biometric in around January or February? Endless waiting causes anxiety to us already!
It seems final approvals are taking much longer than 2021. Which office did you attend?
My biometric was done in Lisbon in early February. 
Lisbon is taking around 8months. Mid Jan biometrics got approved in mid Sep. So you might get anytime now. Check with your lawyers.
My lawyers also stated that Lisbon applications are taking 8 months on average - obviously there is statistics involved - but I also agree that you should be hearing from them hopefully within a month…
Yet this is SEF processing, you can never be sure about it…
As I read through these different threads of extended timelines and delays global citizens are facing, I wonder how long the entire process will actually take now?
Moreover, I have seen some good suggestions in the chat groups on allowing VFS or the embassy offices to manage the biometrics and residence renewals at different global destinations. Any reason why SEF would not agree for something to make their lives easier?
Thank you very much for your information. I have waited for more than 8.5 months now and it is already too long indeed.
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From my first day buying the properties in November, 2019, it is already nearly 3 years. Ironically, my wife and I are still waiting for the final approval. I really don’t understand why it takes them so long to process. Some said on other forums that SEF focuses their staff on other visa applications but not the golden visa ones. Anyone knows if it is true or not?
It’s absolutely true. D7 visa approvals come with a biometric appointment a few months out followed by a card in a month. The Ukranian refugees went from nothing to card in hand also on a timescale of weeks to a few months. It’s not a question of resources.
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My lawyer informed me that she received final approvals early this month for a client who did biomatrics in Jan 22 and his family member who did biomatrics in Apr 2022, both in Lisbon.
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I have not received any news about my application up to now. 9 months and 1 week after my biometric appointment in early February in Lisbon SEF office. Anyone who had biometric appointment in Feb or March received the final approval?
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Yes, i did in January.
9 months is too long.
But if you learn anything from reading this forum, with SEF nothing is consistent from month to month. Most likely, SEF has stopped processing GV until 2023. This is what I understand from another post here. There is now a transition to the new foreigners agency so they have ceased work. Maybe this will change in December, but it seems unlikely. EDIT: Others have said that approvals are continuing. However, as I said the time frames don’t make sense. It shouldn’t take 3 months extra to process 1 month of applicants.