Pre-approved!!! 
Family of 4 (kids were 5 and 7 when we applied). We submitted our application on DECEMBER 27, 2021 and just got notified of approval from our attorneys today, SEPTEMBER 20, 2023…. About 21 months total. 
We were told that all 4 of us have been pre-approved.
We have been in Europe since August 1st (our house was done being built and we needed to come) and had planned on going home Oct. 24. We will probably change flights and hope to stay and get a biometric appointment soon-ish instead of flying all the way back to CA then back to Portugal potentially weeks later.
Luckily we re-did appostille of kid’s birth certificates (good for a year) and our marriage certificate (good for 6 months) in July. We also paid the company that did our FBI background check to archive our prints so they can access them forever and re-run our prints without us having to physically re-do the prints each time. Our Portuguese lawyer told us about this option and it was, indeed, possible. We met with our lawyers in August with our passports and social security cards so they could be certified in Portugal. As I understand, everything else is on our lawyers now. They need to translate docs and get items showing no taxes owed etc.
Our lawyers had told us it wasn’t necessary to do any of these things back in July but we were hoping for a miracle (pre-approval) while we were here. Can’t believe it happened and can’t believe we bought dirt and built an entire house BEFORE we got our pre-approval!
Hoping for a speedy biometric appointment because I only packed homeschool supplies through October. My kids will be thrilled if we’re waiting for months with nothing to do besides eat pastel de nata and swim in the ocean. 