Me too, i filed on 29 November 2021 and still wating
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Hi,
I wanted to share my timeline too:
GV application submitted: November 9, 2021
Pre-Approval received: May 19, 2022
Biometrics appointment: Who Knows Whenā¦
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So, what did your lawyer say? As they are already receiving pre-approvals for 1st week of December? Means, itās really not happening in strict order. However, you can get it any day from now. All the best.
I have not seen pre approvals in this forum after November 15, 2021, so I am not sure whether my lawyers timeline is correct. However I feel most of the 2021 applicants will get approved before the end of June, since GV is now the priority for SEF and they are not creating further backlog by not accepting fresh applications in 2022.
Hoping for the best 
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With pre-approval now taking somewhere around 6 months from document submission criminal records wouldāve expired the 3-month validity before pre-approval. Does SEF require resubmission of criminal records before pre-approval? And for biometric appointment are a new/updated set of criminal records needed at the time of fingerprint taking or the originals from submit would suffice?
Pretty sure we need a fresh new set of documents.
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You will need an updated set of criminal records while attending your biometric.
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based on my timeline, 6 months & 1o days, Iād say more then 6 months at least.
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I agree with you, the current wait seems to be long. However I also believe the legal representatives can do a better job preparing their clients. After all, this long wait did not happen overnight. Back in the day Iāve waited 7 years for my US Green Card (family based petition), but I was prepared from the get-go. Had I known the pre-approval would take much longer than 8-10 weeks as advertised or the current wait for the biometrics appointments is 1+ years, Iād again be prepared, Iād have managed my expectations accordinglyā¦
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To be well prepared, one needs to have the correct information at some certain level. Of course I could expect and prepare much better if two-three years ago I knew about this slowness. Or even I could have not invested my resources on this if I knew this situation beforehand.
Comparing this GV slowness to your 7 years wait on US green card is not fair at all. For US green card (family based), i bet that you did not have to put down any big money. On the other hand, for GV visa, people put down big money in return to get the residency. Money was already taken easily, but no residency is being given in return punctually as the authority promised and advertised.
I could easily wait for GV process up to 30 years without complain at all if my money is only taken once the resident card is issued.
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For pre-approval, all documentsā validity is checked as at the time of submission. You will only need to refresh your expired documents before attending the biometrics.
Here is the thing; I donāt think (I may be wrong) GV applicants are getting any preferential treatment from SEF because of their investments. Should they or not considering the premium fees they charge is a different story and Iām not really getting into. All Iām saying is lawyers should manage their clientās expectations better. Having said that, I agree with you that we all have tied our hard earned savings into this āarrangementā and this is not really a traditional immigration application, more of a financial transactionā¦
Its the opposite of preferential treatment. GV applicants seem to treated worse by SEF. Compare with D7 visas, where they get a biometric appointment immediately with approval of the visa and prompter processing of the residence card. If anything, the unspoken SEF procedure is to disadvantage GV.
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I checked in with my lawyers to see if they have seen any Dec. applicants being approved, and they have just had applicants up to the first half of November approved as well.
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It seems that finally they are pushing this forward, arenāt they?
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Havenāt heard from any pre-approval for submission after 15th Nov 2021. If anyone got pre-approval, pl share. You can really boost the moral of many applicants who have submitted applications in Nov-Dec 2021 and awaiting very eagerly for their turn since last 6 months or more. Thanks.
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Iāve realized that the timelines can be tricky sometimes, according to my lawyer another client they represent, same country of citizenship, whose application was filed 2 weeks before mine received the pre-approval 2 months before I did.
My dates:
GV Application: November 9, 2021
Pre-Approval: May 19, 2022
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Congratulations and thanks for sharing the info. All the best for the biometrics now.
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I havenāt see any pre approvals after application date of 15 November 2021 in this forum.
My Lawyers however did mention that they are now seeing approvals for applications submitted in first week of December 2021.
My application was submitted on 29 November 2021 and I am still waiting.
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small tip; you may see a charge in your PT bank account for āARI declarationā, most likely the pre-approval is just around the corner. in my case, Iāve received the pre-approval 3 days after.
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