@DumontdosSantos Can you clarify whether SEF notifies for biometrics in the order that applications were received, or the order that they were pre-approved? For some people pre-approval took 2 months but for others it was over 6 months, and it appeared from some of their previous announcements that they were notifying for biometric appointments based on application date.
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Do you know anyone with pre-approval June 2020 ?
I have got pre-approval in June 2020 but now I am still waiting for Biometric Apointment.
Hopefully it will not take 10 years to arrange the Biometric…
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Hi @jswik hope you are fine.
SEF notifies for biometrics in the order that they were pre-approved.
Pre-approvals timeline can cary from case to case.
The decision about Pre-approvals is randomly attributed to one of the SEF offices in the country.
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Hi @live2learn , i hope you are fine.
This is uncommon.
Check your ARI Portal to understand what happend and the status of your application.
All pre-approvals of 2020 should have been solved. Check you situation here:
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Thank you very much for your post.
I wish I could check it myself. I have absolutely no control on this because my lawyer has the account and its password.
I applied for family of 6. But until now, only 3 (including myself) have got the Biometric. The other 3 members are still waiting. I’ve been asking my lawyer frequently, but same reply: Nothing from SEF.
It is quite scary situation because we have no control at all. Just keepin waiting. And as you said, all pre-approval in 2020 should have been solved. Now SEF is trying to solve 2021, then God knows when they are going to revert back to 2020 ?
I have read somewhere in this forum that there are also some people with pre-approval in 2020, but still waiting for Bio.
Anyway, thank you very much indeed.
I wish I knew this forum earlier…
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We applied November 22, 2021 and are still in “em analisis” status. No pre-approval yet. Our attorney said none of their clients who applied in the 4th quarter of 2021 have been pre-approved yet.
Has anyone from late November been approved from this board?
I applied on 30 November 2021. As per my lawyers early November applications are now being processed, so we should get to know by end of May or early June 2022. However even after pre approval there is a long wait for Biometrics, I read in some forums that Q1 2021 pre approvals are now been given appointments for Biometrics. So I don’t expect to receive a biometrics appointment before Q1 2023. The GV process is a long one and probably takes close to a year and half (at the minimum) from application to resident cards.
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Yes, the process has slowed down due to pandemic and I feel due to the war as SEF stuff became busy to issue the temporary residence cards for huge number of Ukrainians . Unfortunately, this was has started just after pandemic when the SEF resumed working. I hope the usual speed will come back and once the backlogs are cleared. But yes, as per the current situation the Q4 -21 applicants cannot get the biometrics appointments before Q4- 22… a long wait for sure.
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Pre-approvals halted completely for 2 months. SEF recommenced application review (from late April) and notified a few early Nov applicants on this forum that they had pre-approval.
Whether SEF will continue at the same pace, we do not know. They likely have a huge pile! Many November and December 2021 applicants were avoiding location/price changes anticipated for 2022.
SEF appointments for biometrics may require the budget being approved (end May) and money to flow – mid-June??
And in case anybody thought there were fewer approvals in April 2022, the number is 121 higher than for Jan, Feb or March 22, led by the US: https://www.sef.pt/pt/Documents/ABRIL_2022%20ARI.pdf
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Interesting. People are applying under sec 6 (the artistic donation/heritage thing) and only paying EUR200k instead of the legislated 250k? One in Jan too.
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Can visa be denied even after getting pre -Approval. My friend still not got any answer biometric done in July 2021 in Lisbon .Lawyer says still no answer from SEF . He is worry that his visa might decline
It was an interesting to point out about 200k donation towards the artistic project.
Indeed, as you mentioned, the amount needs to be 250k. But, if the amount is invested in low density area, it can be discounted 20%. Hence, we see 200k.
I found out this article about this:
Actually, it is really a good deal when making comparison with the Carribean passport 100k donation.
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Is your friend is from any of the banned countries? In that case it can be declined, I suppose. Otherwise, any false declaration or criminal record might cause to decline. If none of these, then the person might not worry on that side and check with SEF through her/his lawyer.
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I feel you cannot compare this with Caribbean programs. This is a GV and that’s a passport straight way. Here you still need to pay fees for every time you do a renewal, after getting a GV (which is now taking 1-1.5 yrs ) you have to wait min 5 years to apply for citizenship, that process will take another year and you need to pay the fees etc. So, even besides fees, your waiting time for a passport will be appx. 7-7.5 years. While for Caribbean program , you will get the passport in max 6-8 months.
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FYI
I received this email from my lawyer today after letting them know that I was very unhappy with all the delays and watching how they still promote the golden visa in their advertisements and say that it only takes about 6 months!!
Please note that I cannot say who my lawyer is.
“We do apologize for the lack of communication and news from our side. We are experiencing some very difficult times with SEF, with the severe delays that are currently being verified on the Golden Visa process, both on the pre-approval stage and also on the scheduling of the biometrics appointments with SEF, fact that we consider a total lack of respect and consideration, towards our clients (such as your case) that have greatly deposited their hope (and investment) in our Country.
For your information, and in order to try and speed up the process we have now reached a stage where we send a lawyer every week to the SEF delegation in Lisbon to put pressure on them to speed up pre approvals and sort the issues with the biometrics. SEF states that are trying their best to speed things up and this is being handled internally, but we keep insisting so that they know that every week they will have more explanations to give us.
What we also did last week, was to write a formal request to the newly appointed director of SEF in which we have highlighted all the many flaws of the process, where we presented possible solutions for this and where one of our lawyers asked to have a personal hearing with him in order to see what they have to say and what to they propose as solutions to solve and improve the golden visa process as a whole. I attach the translated version of this request for your information.
Still on a political side, we are also trying to have a hearing with the responsible ministry where we intend to propose that all collections for biometrics are done before consulates without the need of the golden visa applicants to displace themselves to Portugal just for that purpose.
On another note, and having spoken with various colleagues from other law firms in Portugal, we are all contemplating the possibility of presenting a lawsuit against SEF on behalf of all our clients. This would work as a class action that would be used to seek compensation from SEF, but most importantly to work as a means of pressure for them to finally move forward with the processes they have in hand. We are studying the advantages of this move and we will keep you posted on any developments.
We will touch base again in 15 days to give you updates on the status of your application.”
I hope this is helpful to all of you and sheds a little hope.
All the best
AA
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Of course I understand that one can get Carribean passport within months. The Portugal offers Golden Visa, not Passport.
Here I am refering to the price purely in numerical sense.
I doubt one can get Portuguese passport via Golden visa within 7.5 years. It is very challenging.
I have been waiting more than 2 years and still have not had the resident card in hand. That means no way I will complete the citizenship task within 7.5 years. In my opinion, 10 years is a realistic number considering the current pace.
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Looks like we are dealing with the same firm, I received the same email. I hope their representation brings some results.
Very interested in which firm this is if you’re willing to share. I’d support my lawyer joining that lawsuit (more to pressure change than anything)
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2 people who applied on 4th Nov have got approval and have posted in yhe Forum. I’d like to know if anyone else who applied in Nov have got their approval
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As the main applicant I applied and paid 26th October 2021, pre-approval received 8th March 2022.
For the remaining family members - applied and paid 10th & 15th November 2021, still not heard anything regarding their pre-approvals.
Upon receiving my pre-approval I was invited to book my biometric appointment but decided to wait for the others to get their pre-approvals so that hopefully we could all attend together. Don’t know if this was a mistake.
At this rate the children will have finished their university education (and therefore no longer be dependent) before completing 5 years of GV residency. The whole idea of going down the GV route was for them to have a pathway to eventual citizenship. My husband and I could simply have gone through the D7 route for ourselves. But we chose the GV route as that offered the kids a way to also get Portuguese citizenship. The older child is nearly finished the 2nd year of their 4 year degree. Fortunately they want to do a 2nd masters degree and a PhD. The younger starts the 1st year of a 4 year degree this year. They are going to have to follow that on with a masters afterwards, just so as to complete 5 years as a dependent. But if the pre-approvals and biometrics process drags on much longer they will be out of time, unless they just keep getting more degrees. OMG!
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