Very helpful. Thanks for posting. It would be amazing if we could do the biometrics at the Portuguese embassy in our home country, without having to go to Portugal just for that. That would ease the whole process tremendously and save the additional waiting time for booking appointments in Portugal.
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Applied and paid 26th October 2021, pre-approval received 8th March 2022.
Remaining family members applied and paid 10th & 15th November 2021, still not heard anything regarding their pre-approvals.
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You were invited to book biometrics when you were pre-approved in March? Iām surprisedā¦ I applied in October 2021 and was pre-approved in January 2022 along with my dependents, but we are waiting for an invitation to book biometrics. Wondering if Iāve missed something!
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I am very curious as to how you were invited to biometrics right after the pre-approval?
Did you receive an email from SEF directly?
Given that the last biometrics invites stopped somewhere around May 2021 pre-approvals, but you received yours for March 2022 pre-approval?
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The pre-approval email from SEF was sent directly to my lawyer (who handled the whole application) and in the same email is a sentence that says (in Portuguese - hereās the translation) -
"From this date onwards , you will be able to schedule your trip to a service desk at the Foreigners and Borders Service.
It seems like a very standard, no-reply email. I assumed that anyone whoās been pre-approved would have received same.
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Curious as to where this information comes from -
"the last biometrics invites stopped somewhere around May 2021 pre-approvalsā¦
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Text of full message is -
Dear Messrs.
We inform you that, on [DATE], [NAME OF APPLICANT], a national of [COUNTRY], was admitted for an Investment Residency Authorization (ARI).
From this date onwards, you will be able to schedule your trip to a service desk at the Foreigners and Borders Service .
The Resident Authorization team was an Investor (ARI).
Do not Reply. This email address is used exclusively for sending this message.
Seems like a standard email - I thought everyone got the same.
Ok, it looks like the standard pre-approval notification email, and NOT the actual invite to schedule the biometrics which allegedly has a 10-day expiry window.
I cannot compare to my own notification email because I never received one. It appears SEF sends emails to the lawyerās email address ONLY, and none to the applicantās email.
The information on the biometrics scheduling is posted on this thread, where you can see it stopped around May 2021:
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Iām a bit confused - are you saying that SEF sends out a further invite to book the biometrics appointment and that we have to wait for this before we can book?
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Applied on Nov 9 2021 for the family
Pre-acceptance received May 10 2022
Now the wait for biometrics!
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Yesā¦
SEF implemented the āchronologicalā process back in Q4 2021, were able to invite people who were pre-approved up to approx. May 2021, and then everything stopped somewhere in Feb 2022.
There are some signs of pre-approvals having restarted earlier this month, but nothing yet on biometrics. Just crickets 
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Yes, and the wait is currently about a year. Here is a good post that talks about current timing. Hopefully things will speed up and the wait wonāt be this long for you.
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Insane! My ādependent childrenā will be elderly and retired by the time this all comes through.
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Wow fantastic! Very encouraging as my family members applied next day and 6 days after you. I hope thereās some good news soon.
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Congratulations!
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best of luck! 
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Congrats. I (main applicant) applied on the same date as yours and am still waiting for my pre-approval. In your case, did the main applicant apply on 9th Nov also?
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I have received an identical notification confirming my pre-approval. This is a form letter that was probably developed prior to conversion of biometric appointments from on-line scheduling to chronological assignment. On SEF site, there is still a āscheduling functionā, but it is completely non-functional as none of the drop-down fields are populatedā¦ ever. Hence, I am sorry to be a bearer of bad news, but most likely you are in the same (slow) boat like everyone else when it comes to biometric appointments. 
But donāt despair: your children will become geniuses by the time everything is processed and you fulfill your residency requirement! Portugal would certainly welcome these highly-qualified professionals as Portuguese have opened their economy to digital nomads and highly-trained individuals. 
For your reference: I applied on Oct 10, '21, wife was added on Oct 19. She received pre-approval around Feb '22, mine came in Mar '22 (donāt ask āwhyā). We are still waiting for biometrics like everyone else.
Interestingly, my lawyer said that supposedly the ā5-year clockā has started from the day of pre-approval. I donāt know where she received this information, maybe that was the most recent change in immigration practice due to the COVID-induced backlog? Did anyone else hear anything similar?
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Way back, our lawyer told us the 5-year clock started when the cards were issued. However, Iām hoping your lawyer is correct that something has changed. Hopefully others here will jump in with input.
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I knew that 5 yrs clock starts from the date of issue of the card. But then it was also told that you will get the card within 6 months from the date of application. But with all these delays now, itās very much logical if they starts the clock from the date of Pre-Approval. It makes sense. But can we get any official notification in this regard from SEF or Govt?
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