It seems hard to conclude anything other than that the SEF bureaucracy has implemented their own policy of trying to stop the golden visa. That the issue is not actually logistical is clear by how they handle the D7s. Itās very possible that negative publicity helps that goal rather than hinders it. Maybe the government and other interest groups donāt want ARI to end, but they arenāt the ones implementing the policy, SEF and its succesor are. Hard to believe the folks running the new agency wonāt be the same as the ones running the current one.
This seems like a reasonable explanation because nothing else makes sense. There was a short duration around December 2021 to February 2022 when GV was getting priority and then that ended abruptly with the election and Ukraine situation. But as others have mentioned these factor have had no adverse impact on other visa types.
There might be one other explanation which is SEF (employees) is/are trying to draw attention to their concerns/demands via showing to the government that they can literally pause the program (and the investment in mid-term) in practice.
This was once told me by a Portuguese lawyer and he told me that he thought that the program was used as a bargain chip - if you slow down GV there will be little public out-cry (no one will really care) but it will have direct economical consequences in the mid-term which makes GV a perfect tool to draw attention; because sooner or later the investors will create noise (which is actually happening) and SEF (employees) might use it as a way to enforce their demandsā¦
I am not 100% sure about this theory, but given what is happening out there it makes sense. Certainly the issue is more on political axis rather than technical front.
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I am also in the same situation as you.
Note that:
- Without residence card you still can obtain the Numero de Utente for the heath service.
- No way to convert the driving license. However, letās consider the Bike with Motor 80cc. I saw guys from UberEats and Glovo using this Bike. It is a Bike, hence no license required. However, it has a motor 80cc which is strong enough to conquer the steep hills in PTā¦(see photo below).
I think I might need to wait 3 years for the card. So in the meantimes, at least a bike with motor helps me a bit.
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Wonderful. Rich people without SEF appointments bike around for life essentials in Portugal. I laugh in tears.
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so, here is another report of stoppage. Its a long video but can summarize as follows:
-GV applicants are at a standstill
-Lawyers advised that biometrics appts will take 18 months after pre-approval
-regional government of Madeira is pressuring national government to solve problem
-if you are considering applying now, donāt do it.
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LOL. Iām 75 and havenāt ridden a bike since age 10. Canāt see myself riding a bike on narrow streets with no shoulders and cars zooming around blind corners at scary speeds. But thanks for the kind suggestion, and hope you have safe riding.
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Sorry for my bad recommendation. I was not aware of this. LOL. 
If this bureaucracy continues at this pace, some GV investors like you will receive the first card at age of 80 or 90ā¦Just incredible to imagine 
Been reading the various posts about making some noise.
Has anyone considered reaching out to US news outlets about these delays? Most articles Iāve read in major media sites - NY Times, WaPo, etc. - sound sensationalistic and paint a rosy picture.
- Americans are buying EU citizenship
- Californians are moving to Portugal
- Golden Visa buy a house, get a citizenship
I donāt think I have seen (m)any mention the backlog or SEF failures. For one it would aid as a warning for folks considering this approach and two western media picking up these stories is bad optics for the PT golden visa program when compared to other programs.
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Funny you mention this. I have a friend that works for a major US media company that frequently writes about stuff like this. I am on the fence though about bringing this topic onto her radar. It could help put some more pressure on the SEF. Or it could significantly hurt the reputation of the program and cause the Portuguese gov to strip funding further, making it even more difficult for us to move forward in the process. Not to mention it would impact business for all immigration companies/lawyers/agents involved. I guess if things donāt improve in the near future, I may have to consider reaching out to her.
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This movie has played out before in 2017. Then too, the program had almost ground to a halt, with allegations that the bureaucracy was deliberately slowing it down (they were processing other visa categories fast enough) as a protest against the government.
But then they made several procedural reforms (e.g. apply anywhere regardless of location of property) and the logjam was cleared up by mid-2018.
The equations between SEF and government are much more complicated this time, with extinction/reorganisation, so the recovery may take longer than last time.
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I think you are spot onā¦ There was a similar movie around 2017ā¦ I do recall me submitting my first application from Lisbon around Dec 2017 and nothing happening for a long time - 6 months - I actually had to withdraw my application and reapply through a smaller city.
By mid 2018 things then gained pace. That was the time when I recall a Portuguese lawyer telling me that GV visa approvals were deliberately slowed down in 2017 so that SEF would use this as a way to send a message to the government.
Given that there is the discussion of closing the existing agency and re-create a brand new system / structure I believe there might be even more going on behind the scenes as internal politics fight for resources heat up; e.g. which agency will have the manpower, how will the new staff be sourced, what will happen to the current staff, the need of additional manpower. Our current case now is a perfect excuse/reason to show that more staff is needed for the new structure
Still in the end, āRule of Lawā should prevail and we shouldnāt suffer from this - this shouldnāt happen in EU and I donāt think this is beneficial to anyone.
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I think you should, time has come for it and given that there has been some publicity around this - idealista / imidaily articles - I think it is the right time.
This is a true story and US investors are becoming the biggest investors to the program so there is the relavence. They should be aware of whatās going on.
On top, articles appearing on US media might create more noise and I donāt think they can simply be ignored as this is now turning into a reputational issue.
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I second Mr. E. I also think that kag should bring the issue (in particular our new data summary) to the friend in the media. Do not worry about the possible negative things. The programās reputation is already hurt. If the Portuguese govt cares about its reputation, it wonāt strip funding. Stripping funding or cutting the program will only cause more damage to the reputation of the Portuguese government.
There are many problems:
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Massive delays at airports. When I arrived in Lisbon only 3 of 10 booths were staffed and the lines were very long. Some blamed the problem on airport infrastructure but I donāt see how that can be the primary cause when the existing infrastructure is not fully utilized.
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Inability to reschedule renewals for visas. If you read SEFās facebook page, you will see many people complaining about the inability to schedule renewals and the problems this creates for immigrants lives. I imagine this is for many visa classifications. There just seems to be lack of resources devoted to renewals and this has been ongoing even before the Ukraine war.
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ARI stoppage. The ARI application and approval process has come to a standstill. Since D7 applications are moving ahead there is no justification for this, since the government made a āpromiseā enshrined by the laws that in exchange for investment in the country certain things would be done such as residence. Some people have been waiting for years with no resolution. Other people have their entire life savings put into investments and now are prevented from living there in Portugal.
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Iām not sure the US media really has an appetite for this. Whenever I have read a story on this the angle is always around super rich people buying citizenship or residency somewhere else, ie, no one feels sorry for those poor super rich people. To the vast majority of people in the US such a prospect is unfathomable.
I do not think such an article would help anyone. But perhaps Iām wrong.
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It depends on the audience. International Living magazine it would be spot on target. Chicago Tribune, yeah I canāt imagine anyone giving a shit. There are plenty of magazine cater to people who travel a lot where this would be relevant. In general though its a ārich people problemā even though many applying for it arenāt rich by western standards.
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I know this article recently published by LA times was very popular.
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Popular with whom? That is Robās point. I read on Facebook one of the people interviewed for that LA times article was angry because the author mis-characterized her comments and the facts to make Americans look bad. Many people the ātargetā of that article were very upset and sought to correct the bias in the article to no avail. And that was regular D7 visas. I can only imagine what bias they might put into an article about golden visas. E.g., whiny Americans complain they canāt eat their pasteis de nata while Ukrainians and other migrants suffer.
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