Entering Portugal after pre-approval

I would not overstay the Schengen at all. Especially when no one knows the actual rules and since its repercussions spread across different Schengen countries. When you internationally enter a Schengen country other than Portugal, all they care about is, if your stay based on entry and exit times match Schengen visa validity. If not, you overstayed the Schengen visa and is subject to wild interpretations by the officer. And since you are in a different jurisdiction, I am not sure if you will even be able to get a legal remedy through court of law in case of an issue.

But there might be a solution. Once you enter Portugal you may be able to apply for Schengen VISA extension based on your wait for biometrics. You can always go to the local SEF to confirm this, if you can get an appointment :slight_smile: https://imigrante.sef.pt/en/prorrogar-permanencia/vs/

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Great idea. Thank you for the info and the link.

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Thatā€™s exactly what my family did. We got the appointment for visa extention while awaiting for cards and biometric. But SEF refused to issue. Only God knows whatā€™s going on. They refused us. But for the ukrainians coming to PT, they accept all easily and issued cards within few days (without any appointment) :sweat_smile:

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You need a Schengen visa, any Schengen visa, to enter Portugal. Never overstay a visa in any country unless you have documented evidence from the authorities (not your lawyer) that you may overstay. It can damage future Schengen travelling. This may be different if you are a refugee or asylum seeker, but you will have in that case already registered in some way with the Portuguese authorities. Never overstay a visa in any country. Ever.

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Have to admit, I didnā€™t read this whole thread (jet lag), but Iā€™m preapproved and flew into Lisbon on Tuesday. I first flew to Amsterdam (via London) where they barely looked at my passport, and flying from Amsterdam to Lisbon they didnā€™t look at all (bc eu). I left Lisbon for Paris, and one again they didnā€™t look at or ask for my passport. FYI itā€™s a US passport.

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Thanks everyone for your comments here. But something is still bothering me:

As far as I know, the following things are true (please correct me where wrong):

  • If you got (say) an Estonian, Italian, or (upcoming) Spanish digital nomad visa, that is granting you to be within that specific country for (say) 12 months. These countries are within Schengen of course.
  • You would get a border stamp on entry to them, even with the visa
  • You are allowed to be in that country for 12 months. Your Schengen clock is NOT ticking -its not in use. If you re-entered (say) France, they would look at the date on your entry stamp, and you could explain your (late) exit stamp by showing the country-specific visa - you had a right to be there, and the Schengen allowance would NOT matter. Thus you have not overstayed, and could enter France.

I canā€™t see how it could be any different from the above. It doesnā€™t make sense for any longer-than-3-month country-specific visa to cause you to immediately overstay your Schengen allowance. Using them makes it all a bit less easy to audit exact Schengen movements - but how could it be any other way?

So it seems to me the key difference is that after PT pre-approval, you donā€™t get a nice proper visa in your passport (until biometrics). But you HAVE been given the right to be in the country. And provided you havenā€™t left Portugal, then by the same logic, why would time in Portugal count against your Schengen time? It shouldā€™t really.

The only problem is proving that fact to other authorities, since Portugal only gives you an email after pre-approval (unlike e.g. Spain, that give you an actual visa in your passport ahead of your biometrics)

Just wondering if anyone had any thoughts as to why the above logic is not correct.

Thanks very much

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So Iā€™m confused now. How does one travel outside of PT to a non-Schengen country if they are in a waiting limbo, say waiting for biometrics or after the biometrics? Is there some sort of law or rule how one can be sure to leave PT after ā€œSchengen overstayā€ and, most importantly, come back to PT after, say a month?

You donā€™t provide enough information about your situation for anyone to give an accurate answer. In general, travelling to a non-schengen country isnā€™t an issue AFAIK. When you return to Portugal, just talk to your lawyer first. I think at a minimum you would want a letter from them citing the relevant law and that you have tried to make an appointment.

My understanding, flawed as it may be, is this:

before biometrics, you have very little. You have, maybe, a screenshot of an appointment, and a letter from your lawyer. Itā€™s not easy to rely on this for anything. You will enter PT purely on your Schengen.

after biometrics, you also have some document entitling you to be in PT for 6 months. Unlike other countries though, this is not a proper visa, or a stamp in your passport. So, if you then travel to any other Schengen itā€™s not much use. Those border guards may not respect ā€œoh, this allows me to be in PT for 6 months, thus my 4 months is not a 1 month overstayā€. So effectively, you have to stay in PT. You can come and go, as PT border guards will respect it, but you cannot risk going to another Schengen at that point. So, a hostage.

It gets better. The card typically takes more than 6 months to issue. So after that point, you risk further problems if you leave PT, even if not involving Schengen, when you want to come back to PT.

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Oh dearā€¦ it seems that the GV process is only making travelling in Schengen and entering/exiting Portugal so much harder and even riskier.
Shame on the Portuguese authorities which penalise GV applicants bringing in so much money into the country. Shame too on all the immigration lawyers/consultants who never warned their clients of this jam and only care about sucking the last dime out of them!

I would love to hear an update on how you all got onā€¦ If you have been able to reside in Portugal prior to Biometrics etc.

Our Lawyers are still insisting we can. But obviously must remain in Portugal. Worst case leave for essential travel (avoiding Sch) via other routes with appropriate documents.

Has anyone had any issues then showing up for the next stage with the fact you are an Overstayerā€¦

Thank you!

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My lawyer told us we can stay (and we donā€™t even have preapproval). We will definitely be overstayers, as my kid is enrolled in school this upcoming term. We did all sorts of planning and were not made aware of the (realistic) timelines.

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Be aware that, as far as I know, a regular Schengen entry is an explicit legal requirement at biometrics time.

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Yes, our lawyer says that when biometric appointment is scheduled, we would need to leave and te-enter

Thanks so much! We are in the same situation. Kids enrolled to start school in September. Thank you for the response!

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Me again! We are now contemplating my husband sticking with the GV. But the kids and I changing to D7.

We meet the requirements but hubby is a pilot so GV best for him.

Iā€™m nervous about potentially being overstayers for a year. Will this effect his application as he is the main applicant and we are dependantā€¦

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Itā€™s been a while, Iā€™m still in the same boat haha. How is your process doing?

Could you give a bit more details on the document you were referring back then?

Hi. Just done biometrics, but, as it turns out thereā€™s even another step. After checking all your documents at biometrics, you then have to wait for them all to be checked, again, by someone else. Then you are finally approved. At that point you get some sort of indication by email, thatā€™s the document I believe I was referring to here, many many moons ago.

Thank you,

So they checked their SEF system on the border control and saw that that your Biometrics had been complete and had let you in. Makes sense.

After checking all your documents at biometrics, you then have to wait for them all to be checked, again, by someone else.

Do you feel like upon entering you had already been at this ā€œfinal checkā€ stage before that? (I guess that could be guessed based on when you actually received the cards)

The whole process is so vague, itā€™s really annoying we have to rely on peer-knowledge. Thus I really appreciate it!