After talking to someone from investment company, I was told that if you make the investment before Dec 31 2021 for 350,000 EUR, you can still continue with your online application after Dec 31st for 350k.
Basically they are saying that only the day of investment matters and not when you actually apply online. Is this correct?
Some info:
Looks like the info I got is wrong. Application submission date should be before Dec 31 and not fund invested date.
Every consultancy I speak to gives me a different piece of information and this info is not verifiable anywhere from SEF website. I think this is an overused word here. But this is ridiculous.
Ravi
There are many aspect of the process that are ridiculous but this is not one of them. At this point it would be foolish to wait until the last few weeks of 2021 to apply. If you are concerned about actual deadline, start to apply now and it won’t be an issue. In the worst case scenario, it should not take more than 4 months to apply start to finish.
I don’t know, I agree with Ravi, it is ridiculous that you can’t get a definitive answer on what exactly needs to be done before the end of the year.
My point is that if this hypothetical problem bothers you, you should prepare yourself because as they say , “you ain’t seen nothing yet…”
Yeah, I’m beginning to realize that. Culture shock, I guess.
I fully agree with @anon16151502. This process is full of twists, turns, obstacles, delays, annoyances, fees, more fees, paperwork, gratuitous express overnight international shipments of pen-signed documents that will be scanned in when they arrive (as if that somehow differs from scanning it here and saving the $160), getting documents translated and apostilled and getting the apostilles translated and the translations apostilled ad infinitum. It’s a giant bureaucratic quagmire. That’s how it’s intended to be. It’s a growth industry for the people who translate and apostille and review paperwork and scan documents and so forth.
I am observing, and cautioning, but not complaining. Portugal is most gracious to provide this opportunity to join their wonderful society. There are delays and obstacles and costs, and that’s it. I consent. I will politely comply and cheerfully anticipate victory six or seven years from now. I will have earned it, and I will cherish it.
I think it’s a risky strategy to wait for the last minute, and to assume that deadlines are flexible and advantageously permissive. The likelihood of success if you wait to the last minute is very slim. I’m doing everything I can to politely expedite things. Even now, with eight months left in the year, I feel like I’m cutting it too close for comfort. What if they arbitrarily decide that I have to complete my (unavailable) SEF appointment and have my issue in hand, stamped with an entry stamp, by the end of the year? Maybe that’s a worst-case overkill scenario, but I’ll be happier when I’m on the glide path to success.
All the details here:
I don’t know if I’d agree that it was intended to be a bureaucratic quagmire good only for creating a growth industry in paperwork. That might be what’s happened, but I don’t think it was intended. Maybe simply taken as a given because that’s how everything there seems to work there, birth to death? 
@sjswarts - this describes how much of the rest of the world works. If you pursue this path, your culture shocks are just beginning. And this is not particularly unique to .pt - I tend to think they are a paragon of efficiency and clarify next to Costa Rica. Which is also a beautiful country full of wonderful people and a great place to live. Just different values. But isn’t that part of why we are all looking elsewhere in the world, different values?
I agree that it is not intentional, but a byproduct of a culture that does things differently. I admit I am frustrated sometimes with timing but it is the Portuguese culture and I respect that. In a way, many of the people seeking to relocate to another country, whether part time or full time, have a desire for a more relaxed pace or at least a different way of life. So you (and I ) can’t exactly have it both ways… I have to remind myself occasionally not to get upset with the process and to be thankful for the opportunity.
Portuguese bureaucracy was never the best thing about Portugal, I am afraid. As for all the paperwork, I can speak as a Portuguese, that nobody really likes it. But we have lots of old laws, since the XII century, and sometimes stuff just accumulate 
.
The good news is that lots of things have improved in the last 10 years or so and some government internet services are quite good. But not all.