Ok, smart people say that the system is overcrowded. And if your payment is not processed by SEF in due time you got automatically “cancelado” 8 days after payment (or 8d after applying? would appreciate smbdy confirm the dates) .
Recommendation is either wait or write to SEF with DUC and payment receipt
P.S. The system is overcrowded - too many renewals says SEF. Now everybody sends an emails and surprise, surprise the mailbox will be overcrowded 
We can do nothing at this point of time apart from waiting. SIBS is the central utility technology driver for payments, running the payment system end-to-end for more than 3 decades in Portugal, serving Banks, the Central Bank, government, state payments etc. along with Multibanco system. If the payment was made through a Portuguese bank and the amount+reference numbers are correct, then it’s the state’s responsibility to issue an internal receipt to SEF. My bank manager was able to provide me with the confirmation in writing that the payment has been successfully made to the state account.
Unfortunately, the SEF system is super basic with low quality software implementation and they have to update manually one-by-one. Wait for your turn to be updated or get a payment proof and shoot another email to SEF’s already flooded inbox for a robotic response back as an acknowledgement.
The word “Patience” originates from the Latin word “Patientia,” which means “the ability to endure,” or “bearing of pain or misfortune” or “endurance.” It was first used in English around the 14th century and widely adopted by the Portuguese authorities and lost in translation, now it is just " Impose the pain" on the GV applicants officially in 2023.
Thank you for possibly the wittiest thing I have read in 10 days of waiting 
. Levity is the cure for frustration.
Timeline
July 22 - Submitted application
July 24 - Made payment, money debited
July 31 - emailed SEF with details, screenshot of status, payment transfer confirmation
Aug 1 - received email response from SEF stating my response was forwarded to technical department
Aug 2 - still waiting with status ‘Awaiting Payment’
Aug 3 - YAY - Application being processed
Aug 4 - Application Completed
Has anybody been able to “unlock” their online SEF account or can recommend any lawyers who are able to do so?
Mine has been locked for 4 months already due to “bad email” and at this point looks like there is no hope of being able to contact anybody to help unlock it or do the renewal. Is filing a lawsuit against SEF the only option to get any response from them?
Lawsuit against SEF is useless at the moment as the whole department is getting liquidated and even if you win, who’s gonna be responsible to implement when the whole department doesn’t exist?
Alternatively, you can try following options:
Thanks @TommyReine for mentioning “Livro de Reclamações”, I was not aware of it.
Did anyone here have positive experience of raising a complaint there and having it resolved by SEF?
When I registered my wife at SEF for renewal, I also registered her email address incorrectly and could not get a confirmation of registration for the SEF website.
I emailed them at the general email address on the website explaining my situation. I got a confirmation of receipt from them asking for more details of the request. I had to use chat GPT to craft an email in Portuguese, and resent the request for fixing the email address.
I never got a confirmation of fixing of this issue, but I was magically able to re-register her on the SEF website about five days later.
I have checked the FAQ about automatic renewal and apparently its not for golden visa residency renewal
FAQ link:Automatic Renewals – Frequently Asked Questions – The Official Website of Portuguese Immigration
No. Your residence permit does not allow you to use of the “automatic renewal” feature. You must proceed with the online scheduling for SEF bureau service in the menu “Appointments Schedule” in the ARI Website.
and ARI page wants you to book an appointment the same way you did for first biometrics, so how exactly did you manage it renew it online?
That FAQ is severely outdated…
It is possible to renew automatically, for visas expiring until 30 sept 2023.
Curious to know: anyone who did this online renewal process all by themselves, despite having a lawyer who originally helped setup (and owned/managed) ARI account?
Yes, plenty of people on this forum (including myself) managed the renewal themselves, though we had a lawyer for the first card.
I did take the help of my lawyers to pay the DUCs, though that is also easily possible to do by yourself.
(Given the volatility and uncertainty of the situation, while the current online renewal might have been possible to manage individually, future renewals and other procedures are very likely to require the help of a lawyer)
Yup. No lawyers’ fee to renew as you can renew and pay online easier. I did keep my lawyers address as my card address so it’s sent to their office and they can DHL it to me.
Is there anyone else who’s a victim of cancelled applications after the DUC payment? I am planning for a lawsuit against SEF, shall be happy to file a case together.
Mine was canceled by SEF but has now been updated to say accepted. They are working on fixing this issue they’ve even put out some instructions to wait on their Facebook. So no need to file a lawsuit, this should be fixed soon.
Thanks – that feels so refreshing to perhaps finally have something I have direct access to…! Been so tough being a more control freak type here…
I am glad the lawyers took it well and not try to enforce the fees.
If the online service states that your card has been registered but you have not done so (a system error), what can you do to re-register?
Have you tried clearing the browsing history (ie get rid of cookies), and tried with a new email address? I have no personal experience of this, but I see on a portuguese forum that others who have the problem have done this with success. Others have waited for 24 hours before trying again.
i have tried for month now, this is only happening to one out of a group of 4 of us, we all registered back in Jan this year and 3 of us were registered, and one of us did not and same problem throughout the past few month, i even tried on different computer and on my phone, a few email addresses (i even registered a new gmail to try) same issue
