PGV / ARI Rage, Tragedy, & General Madness

Residencies & citizenships Portugal Golden Visa šŸ‡µšŸ‡¹
366

There is a lot of talk about visa-free travel in this thread so I thought I might contribute some of my own experience. I have already completed biometrics but still waiting for final approval and residence card, and I hold a passport that would normally require a visa to enter the EU. I have exited Schengen twice at Lisbon airport, once on a residence permit from another EU country where I was working, and once on the biometrics receipt. Both times I asked the border control agent whether I would be allowed to come back to Portugal with the biometrics receipt, and both times I had unequivocal positive answers (once the agent had to ask her colleague).
And today I came back to Lisbon and cleared passport control with exactly the biometrics receipt. The border agent was initially confused and had to confer with his colleague, but the whole thing was done in a just a few minutes, no questions asked. I also didnā€™t have any problems checking in to my flight with biometrics receipt. Check-in agent took the piece of paper and asked no questions. It was with Qatar airways.
So, obviously this is a one-off experience, but it seems to be a consensus at least at Lisbon airport that the biometrics receipt is a valid travel document in lieu of a visa or residence card.

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367

Thanks for sharing your experience.
May I ask one question? Did you fly from Asia to Lisbon(with a transit in Doha - Qatar) by Qatar Airline today? or did your flight consist of one flight (without any transit) from Doha Qatar to Lisbon?

368

It was from Africa, I was away on holiday. :slightly_smiling_face: A bit of a risky move, but I thought the opinions I got from both my lawyer and the border agents were unanimous, so the only potential obstacle would be QR not issuing me a boarding pass. At the end, everything was surprisingly smooth.

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369

Thanks for your sharing. It is very helpful informationā€¦ :pray:

370

Just another question - do you normally live in Portugal ? Did you apply for the ARI before 31 Dec 2021? Did your lawyer indicate either of those things matter ?

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  1. Short answer yes. Long answer I usually have a residence permit tied to my job in another EU country, but Iā€™m now between two jobs so living in Portugal in the interim.
  2. Yes.
  3. Lawyer didnā€™t say either way.
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