Hello everybody.
Does anyone know the documents required for the SEF biometric appointment?
I just need to get them ready before I leave my country and in case I have an appointment I be totally ready for it with all the requirements.
Thanks.
Usually the lawyers will do the prework around the proof of investmentā¦ Here is what I recall
- transfer of funds to Portugal taken from the bank
- actual purchase of a property or participation into the fund or fulfiling other criteria should be prerequisites
On top of these
- criminal record (apostilled taken in the last 3 months)
- proof of you spending time in Portugal (1 week/year) needs to be verifiedā¦
I do rely on my lawyers to produce the documents therefore there might be few additional documents that I might be missing; apostilled criminal record taken in the last 3 months is the one document that I get it from my home country.
Hope this helps
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Not sure I understand your question correctly, and I have not had my SEF appointment yet, but hereās what I expect may be accurate:
The documents you need to bring to your SEF appoitment are essentially the same as the ones you submitted online on the SEF portal for pre-approval.
The notable differences/additions will be:
- all documents must be original, as opposed to scanned copies you submitted online;
- all time-limited documents must be freshly re-issued/apostilled if expired, e.g. criminal record, birth/marriage certs, Tax and Social Security declarations etc.
- you need to bring all required documents, as opposed to only āmandatoryā ones marked by asterisk (*) you submitted on the portal;
- you need to show proof of your most recent ālegal entry to Portugalā, i.e. your visa and border control stamps in your passport;
- you need to provide copies of all your passport pages, including the empty ones;
- you need to provide a completed GV Application Form with your photo attached;
- you need to provide request/consent form for collecting your biometrics;
- you need to provide Termos de Responsabilidade (TdR) forms for all your dependants (I mention this because the official list on the SEF website is missing this piece).
For all of that you have three sources of official SEF info:
-
SEF website - list of required documents (I recommend you check both EN and PT versions, as I was struggling to understand some EN terms they used until discovering PT original listing)
https://imigrante.sef.pt/en/solicitar/residir/art90-a/
https://imigrante.sef.pt/solicitar/residir/art90-a/ -
SEF portal list of documets for online submission - basically repeats #1 but there are some additions like TdR etc. that are missed in #1 (again, check both PT and EN listings to ensure you got everything clear)
https://ari.sef.pt/account/default.aspx -
SEF internal procedure manual document (additionally refers to passport copies, GV application form and biometrics form) - only PT version is available.
https://www.sef.pt/pt/Documents/Manual_ARI_2017.pdf
Additionally, some SEF document templates like TdR, etc. are located here:
Hope this helps.
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Hi. I had my SEF appointment last month. My lawyer took care of everything, but I was there, so I know that they asked for the property purchase evidence, passport, criminal background check. So, basically they wanted to see all the originals for everything you should have already submitted. Since my criminal background was expired, I was supposed to present a new one, but I got the appointment very last minute, so I didnāt have time to get it. They were like āno problem, just send us a new one as soon as you have oneā. We got business 20 days to send it, which wasnāt enough (due to long delays in the US), so we requested an extension which is what they said to do after the 20 days if neededā¦
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Wow, I am in the same situationā¦ I wonāt have a current criminal record check, notarized by a Portuguese consulate in Canada, before I leave Canada for my SEF appointment on June 16.
I hope the SEF bureaucrat provides a time extention to me. It must be a common situation considering the way SEF is operating!
Regards,
Wendy
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It is quite common. Your lawyer will be able to get as many 10 day extensions as they ask for until the documents are ready submitted. Still, the sooner you get them in, the sooner the complete application will go in the queue. Although, once that happens, you will be waiting for a long time for final approval.
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Yes, so Iāve heard! As long as another 12 monthsā¦
Thanks,
Wendy
It took me about two weeks to get a police certificate in Montreal and less than a week to have it signed by a consulate. Thereās also a company in Vancouver that can do it all for you even faster.
Hi - I searched and was not able to find anything on this. My husband (main applicant) and 14yo son were able to get appointments, but myself and our other son are still in queue due to updated paperwork that we needed to submit. Husband and 14yo are going for appointments next week in Lisbon. Iām sure that our attorney will inform us of any paperwork requirements, but is there anything else that we should be aware of for the appointments? They donāt speak a word of Portuguese and have never been to Portugal. Anything that you wish you had known?
The process as it happened with me:
We met our lawyer outside SEF office. She took our passports, photocopies etc, and went in. After a bit she brought us in and had us sit in the waiting area. After waiting for maybe 45 mins or so, we were called in to the inner office area and met the SEF agent. I sat at her desk and signed/initialled a batch of paperwork where my lawyer indicated. Then I was shown to a machine nearby where I stood for a photograph and had my fingerprints scanned. Then my wife and child did the same. No issues or problems arose, and we were on our way within about 90 mins or so. Our SEF agent spoke good English and was lovely, but your lawyer is there to translate as needed.
(Iām writing the following as āyouā, but I mean your husband of course). Preparation. Before leaving, photocopy every single page of every passport. Bring any old expired passports you have to hand. Bring any additional ID documents that you think might possibly be relevant, even if not strictly on the list. Before departing on the flight, ask airport staff to print an old-fashioned boarding pass if you donāt already have one. Arriving in Lisbon, you will get a passport stamp. This is likely to be very faint - not sure thereās much anyone can do about that. When you get to your hotel, have them photocopy the page in your passport that has the stamp in it, and add it to the stack. Make sure you know how to get to the SEF office and donāt be late.
You will need to make a payment for the filing. Itās not much, canāt remember, but they want it paid from a Portuguese bank account. Ideally yours, if it works, or your lawyer can pay on your behalf.
When youāre done, ask your lawyer for an update on how long you can expect to wait for approval, and report back. Probably a year. Finally, just before you leave the SEF office, ask them to find my application and move it to the top of the pending queue.
Good luck.
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There is some extensive information on this. Although some is āhiddenā in various threads, the best information is here in a post with a similar title: SEF Biometric requirements. Tommigun gives links to the SEF list of required docs, which is important.
Perhaps the posts can me merged.
Thatās doneā¦
Thanks. The curse having an elephantine memoryā¦ 
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