Awaiting Biometrics (Stage 3)

If thereā€™s a viable way to get appointments by phone, itā€™s bound to be more effective than messing around on the computer with the scheduling site. Waiting on the phone for 20 hours would be easier than checking the web site 20 times a day for six months.

Iā€™m sure glad to be done with my biometrics. I relish the pleasure of obtaining my residence card, whenever it comes.

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Somewherrrrreee
Over the oceannnn
way over there
thereā€™s a card waiting for me
in a cranky SEF agentā€™s drawer

From somewhere over the rainbow
must come our visa cards
And til then must we dare to dream
that they will really come

Someday Iā€™ll wish upon a star
And the SEF agent will wake up and mail me my card
And my troubles will melt like lemon drops
Away above the the chimney tops
And Portugal is where youā€™ll find me

From somewhere over the rainbow
Golden visas must come (from the pot of gold?)
D7 visa holders fly over the ocean
why then, oh why canā€™t I?

Waiting patiently for our cards,
-jb

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Assuming you want to sit there for days on end hitting F5 or whatever you need to do. I canā€™t imagine doing it myself, I just canā€™t. There is a definite advantage in having a lawyer pay a single intern to get carpal tunnel on behalf of 100 clients versus 100 clients all getting carpal tunnel. It just seems that not all lawyers are willing to sacrifice one of their interns to the refresh deity.

I did not think there was a way for an individual to get access to the scheduling system. Our lawyer says that they have a login for hundreds of clients so they cannot give us the login. They also said that there was no way for an individual to get the login. Is that not true?

At least with the lawyer we are using it sounds like the login does not even give them access to scheduling and most of the time theyā€™re just on the phone doing it.

My lawyer is basically planning to make a new login for just me, and we will share access. Not sure what your lawyer is up to. Iā€™ve definitely seen people say they have their own login

Alas, that is not true. They lied to you.

Interesting. Do you guys know what the process is for an individual to get their own login so I can look for appointment times on my own?

If your application have already been submitted under your lawyerā€™s login, then I am afraid nothing can be done. You may want to check with your lawyers and ask them to split off your account, but I suspect they would say that it is not possible.

I just setup access to my account such that my lawyers and I both share access to my file (without sharing either of our credentials with each other)ā€¦ though I have not tried these steps where the lawyer has already submitted, but you can try and see if this works after submission.

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Just for info for this thread - Last week our attorney got Jake (the primary applicant) an SEF appointment for 11/17 in Coimbraā€¦still waiting/looking for an appointment for Ann for family reunification. Progress!!

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I submitted all my paperwork and made a ā‚¬350,000 investment by mid-August. I am still waiting for approval to come through. I am confused about timing. I have been told by my lawyers that I cannot submit paperwork for my dependent mother and brother until my approval comes through (is this what some people refer to as pre-approval)?

  1. If I do not get my approval before the end of the year, does that mean that the necessary investment amount would increase to ā‚¬500,000 with the new investment requirements?
  2. If my approval comes through in 2021, but my motherĀ“s and brotherĀ“s approval does not come through until 2022 (or I donā€™t have time to submit the documents before the end of 2021), does that mean that I will have to increase the amount of my investment?

Maya
You might check with your lawyer. Adding dependents should be available after a week or so. I donā€™t think you have to wait for pre-approval to add them.

The general consensus is that as long as you have your paperwork validly submitted before end of year you are ok. I donā€™t think that is an official government policy but rather how it has been interpreted by some lawyers. I donā€™t think anyone on this board has any authority to give a definitive answer on this. I personally would be more comfortable if my pre-approval was granted before end of 2021. If you submitted in mid_August you should get pre-approval by mid-November.

As to second question, if your dependentā€™s paperwork is added properly in 2021 you ā€œshouldā€ be fine. If not, who knowsā€¦ It is uncharted territory.

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Thanks, all very worrying. Everything is taking SOOOO long!

I assume you relied on your lawyers to submit your documentation via SEF portal?
The good news is that I can positively assure you that you indeed CAN submit the paperwork for your eligible family members straight after your own. More precisely, it can be done as soon as your own application status changes to ā€˜Application under analysisā€™, which is normally on the next business day after your initial 533EUR processing fee payment to SEF. Hereā€™s the official SEF guidance on how to do it on their portal:

https://ari.sef.pt/InfoPT/ReagrupamentoFamiliar.aspx

Now, on the question of eligibility, you can certainly apply for your mother.
But as for your brother, you can only apply if the following conditions are met:
ā€œUnderage siblings under custody of the resident, following decision by a relevant authority in the country of origin, as long as that decision is acknowledged by Portugalā€

Are you sure your brother is underage and officially under your custody?

Reference to the SEF guidance on eligibility is found here:
https://imigrante.sef.pt/en/solicitar/residir/art98-1/

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Yes, I relied on my lawyers for doc submission. Also, my brother is officially under my custody. Thanks

Ok thatā€™s good! You can submit all your family docs now via portal, just ask your lawyers to do it and if they refuse refer to the official guidance I mentioned. If they still refuse then change the lawyersā€¦

Hi,

Any idea how does the renewals timeline stand as of now for the GV ? Is it any different for primary applicant and for his/her dependents ?

Thanks.

Has anyone been able to get an appointment for December?

Unfortunately, no. Nothing is available.