Hi Richard,
There was not much of a crowd when I went, perhaps 10 odd people outside waiting.
Also remember the crowd does not really matter, as most likely your Lawyer is already in doing thier work for you. We met at 9:45 am outside the office, then she called us in around 11ish, and we we were through in 5-10 minutes.
Also to avoid delays, in card issuance, I do suggest (besides your lawyer) personally make sure all your documents are accurate, current, apostilled, translated, notorized.
Going to the SEF for biometrics is like going to the DMV. You show up, your atty goes in and gets a number. Then you waitā¦tick tock tick tock. You watch the display (like the DMV for your number to come up) In my case it was an hour. You go in, say "Bom Dia ! or Boa Tarde ! cheerily 
They review the papers. You sign the docs in front of the SEF agent. They take your photo (the usual horrible photo exactly like your drivers license that you will hate) they take your fingerprints of index fingers. You sign an electronic signature pad, and youāre done.
The atty having all the papers duly translated, copied etc etc. without any errors and omissions is a huge help. Screw that up and itās game over.
There was someone else in there at another counter having a heated back and forth with a lot of hand waving and pointing at papers , I obviously couldnāt understand it, I thought the client was going to have a heart attack.
After approximately 14 months after pre-approval we have FINALLY completed our Biometrics appointment two weeks ago in Lisbon. Hurray! Our lawyer is saying it will be 3 months until we receive our cards, but I will definitely take the OVER 
We had a mid-day appointment at the SEF office in Lisbon. Showed up with our lawyer on-time, obtained a number and proceeded to watch the screen until our number was called. We had to wait until approximately 1.5 hours until it was our turn and our lawyer went in alone with all of the documents. The lawyer emerged about 20 minutes later and we all then went in. We completed the picture taking and fingerprints for all family members in about 15 minutes and then we were done.
Now the next wait begins for the actual cardsā¦
this. I would also take the over by 2x
Hi all,
Just a quick update because we both had our biometrics appointments in Lisbon (yesterday and today).
Hereās our timeline again:
July 26, 2021 - GV by RE fund (Rock Capital ) investment funded
October 26, 2021 - pre-approval from SEF
June 24, 2022 - received biometrics invite email from SEF (10 day window to book appointments)
September 1 & 2, 2022 - biometrics appointments in Lisbon
On Thursday Sep. 1 we ended up waiting at SEF until 2:40 PM for the NOON appointment for my husband (main applicant). Couldnāt really believe that that is what happens when you have an appointment. But what happens is that at the time of your appointment you(your lawyer) are allowed to get a number for the queue, so depending on the day it can yet be a really long time. Thankfully it was not hot, but the area was very crowded so we went to the hotel next door which has a small bar. We ordered a bottle of mineral water with lemon slices so we could sit around there and they didnāt mind at all. I wonder why no one else had thought of that. 
Today was better. Our lawyer went at the time of my appointment (1:30 PM) and told us not to come until after he got the number for the queue. As it turned out, today was not so bad so we went to meet him right away. We got there around 2:20 PM and I got called in around 2:40. It takes literally 2 minutes once youāre called in (photo, digital fingerprints, signature) so itās frustrating that the process isnāt more streamlined.
And, oh, forgot to mentionā¦ our lawyer tried to get them to process me during the first appointment on Thurs. because it would have been way more efficient for everyone and taken only 2 minutes longer, but they would not do it. Itās ānot allowedā.
Our lawyer by the way is Pedro Guerreiro from Lisbon Law (57 Rua Castilho Lisbon 1250-067). He has been super nice, patient and helpful throughout the process. He said hopefully it will be 6 months approx. and we will have our residence cards.
Good luck to everyone still waiting. 
Congratulations! 
We have a similar timeline and just did biometrics yesterday and today in Lisbon. Feels great to have it done, and now just the last bit of waiting!
I should also mention when we first received the biometrics appointment slots, appointments were only open (and given) to my wife and children. For some reason I was NOT offered a appointment personally, only the dependents.
Our lawyer contacted the SEF office in Lisbon in advance of our appointment and they thankfully agreed to process me at the same time. The lawyer commented that they had to process me as the Primary Applicant by law.
We did our biometrics on 1 December 2021, last year. Asked to pay for adult visa in April this year and adult visa is with lawyer since May. Paid for child visa about six weeks ago. If it arrives by the end of this month, Sep 2022, it will have been ten months from biometrics to both visas. Our lawyers consider this normal.
At the biometrics, do they check all the passports of the applicant or only the current one. I have two older passports besides the current one. Should the applicant carry all his passports.
For our biometric appointment in Faro, we were only asked for our current passport.
You will want to ensure the passport bears a stamp of entry to PT for your current stay. If you entered the EU through a connecting flight (say in FRA or MUC or CDG), be sure to bring a copy of your boarding pass for your flight to PT.
edit: Some SEF offices may not ask to see the boarding pass. Seems to depend on the SEF office and/or agent. Itās good to be prepared just in case.
We entered through another EU country and were not asked for our boarding passes to Portugal. I did bring them to the appointment, but was not asked.
Same thing happened to me, It was stressed till the last minute.
Hi Allā¦
I had my pre-approval done in July 2021.
as main applicant . i still havnt get the Biometric Appointment slot yetā¦
however my dependant got it ā¦ May i know anyone encounter the same situation ?
** Not sure how long i have to wait ā¦ iāve done my investment in Jan 21ā Pre-approval done July 2021ā¦ and long waiting for the Biometric appointmentā¦ .
Golden visa investment up - The Portugal News
According to Lusa, in August, 77 ARIs were awarded, of which 64 were for the acquisition of real estate (31 for urban rehabilitation) and 13 for capital transfers.
In the first eight months of this year, 806 gold visas were issued (94 in January, 94 in February, 73 in March, 121 in April, 112 in May, 155 in June, 80 in July and 77 in August).
Fellow applicants!
I feel very frustrated about the lack of progress in my application. I, as the main applicant, completed the purchase of the flat in September 2020, made the application in November 2020, and then got the pre-approval on February 2021. But no progress at all afterwards. No invitation to do biometrics was received from SEF so far.
I just wonder whether anyone shares a similar timeline with us and what their status is.
Exact same timeline as you. Bought the apartment in September 2020. Got pre-approval in Jan 2021 and got an invitation for primary and one kid in December 2021. And the other family members in march 2022. Biometrics done and cards issued. Your lawyer should be trying to figure out whatās going on.
I had a similar issue. All of the dependents received Biometric Appointments in August, but I as the investor/main applicant did not receive any appointment or ability to book one.
Our lawyer spoke with the SEF office in Lisbon during a visit for another applicant, and they agreed to process me together with the dependents.
We ALL, including myself without the appointment, completed our biometrics appointment in late August in the Lisbon SEF office.
Card has just arrived today. Here is my timeline:
From biometric to card received: 6 months and 20 days
From card payment to card received: 21 days
The approved letter with the payment instruction was dated on 18th August
Card payment was made on 24th August
Starting date printed on card is 06th Sept
Card received today 13th Sept
It takes 2.5 years to get the first card. Now I am worried about the renewal. I will take some days to think and will definitely talk to lawyer about the possibility to apply to D7 when this 1st card gets expired.
Wishing you all the best luck on this uphill battle.
The first 8 month wait Pre-App-Biometric, was because of the unorganized process of getting appointments.
What is puzzling to me is duration between between biometric to approval/payment instructios, if it takes 2 months to pre-approve. The 6 mo wait fell in the period when the SEF seemingly put everything on hold.