Which lawyer is this? I received exactly the same email but with a date of September 2020 just a few days ago!
Not a lawyer for me. It’s from the agency I used to facilitate all of this
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Hi all! How are you notified about the pre-approval completion? We applied in late November, reading the thread I don’t think we need to worry till March at least it seems… Asking just in case. Thanks!
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Mid-march should be optimistic to about-right. We applied in the early October with no changes to our status yet. Hoping for something mid-February… 
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Thanks, Roman! Technically how does the notification work? How do you know that you have been pre-approved? We are moving via a legal company who filed submission on our behalf…
Then they have to tell you.
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That’s clear. But how woyld they know? is there a system of automatic notification or do you need to monitor yourself? How then?
Thanks!
Hello, In our case , our lawyer was notified via email of pre approval , or if there some documents that need to be updated. For example , my application was pre- approved 3 month, after payment on January 2021, my wife received a notification for updating our marriage certificate , since it was pass the 6 month vadility, and also her criminal record , which was beyond the 90 days vadility. SEF gave her 10 days to update and resubmit. She was approved the following week after that , on June 2021. Stll waiting for biometrics appointment.
Hi, Few questions on your case. Was your wife’s documents up to date(marriage certificate not older than 6 months, FBI report not older than 3 months) on the day of submission ?
I am curious why would SEF ask to resubmit documents if they opened the application packet late.
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Yes they were all up to date on the day of submition.I had to resubmit mine as well , right before my approval. The thing is as follows: We had all our paperwork ready by mid December 2020 , our lawyer submitted first week of January 2021, by the tme SEF reviewed my application on April , the FBI document, expired, had to resubmit , and was pre-approved right away.
By the time my wife case was reviewed , both documents were expired. We resubmited , and she was approved the following week on June 2021.
Hello Elena,
In my case, I had started filing an application on-line ahead of my lawyer. You can do it directly from SEF Web site in either Portuguese or English. Once you register yourself, you will receive a case number and a password. Note that you do not even have to complete the entire application and submit all the documents - you just need to open your case. Ultimately, I supplied these credentials to my lawyer, and my application was completed several months later by my lawyer after all documents were submitted and fees paid.
I have been using my credentials to periodically monitor the status of my application on SEF site. In your case, I would request this information from your lawyer if he/she would be willing to provide it. Otherwise, just like others already advised you, you will be depending on your law firm for the updates. Not ideal… mais, c’est la vie!
This is very concerning, and must be new .
I had the same issue where my documents expired after submission but before SEF reviewed them, but since I submit on the right time (during Biometrics) they did not ask for updated ones.
The same happened in my 1st renewal in 2019.
The last renewal I had, my documents were already 2 months old when I went for my appointment in Nov 2021, I was counting that as long as they accepted them in person and were Valid at that time, it would be fine if they expired during the analysis.
Did any one else have this issue? Or is it an isolated case?
Agree. This is not in line with other applicants here. Probably a particular SEF office’s requirement.
Does anyone know how strict this 10 days requirement is?
I know for sure that some of my docs are already expired while I am waiting for pre-approval.
So if I re-submit later than 10 days from notification, what’s going to happen with the case within SEF? I.e. would it be simply put on-hold or outright rejected?
In my case, refreshing a criminal record would take around 15 business days (i.e. reissue+apostille+translation+notarization).
It’s not strict but your lawyer needs extend another 10 days with some sort of justification.
After the full 20 days it’s unknown territory, and you should not risk it IMO.
I suspect there isn’t a standard, it’s just whatever the agent facing you thinks.
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FWIW, My lawyer also told me that if they expire before they review, but were current at the time of submission, they would NOT need to be resubmitted. I was told this in October 2021. Not sure if things have changed since then.
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Great! Thanks for the comprehensive response, Roman!
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Wow… this is very disturbing. We will need 40 days at least to get new criminal records…
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Dear all, my wife and I managed to get a biometric appointment at SEF in early February. Is there anyone knows when we will get the residency cards? 3 months? 6 months?
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