Since you completed your biometrics before I, have you received your final approval?
Any dependents still waiting for biometrics?
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Myakira, I received
final approval on January 31, 2022. No dependents.
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Thanks. Did you receive your card shortly after that? How many days?
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I think that is correct. Questioning him further he indicated that getting an apostilled color copy of my social security card as proof of my account would suffice.
Hello All,
After being pre-approved in March 2020, I finally received an email from SEF on Dec 28, 2021 that the scheduling for me shall be made between 28-12-2021 and 02-01-2022 based on chronological order. My lawyer insisted that the agenda was closed that time and it is still closed.
Is there anyway to verify this? Has anyone of you has a similar experience or can advise me how to proceed?
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Hi Reza, send an email to SEF asking them to reopen the schedule. Forward them the email you already had from them back in December.
Pick the regional SEF office based on where you are planning to live and use that email address.
Hey,
Did anyone heard from his Lawyers or SEF when they shall start scheduling Fingerprints appointments for application that were pre-approved after May 2021 ?? It is almost a year since we applied to GVs
Cheers,
Joe
Hello Tommy,
I did it and as expected, there was no response. I sent the email to one of the branches in Lisbon, where I had a booking in 2020 and they cancelled it, but is there any central email to answer such cases?
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They responded and I just share the answer I received from SEF by email. It said: “Em resposta ao solicitado informa-se que os agendamentos deverão ser efetuados através do Portal ARI - https://ari.sef.pt , mediante a disponibilidade de vagas.”
Meaning: “In response to the request, it is informed that appointments must be made through the ARI Portal - https://ari.sef.pt, subject to availability of vacancies.”
Hello–Have you had any success finding appointments through that ARI portal?
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Nope! Just blank drop-down boxes every time… 
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Same here!
Same with me.
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I expect SEF will take another 1.5 months to clear up the remaining 2021 applications to pre-approval, after which they should re-open the portal for new applicants AND re-commence the biometric invites.
So looks like mid-July the earliest for any new biometrics.
This is purely my guesswork based on various sources here and there. I am not the SEF insider )
That seems reasonable. But your post will set off 1 million questions and speculation. So let me clear it up right here and now. What @tommigun means is that if you received pre-approval in June 2021 and then you can expect biometrics invite possibly in mid-July. If you applied in Q4 2021 and received pre-approval around April-June 2022, then don’t expect to get biometrics appointment until December 2022. That may change if biometrics are approved in consulate offices. This is also just a guess as I don’t have any communication with SEF unfortunately… 
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My family got the pre-approval in June 2020 (yes 2020, not 2021 
). But until now, only half of family got Biometric, the other half is still waiting. Only the sky is the limit for SEF 
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Of those who applied in Nov '21 and have the Pre-approval did any get invitation to apply for appointment for Biometrics?
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Not yet. Biometrics invitations seem to have stalled after addressing groups before September 30, 2021.
@veryornery Where do you get your information? We got the GV approval in October 2020. Both wife and I have our cards, but we have not received the invite for the children. Lawyer says that they are backlogged into 2020, not 2021?
That is strange. If you all applied at same time there is no reason for that. My kids just got their cards and we were pre-approved in January 2021.