Same here as in your dependent were called in as well?
No, sorry for the confusion. I was replying to Paul Krull’s comment (#397).
Did anyone who did biometrics last year get their cards yet?
I had a biometrics appointment today in Porto and came to the office, only to find out that there was a public sector strike and no biometrics appointments were getting processed. They will contact my lawyer to schedule a date in the future and it likely won’t be soon, so I’ll have to make another trip to Portugal. Just another thing that can go wrong in this process
2 Likes
Oh, that’s infuriating! Computer outages, general strikes… what next? Inauspicious star signs? How frustrating.
I hope you got to enjoy the rest of your trip, at least.
Doesn’t the law require 5/10 working days’ notice when unions go on strike? Your lawyer did not tell you in advance (for you to possibly reschedule the whole trip)?
2 Likes
It was in the news - below is from last Friday 20th. Indeed your lawyer should have known about it.
The lawyer said that they knew about the strike but there could still be someone working at the AIMA office. There were some people working but no one available for biometrics. Agreed that the lawyer should have given a heads up, although I was already in the country last week so it wouldn’t have helped much.
Is there any web site can get the information about coming strike ?
I can not find that on google.
I went to the AIMA office in Cascais on Monday, March 23rd, and it turned out to be a strike day.
My appointment was at 11:30 AM, but when I arrived, no one—neither the officer nor the security guard—could tell us whether things would resume or if we’d need to reschedule. There was just… uncertainty.
My lawyer suggested we wait, so we stood outside for about 1.5 hours, not knowing if anything would happen. It was honestly one of the most stressful experiences I’ve had.
I had already been forced to change my original flight because of the Iran–US conflict—my flight was cancelled, and I had to pay more than double for a new one. With my flight the next morning, all I could think was: what if this doesn’t happen today? The thought of buying another last-minute ticket, finding a place to stay, and missing work was overwhelming.
Finally, we got a queue ticket, which felt like a huge relief.
In the end, I completed my biometrics at around 2:30 PM that same day. It worked out—but it was a really exhausting and nerve-wracking experience
8 Likes
3/25 9:30am appointment in Porto, finished by 10:45. Lawyer said Porto is relatively quick and even this felt a little long for this office.
They didn’t ask for updated background check that is a year old, didn’t ask for anything additional, was straight forward and happily uneventful.
1 Like
Mine is coming on 14th april. Hope everything goes smoothly
Status on the portal now says “transferred” which I guess is a good sign!
A newbie here, what portal are you referring to? By the way my appointment is at Cascais on April 9th morning
I’m so glad you got to give your biometrics. My appointment was the same day at cascais as well at 9:30am. When they opened the offices they gave out only 20 tickets and luckily i was the 11th. Got everything done by 11:30am. My lawyer said since it was a strike only 2 employees were working so they’ll reschedule all other appointments. There were so many people standing outside, I couldn’t help but feel bad for everyone who had come and would have to again wait for god knows how long. Its just so sad seeing what’s happening!
1 Like
If you don’t have the login, your lawyer does.
But don’t get your hopes up - it’s not very useful.
4 Likes
Any idea how long this strike is going to last ?
The strike was a one day strike on the 23rd, and is a one day strike today, 30th March 2026 by workers sub-contracted by AIMA, not paid for overtime, and without equal right as the regular workforce.
I had my aapoimtment today at cascais at 12:30
Went there at 10 am , just in case and they told me that today because of easter they are closing at 12 pm. Tried to convince me to squeeze me in, they became agressive and almost called the police. So i m heading back to dubai now. I will sell the investment and buy somewhere else. This is so disrespectful that i can accept it.
6 Likes
Your Lawyer didn’t support?
There is no advantage now of anything after the new Law being approved we will wait for 10 years and we need to keep our investment for another 5 years from date of the card when we get it ( not sure when that will happen ) we are waiting since 2022 and all they waiting time is gone , not fair , people for other residency type applied in 2025 and they got their residency where is the equal treatment and the expectations protection, we are very disappointed 