Yep, this has been a problem for a long time - they did this to us back in 2021. Different cities, weeks apart. And over time, your family’s card validity dates will be increasingly misaligned, so if you don’t live in Portugal full time, meeting everyone’s minimum physical presence requirements requires a lot of coordination.
Honestly, if AIMA can’t even schedule my wife and me on the same day for biometrics, it says everything about how disorganized they are. I’m not committing to this process if they can’t get basic coordination right. Same goes if they don’t make changes the new law and not considering grandfathering or any meaningful adjustments.
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Hi everyone, congrats to those who got the biometric. Finally some good news. For those who got the biometric, does ur AIMA portal still showing “waiting for analysis” or the status has changed. Appreciate some guidance on this if u can access the portal
Thanks
Our experience is similar to others - we both applied July 4, and I now have my biometric scheduled Feb 3. No word on my wife’s date.
Yes. My biometrics appointment is scheduled and my AIMA account still says, “Em análise” (under review)
Yes, AIMA portal still says ‘Em analise’ and biometrics is scheduled for primary applicant only on Jan 7, 2026. We applied in April 2025. Are we REQUIRED to pay the $6K at biometrics instead of paying at final approval…I was hoping for some more time to decide about everything…
My husband applied for Visa July 2025. Received biometrics appt for late January 2026 for primary applicant only. Waiting for biometrics for me (dependent).
@rsade What did he say about the daughter? A lot of us are trying to figure out what the law means for minor children.
Thanks for the feedback that the portal still shows under analyis despite bio being scheduled. i applied sep 2022, filed a lawsuit in oct 2024 which i lost, updated my documents on portal in march 2025 and nothing yet on biometrics. Praying for my turn to come. Anyone out there who applied in 2022 and still waiting for biometrics. Thanks
And yet there are people who applied in the spring of '25 who now have biometrics. There is no logic to anything AIMA does. I hope you get what you’re looking for soon.
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I like your remotely possible optimism and I’m going to join your side of the glass half-full!!!
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I applied in June 2025, and just got a feb biometric date in Cascais. No word on wife or kids. But as I think about this more…with them issuing this many appointments all to primary applicants, I can’t think they will have the resources to process the dependants at the same time. I don’t know the exact math, and it might not take as long to process a dependent that a primary, but it has to take SOME time. So if they are trying to maximize revenue, and people are being invested in the program, they will do a bunch of primaries, and do the dependents well into the future. Which is obviously another disaster for the applicants.
After hearing them brag about putting the GV on the bottom of the list, and then continuing to boast about how much money they will bring in by now processing them, it really does make me wonder what I am doing. How sure is anybody about the time frames to get the residency card after biometrics? I could easily see biometrics done, then waiting 3-6 months, then calling dependants, then waiting ??? before seeing cards…which only then starts 10 year clock!!!
I am curious to see if the President sends this back to the constituional court, and what they do with it. It is certainly plausible that doing it that way gives political cover as opposed to making a deal, but given the track record of all of this…I am not very optimistic.
I don’t want to be reactionary, but if they don’t send it back to the CC, and they don’t let me know biometric days prior to my own day arriving (or say 3 weeks, so I can plan accordingly), I am not sure I will continue. They know once you pay. It really feels like they are sort of “scamming” (or at the very least massively taking advantage of) us, and openly bragging about it?!?!
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I’m in the same situation, and I’ve been thinking about exactly what you mentioned. For me, if my wife can’t secure her appointment at the same time as I do, and if no reasonable adjustments are made to this law, I will step away. At that point, I’d rather relieve myself from what feels like a financial trap and spending years dealing with uncertainty and stress.
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Applied 6/4/25 and received biometrics letter on 10/30 for my January 23rd biometrics appt. Appt for myself but says spouse will be schedule similar day/time and be forthcoming. Very happy 148 days from application to notification letter, as that’s much faster than 12-18 months our Edge International lawyer thought we might be waiting.
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Wow. You mean the next step is to acquire a delorean time machine???
I’ve changed it to 2026
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As with everyone else, our Primary Applicant has gotten an appointment (January in Cascais) but our dependents are still waiting. I know AIMA said they aim to ¨get rid of the backpack¨ this year, meaning they want to get up to date on all the outstanding visa applications. Does anyone have any information on when we´ll find out about dependent appointments?
No news yet. That’s probably true for most people who shared their biometric appointments here. Our lawyer said we should receive it within the next couple of weeks.
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For all of you people who haven’t paid the biometrics fee yet, particularly if you’re invested in liquid funds like IMG Acoes or whatever… you are still able to do what I think 90% of wish we could now, which is walk away.
Wait to see what happens with the president and constitutional court, but I emplore you, if you don’t get grandfathered, don’t waste your money.
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That’s exactly my plan. My conditions are pretty simple: I’d like to be grandfathered in since I’ve already put in my investment, and my wife needs to be able to do her biometrics on the same day at the same location. If that doesn’t happen, I’ll just take the loss on what I’ve already spent and move on.
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