We applied for our digital nomad visa (plus dependent) several weeks ago, and have found that the embassy where we are (Japan) are not very communicative in terms of updates or timelines. We have a couple questions maybe people here can help us with given their experience:
How long does it typically take for approval? [This is the “DR” - the new digital nomad visa (when we said D8, they said that doesn’t exist - it’s now “DR”).]
Now that we’ve lodged our application, do we have to wait for the outcome in that same country? i.e. Could we go to Portugal (as tourists) and if approved, get the visa stamped in Portugal? [We are Americans living abroad and finished up in Japan…but are still here in a bit of a holding pattern. ]
Does it help one’s visa application if you’ve rented a property in Portugal at the time of application?
Hahaha, I know the person who you are dealing with. We dealt with her too. She can be pretty slow, officious, and not very informative.
I don’t know about the DR visa but it took 4 weeks for us to get the D7 and dependent visa from the point they had all of our documents. I was told that after the embassy staff approves it the head of the consular section then has to approve it. Finally, it is sent to Portugal (digital scans of docs) for a final approval. We were also told that the head of the consular section really cares about the money side of the application so that you won’t become a burden on Portugal.
The embassy/consulate you applied at is the one that will put the actual visa in your passport. We left our passports with them at the time of application to speed it up somewhat (save another trip to the Embassy). If you live in Tokyo then that might not matter. When we had our SEF appointment in Portugal to get residence status they checked for the D7 visa and entry as such in our passports. I don’t see how you can get the visa put into your passports anywhere else.
I think it’s a requirement to have a rented place when you apply. It is often recommended that you have at least a 1 year rental. We got away with a 4 month rental but it may have been due to other positive factors in our application.
@Fafhrd Sorry for not replying sooner, but your reply was really helpful. The DR is the newest version of the D7, so the requirements are a little different. But I’m hoping your experience of wait time is similar for us. No news yet, but it’s only just been 4 weeks since we think they have everything correct. Of course, the lack of communication is harder to accept, but I guess it’s good to know it’s not personal!
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