Our PT lawyer has been handling the SEF/ARI online activities on our behalf, and up to now we have not accessed the system ourselves.
Since @tsiksssooo got appointments for the end of August 9 days ago, available biometrics appointments are now in October. 
So did you take the October slot(s) @wkb? Not having access to the ARI website makes it even more frustratingâŠ
Yeah @anon16151502 at this point I think late 2021 and Spring 2022 probably for most folks; wonât be surprised if this drags into next summer.
Hello. Can you please clarify about the July 1st deadline vs. end of the year deadline for buying property in Lisbon/Porto/Algarve etc? Also I believe the July 1st deadline is no longer the case (and if so when did they change it)? I would really appreciate your help in clarifying this issue.
Thank you very much.
July 1st deadline, i believe, was an initial proposal however, now the deadline is end of the year 2021 (31st December 2021). However, it is worth investigating as to what you need have in place before this deadline has passed. I do not think a Promissory Contract for a property without licenses in place (i.e. under or near construction) would be sufficient for this purpose. I would recommend that you buy something which is fully constructed, has also the licenses (Municipal Use license etc) in place and the final deed is executed before the deadline in order to qualify.
Thanks. The SEF portal has reverted from Under Analysis to Awaiting Submission. This is very strange, it seems to have reverted to the application not having been submitted in the first place. Yet the lawyers say this is a âsystem errorâ. It seems either SEF, itâs IT department is in a mess or both.
Hi Ramin,
the July 1st deadline was initially announced last December, but when they publish the decree law, they postponed it to January 1, 2022, along with confirmation on various changes on properties, funds and so on.
So in short, the July 1st deadline doesnât exist anymore.
The deadline of Dec 31, 2021 is the online application submission date.
And properties under construction are allowed for golden visa application. We have dealt with many cases already. No problem.
BTW, I have some 280k and 350k properties with 4% guarantee rental return. Send me an email if you are interested, I can send you the brochures with floor plan and prices.
@susanayang thanks for your info! can I know why the July 1st deadline doesnât exist anymore? where is the link I can check ? thanks.
Hello.
Thank you very much for the information.
Can you please give me your companyâs name and website?
Ramin
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âisâ or âwasâ on strike? I donât see any headlines or reports that it was an ongoing action. Maybe just a day?
However, I did run across this story re: Aprilâs GV numbers - from one of the major Portuguese language news outlets. They are stating that 98 GVs were granted in April.
Cut them some slack. Theyâve had that major scandal around the ukranian thing, thereâs a shake-up going on, managementâs been sacked, people are unhappy as heck, GV itself is an unpopular topic with the citizenry, thereâs the whole Odemira thing (which is at least tangentially related to SEF, how did those people get there), thereâs floods of people coming in on D7 to process, oh and thereâs this annoying pandemic thing. I imagine theyâre doing what they can given the circumstances and, well, given what any southern-Europe-arc countryâs government is likely to be able to accomplish. Besides, theyâre looking to restructure. What government worker likes change of any sort? No real surprises here.
Itâs not that I am not giving slack.
I have sympathy with SEF. I imagine they are in a difficult situation what with lockdowns, reduced staff, social distancing requirements and add on top of all that the fact that there is more work than ever.
I acknowledge all your points, but a little transparency from the government would be nice. The article leads me to believe that SEF agents echo my points of a lack of investment (people and process) in the agency.
I hope I am wrong, but I have a feeling that we, who are still waiting for appointments, wonât be able to get our biometrics done before the year is over. Iâve been reading articles and opinions on Observador and it seems the whole SEF rebranding/restructuring to SEA will be a big mess for along while. It is another bureaucratic hurdle we all get to experience. Then there are some 70k+ people who were supposed to get their biometrics done during the last lockdown that will get rescheduled probably before they open up new appointments.
We want to go to Portugal this Summer too. But now I think It might be better to wait for until the end of summer or fall. I see a lot of flights get delayed, cancelled and rescheduled. That is just going to add more stress for me. 
Hereâs a cheerful data point for other anxious applicants: my GV application was approved last week, a little under two months after the date of submission. Thatâs pleasing! My best case ETA for approval had been late June; a quick approval makes my day. My law team speculates that the logjam is clearingâgreat news for all of us.
The message includes this paragraph:
A partir desta data poderå proceder ao agendamento da sua deslocação a um posto de atendimento do Serviço de Estrangeiros e Fronteiras.
Translated (by me, not a fluent speaker), that means approximately:
Now you can schedule your trip to a SEF office.
My tentative interpretation is that I am now authorized enter the country (see Despacho n.Âș 4473-A/2021), regardless of the tourism travel restrictions. As for whether I can return to my home country afterward, thatâs a separate question! 
I plan to visit Portugal for a few weeks in July, and I have an idea for expediting my biometrics appointment in full compliance with all laws, rules, and ethics. Iâll post an update when I have accomplished my goal and I have results to share.
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Congratulations. This is a big step in your life! I know first hand that it is very stressful. The hard part is over.
My tentative interpretation is that I am now authorized enter the country (see Despacho n.Âș 4473-A/2021), regardless of the tourism travel restrictions.
This is not the case. This was discussed in a different thread but while the heading of the law does seem to be as you say, if you read more closely the text it really is meant for those who already have visas that entered the country legally during that time period referenced in the law.
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Congratulations.
Thank you!
This is not the case.
Quite possibly so. I plan on applying a defense in depth strategy. I will also provide a letter from my lawyers advising that I am entering the country for business (true), and a reservation from a Portuguese language school for study (also true). For that matter, the border will probably be open to US tourism in a few days. The autonomous regions have already loosened restrictions.
Although there are no guarantees, I suspect that an individual immigration official at the Lisbon airport wonât be motivated to make a scene as long as I have a plausible basis for legal entry. Portugal values visitors. OTOH, I would be pessmistic about entering any of the wealthy English-speaking countriesâŠeven as a citizen!
Ahhhh⊠now it makes more senseâŠâmafiaâ unfairly selling SEF appointments.
This âproblemâ is rather simple to solve. SEF makes announcement that for period until December 31 ,2021 only those who were pre-approved prior to December 2020 are eligible to apply for appointments and if law firm makes improper scheduling, then their client appointment will be cancelled and pushed to back of the line. They can continue this approach until backlog is cleared. Problem solved.
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From the âfake newsâ department:
This headline âGolden Visa investment drops 81%â could just as easily read âPortugal unable to process huge backlog of Golden Visa applicationsâ
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I wonder why they donât allow SEF offices in the countries of origin help with processing. SEF does biometrics for the D7 that wasy, right?