To be honest, the current situation is unsustainable. Sooner or later, theyāll have to take measures to expedite the situation. I wonder why we dont here much noise on this ? or am I missing something ?
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FYI thereās a related thread on ānoiseā Can we put any pressure on SEF for the biometric appointment delays? - Residencies & citizenships 
/ Portugal Golden Visa 
- Nomad Gate.
It was mentioned there recently folks applying for āwork visaā (not GV related) finally has SEF moving on their long-wait ā but it seems like it took a lawsuit before this happens ImigraĆ§Ć£o: Portugal encerra sistema de marcaƧƵes e vai convocar entrevistas - Agora Europa.
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6-12 months were not uncommon Pre-COVID; so I actually would not be surprised that this can be longer for some of us.
At first glance, I thought 9-10 years would be impossible. But I was just pondering this even scarier question (to me at least) the other day: even if we all finally have our first biometrics and get the cards, does anyone here believe or has some rough napkin math that we wonāt have delays in our ārenewals?ā
My thinking: everyone will need another biometrics appointment within 2 years (and itās more than one, since many are applying with family so 2 to 4). Can SEF possibly process ALL applicants and their families in a 2-year timeframe??? I highly doubt it based on current trends: the number of appointments SEF can setup in 2 years and number of GV applicants that need biometrics can be in the ratio of 1-to-5 or way way higherā¦! (add all the current applicants; those who were approved in the past 5 years but need renewals; all the incoming new applicants).
So this is definitely a disaster in the making.
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After reading some of these posts, I think as of today that maybe this whole process isnāt worth it. I donāt think I am alone that many of us were sold a false promise of residency in 9 months and permanent residency 5 years after. I now have a significant amount of money tied up for who knows how long. If I donāt have permanent residency in 7 years I will have to find a new investments and start over on that front. I donāt really know what to think of all of this. The stress level is high. Certainly one has to think that just waiting until I can be in country full time and pursuing a D7 is a much better option at this point (and much less expensive). Letās all be honest. The whole idea of the Golden Visa is that it was supposed to be a less stressful way to achieve permanent residency. It is all a lie.
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Why do you say we are to have another biometrics for renewal? Afaik it is not the case and the renewal process is formal paperwork to be done by the lawyers.
Though I completely join the general opinion on the unsatisfactory organization of the process, I feel necessary to remind you that GV is not a very new program, and many people before us have already reached the permanent permit stage and have submitted for citizenship.
Also donāt forget that GV was and is a good option for those who donāt want/need to move to Portugal right now and donāt need to get the citizenship asap. Thatās the option which supposes that itās not the very last money to be invested, and no rush is in place.
Keep calm and check SEF calendar on a regular basis 
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I would love to be wrong 
ā can someone else chime in?
For me:
- Sources like our very own āUltimate Guide to GVā on this site refers to it:
During the renewal process, you have to retake biometrics (fingerprints, etc.), provide up-to-date criminal records, and payā¦
- I asked my lawyers on more than one occasions who would take any last-minute (next day) appointments ā they said only for people already have GV cards and looking to renewā¦
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I have a friend whose family have been holding GV since 2013. Every two yrs, they travel to PT to take biometrics and submit a new criminal record among other papers.
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@rogergan68 Thanks (ā¦) ā am curious, has your friend gotten / applied for citizenship yet? Seems like itās 8 years and countingā¦ Wondering what delays s/he has been experiencing for someone whoās an early trailblazer.
The appointment calendar is starting to show more last-minute openings. My lawyer informed me that the backlog for issuing ARI visas from Coimbra is < 90 days.
Relax everyone, itās frustrating to wait and to lack control, but itāll all be OK in a few months. The pandemic, and the reaction to the pandemic, have been incredibly disruptive to all of our lives. All of this grief with biometrics delays and apostille wait times and travel difficulties directly cascade from the pandemic freak-out. SEF isnāt necessarily working double overtime, but theyāre steadily chewing away at the backlog.
Society will eventually relax and get on with normal life. Itāll be OK.
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@tedbean My friend refuses to apply for PR due to what he considers discriminative fees (7K+Euro) and status (PR via ARI). His family will continue to renew GV (he has no plan to sell his apartment) until he is ready to apply for citizenship.
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I see ā I read about that āPR via ARIā and āNormal PRā and was wondering why we canāt do the latter instead (and cancel once you get citizenship so donāt fulfill the much longer residency requirement). The former definitely is a ripoff.
That said, donāt want to be ahead of ourselves on this thread : > A step at a timeā¦
If you want to get āNormal PRā, you need to fulfill far longer stay requirement before you apply>>moving to PT.
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He is from a country which does not allow dual citizenship and he is not ready to renounce his current citizenship.
This is very concerning if true. (GV applicants in Portugal basically sand boxed.). Would love to learn this is wrong.
Itās very alarming what is going on. Even more alarming is that the affected lawyers are not raising alarm en mass. If there were not such a robust discussion here about the extreme delays one might not believe it was true. It quite does not make sense. If the government does not want the GV applications why not just end the program instead of increasing the prices to qualify starting January 2022? Or raise the price to qualify to 1m euros for all categories. To offer the program and then not support it leaves a black eye for Portugal. I would also argue that there is considerable overlap between HQA and GV applicants, so again the artificial distinction and discrimination against GV is odd.
Sun sets on Portugalās golden visa scheme
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Paywall. Canāt read w/o subscription. Can you screenshot and post?
Sun sets on Portugalās golden visa scheme.pdf (3.0 MB)
It just seems to re-iterate whatās already known (GV is ending in Lisbon, Porto, most of Algarve etc).
Yes, I have read the article, typical āfake newsā headline that does not match the content.
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I did argue the same with him. My friend does not plan to renew indefinitely and in 5-6 yrs (retiring in and moving to PT), he will be ready to apply for Citizenship. The key issue for him is what he called the discriminative status PR via ARI - he just wanted to skip that.