Will SEF accept a US state Police Clearance Certificate instead of the FBI record? I can get that apostiled much faster than the FBI record.
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No, they want the Federal Report.
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Does it also conveniently lack any mention of your sealed case(s)? 
Actually, it does. The problem is that the apostille for federal would take too long.
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Facing this issue right now for my wife, PT insists that the FBI check is only valid for 3 months, but the State Department is currently taking 12-14 weeks to apostille the document. Which pretty much means it’s impossible 
. And actually even if they have the documents on file, unexpired, SEF loves to come back and ask for an updated one, delaying the process further. My lawyer has suggested proceeding with a current state one along with a recently-expired federal one, along with notarised statement swearing that she has no federal record, as well as attesting to the impossibility of obtaining a current federal one. We’re not sure if it will work, but maybe it at least keeps the process rolling.
Send in your Apostille request to the Department of State and then contact your member of congress with the tracking number for them to to help expedite. Ours arrived at the Department of State on a Tuesday and was put back in the mail on a Friday.
I got the federal apostille back in just under 4 weeks recently, so it might not take as long as you think. Might have just been lucky…
I believe the validity in Portugal’s eyes is when it was apostilled, not issued. I just planned to repeatedly apostille background checks every three months, but luckily the one I got first was the only one I needed
They didn’t ask for a new one for the SEF biometrics appointment?
That’s what I’m talking about, I got my original one for submitting with the initial application, then I preemptively got a new one apostilled when I was expecting to get invited for biometrics
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+1 earlier points. Get FBI Background check, takes 1-2 business days tops including fingerprints.
Apply for Apostille.
You can expedite via Congressperson, BUT you may not need to do this straight away.
Some lawyers say you need it to submit, others say they can submit with just FBI and do Apostle when it arrives, there’s threads on this topic.
The reason I say you don’t need it right away is you’ll probably take at least a month getting NIF/opening bank account, moving money, choosing investment/lawyer, getting contracts reviewed/tweaked/signed, etc.
So yes unless your lawyer insists on it, you’ll want to ask your congressperson to expedite it, because the 2-3 month wait time is still likely too long, but it’s not as urgent as you think, just start the Apostille ASAP.
That’s my plan. Monthly apostilles!
We just completed US Federal apostille and it took about six weeks without any external pressure. Just sent it in and waited.
I’m one of the unfortunate souls with virtually no fingerprints. Multiple attempts ( electronic and ink) have failed and the FBI has stated that my prints are inadequate for completing the check. We sent the SEF a background check completed by the Oregon State Police and apostilled by the Oregon Secretary of State and are waiting. And waiting.
I filed for the GV in May of 2021, prelim approval Oct 2021, moved to Portugal in March of 2022, biometric appointment in January 2023, followed by three more attempts at getting approved prints, sent the State background check to SEF in April 2023. And waiting.
I’m not American so I got my criminal record check elsewhere but I’m just sharing how it works in my country in case it’s relevant. In Hong Kong the request for the background check has to be in a letter from the Portuguese consulate to the Hong Kong police. It then gets sent directly to the Portuguese consulate who translate and “legalize” it. No need for it to be apostilled due to the involvement of the Portuguese consulate. Would there be any way to involve the Portuguese embassy in the US in this process, so it doesn’t need to be apostilled?