Family reunif. SEF appointment + waiting time for a card after applied

Last activity 28 December 2023 by jingsjingles

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MariaPortMember12 October 2023 16:30:02

I am relatively new to the “SEF situation” in Portugal. My husband is EU citizen and has his CRUE certificate, I am trying to apply as a non-EU spouse of EU citizen.

We’ve been calling SEF for the last month and even managed to get through twice, just to hear that “there are no appointments available in this type of residence visa”. Thy advise just to keep calling as “sometimes appointments appear”.

Now, I just need to see the real situation here, in order to decide on our further steps.

Point 1. Is it correct that “family reunification” appointments are very rare and we might end up waiting (by either calling or hiring a lawyer) for more than 6 months or even a year for an appointment?

I know that there will be another organisation taking over SEF business end of October. But I suspect things will not change dramatically within at least the next year, as even if processes start being adjusted, this requires time.

Point 2. Regarding the residence card itself. Does anyone know - for those who managed to get a family reunification appointment recently, how long did it take to actually get the card?

For me it is important to know if this might also take more than 3 months.

smarty46pcMember13 October 2023 15:20:01

I gave up on getting a SEF appointment , I had the same issues as you, so I applied for a D7 visa from the UK , this have me a SEF appointment, I got my visa in October, the SEF appointment was in June. Not an issue as you can stay anyway.

The card only took about 2 weeks

vandenbergm1@gmMember13 October 2023 15:27:23

@MariaPort

hello Maria, i have experience with this issue. you or your husband go to camara municipal in his city of residence. that is city hall. Ask for the CLAII office. have them make a request for meeting with SEF. when SEF replies to Camara that the request for meeting has been received, they will forward that message to you. When you receive that, save that message and print it. carry it with you in your passport. this serves as your visa indefenitely until you actually get your interview with SEF. no need for a lawyer.

best regards

michael

ctomacContributor13 October 2023 16:12:23

113

See my posts at https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.p … 93#5520391

roz66Active member13 October 2023 16:51:06

@MariaPort

Evening!

we too are in the same situation. I am Irish and I got my CRUE mid Sept. We now need to progress with SEF for my husband who is British. We have engaged with EI (an immigration specialist company) to help us but I think it will be a long road ahead. EI dont expect any movement before end of Oct but have told us that the PGov recognises that nobody can make appts at the point with SEF and thus they have issued sone decree or other that makes folks "legal" until end of Dec even if their initial 90 days is up. I assume that is done to allow the new org catch up on backlog etc. It would be good to stay connected on progress that either of us make.

best

Roz

polishsaraMember05 December 2023 08:33:25

@smarty46pc

Hello, I wonder if I could pick your brains here - my partner is English and is here in Portugal with me, still on his 90 days visa. I wonder if we cold follow the same path as you and book the appointment from the UK - are you able to share how you did that ? That is if that would work considering I believe SEF is no more...?

polishsaraMember05 December 2023 08:34:02

@smarty46pc

jingsjinglesNew member28 December 2023 12:36:03

@vandenbergm1@gm

Hello!

I'm also struggling to get an appointment from SEF for family reunification.

According to what you said, does it mean that I can set up an appointment through the city hall in Portugal, and with the approval message of the appointment, I will be able to wait for the appointment for family reunification without having to worry about overstay. Is that what you meant?

thanks!

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