D7 Visa Dated Documents - London

The Criminal Record Certificate in Portugal is valid for three months from the issued date ( expiry date is stated on the document itself).

In the case of the English criminal record certificate, from what it says here it is 6 months:

"A criminal record certificate should be not more than 6 months old at the date of the visa application."

https://immigrationbarrister.co.uk/over … -uk-visas/

But if it is to apply for a visa to Portugal it is very likely to be only 3 months...

Thanks so you - good to know! Assume 3 months is standard for all the documents they ask to see at the appointment. Hard to get them all organised within a month of the same date before they “expire”. Cheers

Hi What sort of criminal check did you have to do for D7 was it a basic one or a full one. I cannot see which one is required and also how long did it take you to get the results

The acro police check took  about 6/7 days and cost £55

Thank you

@joeygraham

i  am a little confused. i obtained an ACRO for my brothers application ghis cost £55 so is this ok to submit as it is or do i need it notarised ? Basically i want yo know if the ACRO itself as it arrived is accepted for the D7 Vfs appointment i have made for my brother this week.

If it is the correct ACRO  then I dont think you need it notarised, we didn’t and neither did my brother in law who arrived here 3 months ago. Hope that helps

Thank you - good to know.

@gpcollett My brother attended London Consulate appointment yesterday November 29th I prepared the paperwork and the dates. The person he saw crossed the dates out and put new  dates we had 1st Jan and she changed it to 1st Feb. She told him the date  she  changed it to is more realistic.

Some details of the experience: We took a train from Southampton to Waterloo 7.33. £69 return for both of us (we booked 10 days ago) We got a London Cab to 66 Wilson Street cost £21 single.

We checked out the location: there were queues outside. We were early and went to a cafe in Paul Street (2 mins.  walk) for tea and toast. We went over our documents a final time here. (my brother is 72 and finds this kind of thing daunting) His appointment was 11.15 and they allowed him to wait in the queue at 11am not before. one guy there, sort of security was quite abrupt, rude i noticed sort of ordering people  around, he was a VFS employee assumedly and he was in plain clothes all black  garments. As i walked away leaving my brother there I felt slightly anxious. I will add this was not solely for Portugal there were people there wanting visas for varying countries.

My brother said it was 11.25 when he was called through a scanner looking arch (that did not appear to scan) he sat down and an efficient woman went through the documents which were in sleeves numbered 1 to 11. Each section  had the required items written on the front. For example Passport: Required Valid passport. Norarised copy also enclosed. The lady told my brother the documents were extremely organised and easy for her to locate. I had written the Personal Statement which referred as a summary of other information contained in the documents. i recommend a summary of the financial detail for example he has 3 pensions and on one A4 page was a breakdown showing the total figure he will receive annually. As well as proof contained in that sleeve.

At 12.45 i had a call ftom him telling me that everything was done she told him all was good. she scanned all the documents. She kept the originals ( i read these get sent back in the post) He paid the fees a total of £102. This fee included some options like courier service / assurance / SMS. He said he felt ”chuffed” at the way it went and the angst he had felt was gone. She told him she refunded something which may be the original fee for an appointment we could not keep.

He came to meet me we had a drink and decided to walk through the famous streets of London back to Waterloo station which took us 45 minutes , where we took a fast train to Southampton airport Parkway. My husband picked us up and we were back home at 3pm.

We have to wait now. That was the experience.  I dont know what i had been expecting but i felt relieved. We did nt use an agency we did eveything ourselves. With the help of a tax representative that had taken George to the financas for his NIF. And she recommended a lawyer friend for notarising some documents. The total cost of everything is  under €600. Yes there are times when an agent is the only solution we chose to go it alone.

Well done! I am sure you will have no problem getting the visa! Now you just have to be patient and wait for news. My opinion also is that no agent is needed unless unusual circumstances.

Thank you for the message. i will

add that i do think i went overboard providing notarised documents. the lady told my brother that there was no requirement to provide so many notarised documents! We had them sent by DHL by the Portuguese Lawyer at a cost of €25 per signature. if anyone on this site reading this can clarify exactly the only documents that need notarising it might be helpful to others!

Yes it’s a waiting game! i will add a note here to let everyone know how many days we wait to hear if we have been successful or not!

Good Luck everyone!

@Fear7474

I did a D7 visa at the London VFS office. None of my documents were notorised. I am British. 

Not sure if notorising documents is based on nationality or the country where the VFS offices are located. In the  USA they do seem to demand some documents being notarised.

Thank you may i ask if this was recently?