How long do investors have to wait for their Golden Visas to get approved in Portugal?

I've heard that on top delays caused by the pandemic, the Portuguese immigration authorities SEF is going through reorganization and is therefore taking fewer golden visa appointments. What is the average amount of time applicants have to wait for approval of golden visa applications in Portugal these days? Can anything be done to expedite the process?

Answers

On October 06, 2021 Pedro Viegas answered:

At present, you can count on four-to-six months, but it depends on the backlog at the end of authorities.

On September 01, 2021 Tiago Gali Macedo answered:

As foreseen by the current Portuguese law, the issuance of a final decision for a Golden Visa application by the authorities is 90 working days, in the case of first applications, and 60 working days, when referring to renewal applications. This legal schedule, however, has suffered a bit of a delay due to the current pandemic situation, as there was a nationwide lockdown and the services were closed. Also, as you well stated, SEF is going through an internal reorganization and is therefore taking fewer golden visa appointments than usual. Nevertheless, as the vaccination program is underway and the services are reopening, the delay on an application’s final decision keeps becoming less and accordingly to what is legally stated.

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