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New Online Procedures

The Portuguese SEF department has introduced an online procedure for booking appointments for initial ARI submission and renewals.ARI applications (new cases) Now, in order to start an application for the ARI, everything should be done on the SEF website (we will manage the procedure on behalf of our clients). We need to create an online account for the investor and submit, at least, the following documents on the website:

1. Complete copy of the passport
2. Criminal record of the home country, duly translated into Portuguese and legalized in the Portuguese Consulate, issued no more than 3 months before
3. Declaration of honor of the investor stating that he will keep the investment for at least 5 years
4. Notary Deed or Promissory Sale and Purchase Agreement;
5. Land registry Certificate with the acquisition of the real estate property registered in the name of the investor
6. Bank declaration regarding the transfer of money from abroad destined to purchase the real estate property

After all these documents are submitted on the website, it will issue a reference for payment of the SEF fee for the analysis of the application for the ARI. Only after this fee is paid, it is possible to include the family members to the investor application on the website. We will then have to do the same procedure for each family member and submit all the required documents for their application on the website, such as:

• Complete copy of the passport
• Criminal record of the home country, duly translated into Portuguese and legalized in the Portuguese Consulate, issued no more than 3 months before (when applicable)
• Birth Certificates duly translated into Portuguese and legalized in the Portuguese Consulate, issued no more than 6 months before (when applicable)
• Marriage Certificate duly translated into Portuguese and legalized in the Portuguese Consulate, issued no more than 6 months before (when applicable)
• Proof of Civil Status (single) duly translated into Portuguese and legalized in the Portuguese Consulate (for children of legal age);
• School Certificate duly translated into Portuguese and legalized in the Portuguese Consulate (for children of legal age);
• Proof of economic dependence from the investor, which can be bank transfers for instance (for children of legal age or parents under 65 years old);
• Etc;

As the procedure for the investor application, after the submission of the required documents, a payment reference of the SEF fee will be issued for the analysis of the application of each family member.

Internal Processing at SEF

After all the documents are submitted and the payments are made, the SEF will analyze the documents and send an email setting a day for the investor and respective family to go to SEF in order to collect their biometrics and to submit the original documents, which PDF’s were submitted on the website. It is not certain yet ,if it is possible to change the date SEF sets for the appointment, but we believe it should be possible, because it is necessary to manage the availability of the investors to come to Portugal. We will have to address this issue with SEF to get a formal clarification.

In the light of the foregoing, when an Investor wishes to start an ARI application, all the required documents for the investor and each family member, need to be sent by mail in order for us to scan it and start the application on the website.

We will then ask the client to make the SEF payment when the reference for the payment is received, then the client is informed of the date for the appointment as soon as the email is received from SEF.

ARI Renewals

The appointment for the renewal of the ARI for the investor is very easy to make.  It is made online and it’s immediately scheduled. However, in what concerns the family members, the website does not recognize them and does not allow to make their appointments for the renewal, therefore, we must associate them to the investor on the website. However, in the case of the family members, in order to get their appointment, the procedure is the same as for the new cases: we will have to submit all the required documents for their renewal in the website, pay the fee and wait for SEF to send an email setting a date to go there.

Nevertheless, since this procedure for the family members is not well made and does not allow the family to go to SEF on the same day as the investor, SEF is asking the attorneys of the investor to send an email requesting an appointment for the family members for the same day as the investor. However, they do not assure that they will book the family members on the same day as the investor and that they would reply to such an email. They say that it will all depend on how full SEF will be on the day of the appointment. So, it is a risk for the family members to go to SEF on the same day as the investor with no appointment yet, because they do not guarantee that he/she will be received.