charleyfarley

Hi appman. No, VFS didn't want to see flight tickets and nor did flight tickets appear on the list of documentation needing to be presented. I was previously advised not to be too specific in writing the "why I want to be resident in Portugal" supporting document, and kept it very short and general along the lines of "I have spent many happy holidays in Portugal, and now that I am retired, I want to give further consideration to residence, and spending at least 10 or eleven months a year there in the future.". I note that you propose applying in May/June; if my experience of applying for an appointment with VFS is anything to go by, you might find the online application process (the only method available as far as I could tell) a little frustrating. I was trying two or three times a day for three weeks or so before the system presented me with an appointment date and not a "no appointments available" message. Then the first successful attempt presented the availability of an appointment for the following day, and which was too soon to enable me to make suitable travel and other arrangements, as well as it being uncomfortably close to Christmas! I continued to try daily and eventually was offered an appointment three days hence enabling me to make the necessary arrangements, as well as to brush up and update the required documentation, and to secure the necessary health/travel insurance etc., in order to print out the details and take it with me to the interview as required. In other words, securing an appointment with VFS is not like booking a flight where you might be presented on line with a list of options: it's "here's the date we're offering you - take it or leave it".

appman999

Thanks for that clarification. On the official use section of the form it has a tick box for 'Means of Transport' and I assumed the pre-paid transport requirement in Q32 would need some proof as I believe the pre-paid accommodation does (deeds or rental agreement)?

I did have some experience with the London VFS as I tried applying last year for a Temporary Stay Visa (as advertised on Ministry of Foreign Affairs website) but according to VFS and Consulate not available, hence the residency application this year.

As you say appointments are few and far between although in my case it was some weeks away, luck of the draw I guess.

charleyfarley

appman, Q32 does indeed require positive proof of intended accommodation. I spotted the tick-box relating to "Means of Transport" but as it was in the "For Official Use" column, and since the list of required documents did not specify anything about means of transport, I chose to ignore it. Fortunately, this proved satisfactory. However, you'll wish I'm sure to have the tickets with you at your VFS interview just in case they decide to come up with the question! Certainly I took with me many more documents which I thought might be asked for just in case, but nothing other than those on the "official list" of documents was requested.

eu_sou

Sorry for the bump on this one, but when I want to select my application centre on the VFS website I’m not sure do I book the appointment in London or Manchester. The VFS website only lists counties from England, Scotland and N.Ireland - I reside in a Welsh county so not sure which centre to apply to.

Does anyone happen to know? I’ve been trying to contact VFS but they are proving to be very elusive.

charleyfarley

eusou - My Welsh friend who lives in mid-Wales was required to choose an appointment at the London VFS Centre.

eu_sou

Amazing. Cheers for the quick response.

Downtown

Hi I’m a bit confused so I hope you can help me out. I have my interview for the D7 in London at the end of May I’ve got almost all the information that’s required but my only confusion is about showing where I will be living. Do I have to get a rental property even before I’ve had my Visa agreed by VSF and so that means taking out a 12 month rental agreement basically now. I have a friend that I can move in with who lives in Portugal if he gives me a letter to say that I’m living with him is that sufficient or is there a official document that he needs to sign to say that I’m living with him. Any help with this would be gratefully received

andywally

Hiya,
Its either buy a property, get a rental agreement for at least 12 months, or the third option is ask your friend to sign a 'termo de responsibilidade' witness by a solicitor.

VFS dont grant the visa the PT consulate do, VFS are merely an oursourced 'clearing house' for the menial tasks, after which they will send you to the consulate for the rest of your docs to be checked...............apparently it works slightly differently in London to Manchester, in Manchester we went straight to the consulate after VFS I have read on here that in London VFS tell you to go home and await an appt at the consulate by post ?

charleyfarley

andywally, the difference between Manchester and London is that in Manchester, VFS send you round to the Portuguese embassy straight after the meeting with them. In London, VFS take your passport away from you at the end of the meeting and it gets sent by them to the Portuguese embassy for insertion of the necessary temporary visa information, and then the passport gets sent back to you by post or courier (depending on which option you have selected and paid for) together with a note of an appointment date and time for an interview in Portugal by the SEF (border force). The location of this will usually be in the nearest SEF office to the address of the accommodation you nominated in your original interview. In my case - and in the experience of others as I understand it - it can be up to 90 days before your passport gets returned to you with this information.

PJC61

Just curious charleyfarley, if VFS in London take your passport and you are not sent to the Portuguese consulate, who checks all the other documentation such as proof of somewhere to live, NIF, bank and sufficient funds, criminal checks etc, etc? Having been through the process in Manchester I know the consulate checks every last piece of paperwork and they take your passport, are you saying VFS do everything in London cutting out the necessity for a consulate visit?

charleyfarley

PJC61 - yes, in London (I don't know about Manchester) it's VFS who check all your documentation. They also take another photograph of you (despite the fact that you also have to submit two passport photographs with the documentation that you have to provide for the interview), and which is the photograph which then appears on a page in your passport together with the temporary visa you are issued to enter Portugal to attend your SEF interview. Incidentally, at the VFS interview in London, my fingerprints were also taken.

PJC61

Cheers for confirming, that is so much easier. Makes you wonder why VFS in Manchester cannot adopt the same policy?

NSG666

If everything goes smoothly then VFS handling the whole process is probably a better solution but if there's a glitch then the Manchester arrangement is probably better - at the beginning of the year I watched some Youtube vids of a family going through the process via VFS in London and they had a glitch. The process then became one of VFS acting as an intermediary between the applicant and the PT Consulate and putting their interpretation on everything creating additional problems and delays. They then appointed a PT lawyer to help them and he spoke directly with Lisbon and sorted them quite quickly. From memory the guys at the Manchester consulate were quite helpful when andyw had some issues to resolve?

I've sent emails to VFS to try and get my log-in details re-set - no reply. I emailed previously asking a question - no reply. I'm glad my application will be going via Manchester just in case there are any queries.

charleyfarley

I have to say that I found the London VFS staff helpful too. There was one minor aspect of my documentation which they thought was weak and they helped me correct it on the spot. I was in and out in 20 minutes. By the way, I think it's probably important to note that applicants don't actually have a choice of London or Manchester; the allocation of an appointment will depend upon where they live in England and Wales. (Provided, of course, that they have given that information accurately! Just also to say that somebody I am aware of chose to use a relative's address which gave them an appointment in Manchester, but were caught out by their banking and other documentation which showed their current address as being in the south of England, and so were sent away to try again, and which took them nearly three further months to get an appointment. Just saying.)

Downtown

In regards to providing a rental agreement at the interview do I have to show that I have already started my rental or can I show a contract which say starts in 2 months. Would that be acceptable