Fluffyhead

Portugal News has an update on the situation for Algarvians not having to make the trek to Lisbon for appointments, they just have to wait until next year.

It also says that in emails sent by sef to British citizens "Please be informed that, if you wish, you can book your appointment outside your area of residence so that you can attend the service as soon as possible”. This is not what we were told in our email from sef but we will cancel our appointment in Beja and attempt to get one in Lisbon - wish us luck!

bons

Good luck! Let us know how you get on.

Fluffyhead

Thanks bons, the latest is that we wrote to the email that Portugal News said should be used to cancel your appointment which we did. Also asked how we could get a different location. They responded "We inform that, in case you were not able to schedule/reschedule the appointment, you should wait for the next round of notifications, informing the procedure to be taken."
On checking the site we find that they didn't cancel our appointments and we seem unable to cancel them on the site. They didn't answer about using a different location so no progress made today! Let's hope we have better luck tomorrow.

bons

Where is the office in Lisbon that we have to go to? I think we'll just go there and get it done, presuming there are no gliches!!!!

Score76

https://maps.app.goo.gl/Q7riEHQLkuUTogmWA
We decided to make a city break of it, 1st class train from Tunes to Lisbon - Entrecosta is only 18€ each way if booked in advance. The SEF office is right near Parque metro station. I had a hotels.com reward night to use up that was due to expire at the end of December so have booked a night away.

bons

That sunds great and thanks for the map. We haven't found anywhere to buy yet, did find some land but someone got in before us! We're going to make an appointment, find some properties up that way and arrange to view them at the same time.

sportpix

which station will you get off at in Lisbon, Oriente? I only thought this morning about driving to Tunes then getting the mainline train up. Looking at the schedule, if I get the first train it will get in at 10am and then the next one back south leaves around 2pm, so I should have four hours in Lisbon. Is this enough time to get to sef, do the business then get back to the station?

Score76

Oriente is a long way from the sef office. Entrecosta seemed the closest serve by the trains originating in the Algarve. A 20 minute walk once you're out the station. The advanced tickets are far cheaper than the fuel + tolls equivalent of driving if you go up the A2 then over the bridge. Tickets super easy to book on cp.pt which has an option to switch into English too.

sportpix

just checked and there doesn’t seem to be a station called Entrecosta

Score76

My apologies, it's Entrecampos.

sportpix

obrigado. Appreciate your help.

Rambling archer

Throwing in a proviso here ... Sportpix, Bons, Score76 - are there not three different centres in Lisbon, or was it correct that I read that all three are actually in the same place¿?! When you book your appointment online, you should get an actual address of the site you have to go to, so check your train route from there- Meanwhile, we are eternally grateful that we only have to travel an hour or so to Santarem!! Wishing you all well in the Deep South ... Consider the Metro too if you have to travel about in Lisbon ...

Sunseeker1st

When I pulled up the calendar it said Lisbon, Vale de Tejo, Alentejo ... no address. Whatever, it is not suitable for a wheelchair.

Score76

There are indeed 3, but I think only this one has a Brexit balcao. On the confirmation page after having booked the appointment it gives the full address.

The Metro would be great, for 1.50€ you can't go wrong, however the station next to the SEF is Parque. Parque is not on a line that goes to any of the mainline stations you can get off at from the Algarve so you'd have to change. It ends up being quicker to walk from Entrecampos. But for sure we will use it to get around and see the sights.

sportpix

are you going this week? It would be good to know how it works out. I’m thinking of next week.