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Just realized getting a proper work visa for Portugal took me 8 months, not the 90 days everyone online said.
I had to submit my application from Brazil, then fly back to the US for a biometrics appointment they never told me about, and the whole process cost over $2,000 in fees and extra flights.
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shane_hayes4mo ago
Got stuck in the same loop trying to get a visa for Spain last year. Ended up just hiring a lawyer in Madrid who specialized in this stuff, cost me about 400 euros but they handled all the appointment scheduling and paperwork. They flagged the biometrics requirement before I even applied, so I didn't get any surprise trips. Also saved me from a few smaller fees I would have paid if I did it alone. Not saying it's fair to have to pay extra, but it beat the stress and the flying back and forth.
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charles1225mo ago
Wait, they made you fly back to the US just for a biometrics appointment you didn't even know about? That's unbelievable. The whole point of applying from Brazil was probably to avoid that. What a mess of a process, and two grand on top of it all. I'm sorry you had to go through that.
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price.ben5mo ago
But isn't that just how the system is built? The rules are clear if you dig for them. I applied for a visa while living abroad years ago and fully expected to travel for an interview. It's a security step, not a mistake. The real issue is when people rely on unofficial summaries instead of the actual government instructions. That paperwork always tells you biometrics are required at a specific center.
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willowg885mo ago
Oh man, I saw a whole thread about this on a travel forum last month. Someone from Canada had the same surprise biometrics trip, but theirs was back to London. The fees kept changing on them too, like extra costs popped up out of nowhere. It seems like the official info is just totally wrong for a lot of people.
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