Moving to Portugal without extended Schengen visa

June 7. Ouch!! We had our appointment on July 31 and fly out September 2. And our movers come August 30.

I do not think we can 'mail back our passports'. Besides, how will we GET our passports? They are i the hands of the Portugal authorities. I doubt we can get them back to fly - and obviously we cannot fly without them - but if we can get them back without the visas, then I am guessing that that would simply invalidate the application process.

We have our passports. They were not taken when we applied for our visas. I do know they have to be mailed back in when we get notice that the visa is ready. Did you forfeit your visa and where did you apply from?

We applied at Newark NJ. We handed over our passports, as we were asked to do. We asked the question: can we go on September 2 as tourists? The answer was: you would have to come back here for your passports, but then we wouldn't have them to stamp the visa in.

This leaves open the question you are asking: well, if you take your passports back and fly without a visa, can you send the passport back to be stamped when the visa arrives. I am assuming that if you take back your passport you may be stopping the process.

I suppose it possible that you can fly as a tourist without a visa, and then send the passport in to be stamped and returned to you in Portugal. But as I remember, we were told this is not possible.

Do you have an email address for the person who interviewed you at the consulate? You are supposed to get your visa in 30 days. You are now past 70. Something seems not quite right. I would call and check.

Thanks for your help.  From communicating with other applicants it's not unusual to take this long. When we applied they told us to expect the process to take at least two months.  I think it's issues with the San Francisco office, very understaffed from what I understand. Again, we do have our passports in our possession. We never had to give them up, so we could conceivable fly out on our dates on a normal tourist visa and then send them back for the visa stamp. You would think there would be continuity between the consulates but that appears not to be the case. Did you get your visas already and did they really tell you it would only be 30 days? Amazing.

Well the 30 day figure is all over the internet. When we discussed our situation at the consulate, we were not given any assurance, but were told to be optimistic. If we get ours in thirty days it will be just before we fly. I am prepared to eat our flights and wait. Our good are expected to arrive on September 30, and I understand that our insurance gives us 30 days of storage in Lisbon.

The different consulates are all different. Don't have a clue why. If you have the email of your consulate interviewer, I would give her an email. Ours told us to do that if we had any questions.

Thanks. I don't have an email address for the person that interviewed us in San Francisco. I'll be curious how long your visa takes. Please let me know and good luck to you! Where are you headed in Portugal?