Hello everyone,

This is my first post on here, I've spent quite a bit of time reading through the posts but I've only just signed up. It's great for gathering valuable information, thanks to all of the people that post so regularly.

I attended my appointment for a D7 Visa at VFS Global in Edinburgh yesterday. I'd done my research and gathered all the paperwork I thought I needed, with a personal statement to support my application. I'm planning to emigrate to Portugal with my wife and son, we've sold our property in the UK and will be using the proceeds to buy a property in Portugal. We'll also be using it to modernise and refurbish the property, aiming to turn it into a holiday let in the long term. I don't have a job lined up in Portugal, my wife and I are moving to Portugal to change our lifestyle as a family. I'm currently studying to be in a position to be able to work online. However, our property proceeds give us financial security for a few years - my personal statement outlined our plans.

After a 30 minute wait I was called into a booth where the gentleman asked for my paperwork. He checked through my paperwork, ticking it off against the D7 requirements. He then asked if I had a job lined in Portugal so I explained our plans to him. He continued through the list and then told me that he'd be back in a few minutes.

On his return he told me that he'd rang the Portuguese Consulate in Manchester as he had concerns about whether my application could be progressed as I couldn't demonstrate that I would have an ongoing regular income. He said that applications had been rejected by the Consulate so he'd given them a ring to seek advice from them about my particular case. He then gave me the email and mobile number of the person he spoke to in the Consulate, telling me to contact him to find out what I could provide to progress my case.

I've sent an email and tried to call a few times yesterday without any response so far.

Has anyone else experienced something similar? Or does anyone have any idea of what kind of thing the Consulate would expect to see?

The guy at VFS told me that all of my documentation was in order but they'd had similar applications rejected recently. I also didn't get charged for a Visa application.

It would be great to hear from some knowledgeable voices, your experiences will be most helpful!