This is why everyone who submitted their GV applications in 2019, 2020, and even 2021 (if residency card in hand and the expiration date is later than the 5-year mark) should be getting a CdT well ahead of submitting the citizenship application.
Whether you line up in person at 5am outside AIMA, or pay your lawyer EUR100 to send an email + go during an appointment, there is zero downside from getting the CdT.:
- If AIMA doesn’t count the 5 years from the initial application date (or payment of analysis fee), then you can fight it, or at least know, before wasting time and money collecting another round of police records, birth certificates, etc. to submit the citizenship application.
- You’ll be providing a public service to the world. If the regulations don’t come out for another 2 years, people in the GV industry will continue to trap new investors, telling them the 5-year clock starts from application. If this is not the case in practice, then the truth needs to come out so that potential GV investors can make an informed decision. Dishonesty should not be rewarded with apathy and acquiescence.
I’ll be getting a CdT as soon as I receive my first residency card.