After five years, we have applied for citizenship and are waiting. And of course, we also find ourselves with expired golden visas (extended online but still…) and would love to apply for permanent residency while we wait. We went to local CLAIM rep and she made copies of our A2 test certificates, cartões de residência, etc. and submitted a request to Aima for a permanent residency appointment. Said it would be pretty quick - “was just a couple of weeks earlier this year.” Of course, months have gone by. She helpfully “reinforced” the request to Aima, but we haven’t received a response or appointment.
Anyone have any luck / tips / tricks?
For what it’s worth, despite being here on a golden visa, we’re applying for permanent residency under a different article for which we also qualify. But I imagine Aima tips / tricks still apply.
I really don’t want to renew my golden visa again after over 5 years
Are you applying for “normal PR” as opposed to the “ARI PR”? When I first started the process, I asked my lawyer about it, and she said even if I have boots on the ground for 5 years (and hence technically eligible for the much cheaper “normal PR”), it’s practically impossible for ARI holders to get normal PR from AIMA. I assume this is because AIMA wants to make money from the much more expensive “ARI PR.”
This being said, others on this forum have done it when stars align:
I was also told not to take even “ARI PR” for granted, since there are very few appointment slots. This is why most people just renew their GV one more time (which is cheaper than the ARI PR anyway), while waiting for naturalisation. It seems AIMA wants to tie up our investments for as long as they possibly can, even if they have to forego making more money from the cards.
I have a kid who was born in PT, so qualify for PR as a parent of a Portuguese citizen. My lawyer thought that would be the best route for me. TBD! Still the same 5-year boots on ground requirement, which we meet.
