ARI Holders (Stage 5)

Residencies & citizenships Portugal Golden Visa đŸ‡”đŸ‡č
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Thanks very much @skippy.fluff. Nice to know that your expiry date is within the period allowed which is January 1 2023 to March 31 2023. I was afraid we didn’t have anyone who met those date requirements in this community!
Suggests to me that the portal is not yet live or functional. My understanding (from the non GV immigrants who did this last year, many with problems doing so, particularly at the payment stage) is that the addresses can be updated within the portal once the portal is live - which is reported to be this week! Do let us know how this goes, if you get in! In the meanwhile, good luck to you and your lawyer!

Good News - today stating that the 6000 GV visas which expire until 31 March 23 can be renewed online: Imigrantes podem renovar 'online' autorizaçÔes de residĂȘncia que caduquem atĂ© 31 de março - Expresso

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It is open now; I have not yet submitted because I’m waiting for confirmation from my lawyer, so I am not sure of the full flow, but the first screen asks you to update your address, and submit the application and nothing else.

There is also a youtube video noting the validity on the SEF website now.

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FWIW I submitted my family’s automatic renewal applications just now (expiries ranging from August 2022 to December 2022) and it seems to have accepted them and generated payment advice PDFs for all. :hand_with_index_finger_and_thumb_crossed:

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Great news. What documents did you submit? Any feedback when this will be confirmed and new cards issued. Congratulations

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I’m at the same stage as well. Waiting for my lawyer’s reply tomorrow.

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[EDIT2: an updated version of this post with more details: Automatic Online Renewal Procedure Jan 2023]
[EDIT: added details and clarifications]

No documents needed for the Jan 2023 online automatic renewal workflow for GVs (no apostilled certificates, no proof of stay, no continued investment proof, no nothing).

You need an email address, expired permit number, date of birth. Follow the registration and login steps starting here: https://www.sef.pt/pt/Pages/registo.aspx

The permit number is the 9-letter alphanumeric code at the top right of the residence card, next to the words “TITULO DE RESIDENCIA”

A few clicks, confirm details SEF already has: NIF and marriage status, confirm address to receive the residence permits (typically your lawyer’s address, you can change it if necessary) and hit submit. That’s it. You immediately get a payment advice PDF which you are supposed to pay within 8 days.

(NOTE! Date of birth is DD/MM/YYYY, you may be confused if you are using Google translate on Chrome which will render it as mm/dd/yyyy)

Lawyers warned that they have no info on when the cards are likely to be issued, as this is a new workflow. However, going by previous experience, once the payment stage is crossed, they expect cards to be mailed within 30-45 days.

If you have family members on the GV, you need to register each of them separately, with their own individual email address and password, using their residence card number and date of birth, and apply for their renewals. This portal is completely different from the ARI portal, and email/password used there need not be the same here - this portal recognizes people during registration by their residence card number and date of birth.

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Hi. Can you remember what the visa fee is? Thanks

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For renewal, SEF fees are €3235.96 per person

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@minimaxr’s experience matches mine. The only thing I can add is that I cannot yet pay the renewal fee online. I tried with Millennium, which registered it as SEF, but it did not recognize the reference number. This has happened before with SEF payments, and I’ll try again tomorrow morning.

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This is from the email after I submitted the request for renewal. Looks like the payment portal only opens up after 48hours?

You have just successfully completed the request for automatic renewal of your Residence Permit on the SEF Portal.
We attach the payment details in order to finalize the order.

Payment of the Single Billing Document will only be available 48 hours after receiving this email.

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[EDIT: this post is incorrect, sorry. See @Onward’s response for details]

:point_down: appears to apply to all temporary residence permits, whether for work or ARI or anything, which means this renewal should yield a 3-year permit. This will take many people (especially those who got a 2-year permit the first time) into the 5-year PR/citizenship zone without another intermediate renewal.

Article 192.Âș

Simplification of granting and renewal of residence permit

In 2021, the temporary residence permit provided for in paragraph 1 of article 75 of Law nÂș 23/2007, of 4 July, is valid for a period of two years from the date of issue of the respective title and renewable for successive periods of three years.

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As to how long the cards will take to be delivered, @nassarfk : my guess is 2-4 weeks. This is based on previous experience with the first card - the moment the payment advice is generated and paid, the process seems to be more or less automated, taking 2-4 weeks, covid or no covid. This part of the process seems to be identical to all other forms of residence permit. The variability and long delays are all in the pre-payment phase which involves humans - with the online renewal, this bit gets short-circuited.

Other data point of someone who did an online renewal of a work permit: https://expatempire.com/how-we-renewed-our-portuguese-residence-permits/

Just as initially promised, all I had to do was confirm my address and some personal details. I paid the fee and they sent a confirmation that my permit was renewed. The new card arrived at my home in less than four weeks. Luckily, my renewal fell under the newer guidelines, so I was provided with a three-year period before my permit would expire again.

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Sorry to disappoint, but the law you give a link to is the State Budget for 2021 (Orçamento do Estado para 2021).
The law under which the “Autorização de residĂȘncia para atividade de investimento” (ARI) comes is under Article 90A of the immigration law (o regime jurĂ­dico de entrada, permanĂȘncia, saĂ­da e afastamento de estrangeiros do territĂłrio nacional) latest version is August 25 2022 (from SEF site): (https://imigrante.sef.pt/legislacao/). This law (https://files.dre.pt/1s/2022/08/16400/0000200137.pdf) states (page 72) under “Artigo 90.Âș -A Autorização de residĂȘncia para atividade de investimento”
 É renovada a autorização de residĂȘncia por perĂ­odos de dois anos, nos termos da presente lei, desde que o requerente comprove manter qualquer um dos requistitos da alĂ­nea d) do n.Âș 1 do artigo 3.Âș
In short, renewal for periods of 2 years, as long as the investment is shown to be maintained.

Work permits in the 2021 budget are not equal to ARI residence permits. Disappointing. It would have been good to reduce the number of SEF encounters for ARI.

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Hello,
My golden visa has expired 21 May. Do you think when I do automatic renewal my validity will be until May 23 or will it start from this year? Because it will be not logical to pay 3000 euros for 4 months when the card it valid until end of 2023. So would I just apply for citizenship in may 2023?

I would pay and renew to be sure if they would prolong for 2 years from the date of automatic submission


Any help appreciated


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You’re right, thanks. SEF makes it clear that the 2021 budget provision does not apply to ARI.

  • Pursuant to article 90-A, n.Âș 2, of the Aliens Act, the residence permit for investment is renewed for two-year periods of time, as long as the applicant proves to maintain any of the requirements established in article 3, subparagraph d). Because this is a special legal provision, the amendment introduced to article 75 of the Aliens Act, by article 192 of Act n.Âș 75-B/2020 of 31 december – State Budget to 2021 in force since 01/01/2021 and to 2021 does not apply.

(There are several places on the net which say renewal is for three years, which adds to the confusion.)

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Hi @minimaxr. Obviously, we all would prefer to have a longer timeframe for the renewal if at all possible. (Saves the agony of appointments, and money!)
I happened to be checking renewal timelines earlier this week and saw 2 or 3 Golden Visa sites claiming the 3-year renewal after the first authorization, and others referring to the 2-year renewals. So it was not clear to me which group was mistaken.
When in doubt, it is the law, which SEF uses that counts


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I don’t have any personal experience @tinfoil-marches0d.
However, one of the replies above relates to this: see ARI Holders (Stage 5) - #65 by Bisho.

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Thank you

Becauae for me and my family both our first year and 2nd/3rd year card was just starting the same day as the expiration of the former card


I believe with covid and unpossible renewals now it is as you say.

Thank you

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Our second card was delayed in renewal and was for 2 years from the issue date, so extending the overall visa period by three months.

Sadly the automatic renewal is not available if biometrics have been done so those of us who badgered our lawyers and coughed up to fly to Portugal have got the short end of the stick.

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My understanding is that you have to have a valid resident card while applying for citizenship. So you would have to apply for the automatic renewal anyway.

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