Hello! As you are all aware, the AIMA is hopeless. Not only am I losing out on the interest on the capital parked in Portugal but also, I don’t expect to be receiving any of the perks for the upcoming years.
I see that the Latvia GV is much cheaper (starting at just 50,000 EUR of equity investments + 10,000 EUR of fees). Does any one have any experience with that system? Is it quick? Is it like Portugal?
Any insight would be much appreciated.
Didn’t know much about it, but a quick search says the 50k option is a donation, so you wouldn’t get the money back…
10000 euro is state fees, the agency or law firm takes 3 to 5000 euro. Investment of 50k is refundable but in risky small companies. Residency card has to be renewed every year even though residency itself is grantes for 5 years. Process takes 4-5 months pracitcally speaking. Problem is u are not allowed to hold multiple eu residencies at the same time. Those selling the program say portugal agencies have no way to find out but once EES kicks in, it would change…if passport is ur aim, it would take 10 years, latvian is a difficult language…u will be required to be based out of the country and even with resiedent card, u need to maintain address.
From my perspective, switching will make investments in portugal gv application useless. But i will inevitably take a call in few months. Either lativia or hungary since EU passport is not my main aim.
Who said that?
Good question, last year I checked with my lawyer and was told that it is possible to hold multiple residencies, they even told me that they have clients who has two residencies at the same time…
By one of the consultants.
There are clients who are applying for 2 resiencies at the same time…but whether there are those who hold 2 at the same time and under what circumstances, i am not sure. But two different consultants did tell me that as per european law, you are not allowed to hold two different residencies at the same time. Maybe from finding purpose, it somehow works differently for visa free travel and visa requiring countries.
For me, if I have latvian residency and i get biomteric appointment, aima will look for valid schengen visa. There is no stamping of latvian residency on passport but only a residency card. If I show that residency card, they wont proceed with my application. That is my understanding as of now.
If based out of the country is ok for you, why not PT D7?
Yea, it was discussed at length on this forum with links to the EU laws etc. with the conclusion being anyone can hold multiple EU residences, no problem.
If you read the PT GV eligibility it says the applicant must be a non-EU citizen, but nothing about them being non-EU resident.
Well I can’t contest what u have also said but then again I talked to two separate people offering latvia program. They did not raise this point on their own but only when I asked them to share their opinion in regards to getting AIMA biometric appointment by the time I procured latvia or hungary reisdency card and presenting myself without schengen visa but this residency card.
Maybe need to get more informed opinion.
Just FYI resending the link from some prior posts:
As a long-term resident in one EU country, can I live and work in a second EU country?
Yes. You can stay in a second EU country for more than three months for purposes including work, study or training, if you apply for and are granted a residence permit in this second country.
I have read that Latvia only allows dual citizenship with a restricted list of countries (EU Members; NATO Members; Australia, Brazil and New Zealand). And you have to pass a test in Latvian to A2 standard. That’s the same level required by Portugal but I would guess there are not as many resources available to reach it.
Hello Kai, Latvia is a decent option if you are looking in getting an EU residency… However, if you are aiming for a citizenship you have to wait a bit longer and the language isn’t an easy one to study. Having lived in the Baltics for quite a while myself, the language is the biggest barrier to overcome. Nevertheless, its a nice place to live and have a residency and most of them do speak English fluently.
Having couple of residencies are considered normal. I had a valid 3 year EU permit during my GV biometrics, my lawyer predicted that the SEF officer might cancel the old card but in reality the SEF officer wasn’t even bothered about the same… So, as per my experience you can have multiple residencies without any issues…
Sounds good. I see people talking about having multiple residencies here but I am thinking of cutting my losses with Portugal and moving to Latvia instead. It has been 15 months since I applied and I still need to wait months to acquire a Schengen visa every time I need to visit. Atleast with Latvia, my mobility would not be impaired and I can travel freely in a free months.
Not keen on that given Hungary is always at odds with the EU and there are genuine calls to kick them out of the Schengen zone. I’m not saying it’ll happen. But the fact that it is a remote possibility scares me away.
In my opinion, u should wait…at least the final approvals even without lawsuits are trickling through. And GV are not going anywhere. One or the other country in EU will keep them alive.
Also, does anyone have any clarity if investing in a Latvian Company could just simply be from the stock market? Like a publicly traded one?
You should probably ask @tkrunning to create a new tag for Latvia GV?
But if you’re the only person looking into it, you probably need to find a Latvian lawyer.