Just wondering if anyone has had experience first moving to Portugal with a D7 and then changing after some time to the Golden Visa (e.g. in case you can no longer stay in Portugal for the required durations to qualify for Portuguese citizenship or your kids move outside of Portugal and you’d like to still obtain Portuguese citizenship for them).
A follow-up question assuming this kind of conversion is even possible: If you start with D7 and then switch to GV, can you still apply for permanent residency/citizenship after 5 years total (e.g. 2 year under D7 and 3 years under GV) or do you need to wait for your full GV period to complete before being able to apply for citizenship?
As far as I know, there is no law that expressly allows for conversion of D7 to GV. So it comes down to you are going to be subject to the whim of the inspector hearing your case. You can argue that you should get credit for the years you already lived in Portugal. Based on what I know I think that is a losing argument since the GV is a separate construct. I am not a lawyer though so you should talk with someone who can tell you for sure.
I am a lawyer, but not a Portuguese one, so you should definitely check with a Portuguese one, but I think you should be able to “get credit” for the time under either your D7 or GV.
The relevant portions of the law (Article 6) and the regulations implementing the law (Article 19) both just say that you have resided in PT for at least the required number of year (currently 5, but was 6 prior to 2018), and do not distinguish between types of visas. (And the GV counts as “residing” even though it’s only 7 days/year on average).
See:
Organic Law No. 2/2018 - ARTICLE 6 - Requirements
1 - The Government may grant Portuguese nationality, by naturalization, to foreigners who cumulatively meet the following requirements:
a) Be of legal age or emancipated under Portuguese law; b) Have resided for at least six years in Portuguese territory or under Portuguese administration;
c) Have sufficient knowledge of the Portuguese language;
d) Have moral and civil integrity;
e) Possess the capacity to govern their person and ensure their livelihood.
Portuguese nationality regulation - Article 19 - Naturalization of foreigners residing in Portuguese territory
1 - The Government grants Portuguese nationality, by naturalization, to foreigners when they satisfy the following requirements:
a) They are older or emancipated under Portuguese law; b) They have legally resided in Portuguese territory for at least six years;
c) Know the Portuguese language sufficiently, in accordance with the provisions of article 25;
d) They have not been convicted, with final judgment of the sentence, for committing a crime punishable by a maximum prison sentence of three years or more, according to Portuguese law.
e) Do not constitute a danger or threat to national security or defense, due to their involvement in activities related to the practice of terrorism, under the terms of the respective law.
Thank you Kevin! Great information. If anyone in this community has actually gone through the process of switching from D7 to GV (or GV to D7) please share your experience and knowledge.
@arasekhi I am in the same situation. I am currently a D7 visa holder, resident in PT, and looking to apply for GV to allow for more flexibility for me and my family in the future. Did you end up applying for the GV and were you successful in obtaining it? Any other tips as I look to go through the same process?
I spoke with EDGE on the qualifying duration for PR/Citizenship without differentiating any residence permit. I was told that as long as you can demonstrate you have been ‘legal resident’ for a total duration required, you are eligible to apply for PR/Citizenship. Of cos you need to comply with stay requirement of respective residency in order to qualify/maintain legal resident status.
Hi Ed, we decided to proceed with the D7 route and for now have put the GV process on hold. We may reconsider it once we are actually living in Portugal and see what the needs of our family are and hopefully see the current GV bottleneck improve over time. Of course, not doing it by the end of this year means that we will no longer be able to invest €350K in funds (going to €500K) or invest in properties in Lisbon/Porto/coastal areas. For now and for us, it was the right thing to defer it, but we may reconsider in a year or two.
I am hoping to move to Portugal in mid 2023 and wondering the same. Right now I qualify only for D7 because I have rental income from my rental property, as well as a 100% remote technology job, but I am currently short in cash to make the Golden Visa investment. But I am so sick of dealing with this rental property and plan to sell it right before moving. After I sell the property, I will have plenty of cash for the Golden visa investment but no more rental income. So I think I would have trouble renewing the D7 when the time comes.
So I am thinking to make a Golden visa investment after moving to Portugal on the D7 and then applying for the GV. Since GV processing has been slow, I’m thinking that by the time it is approved, it will be coming up time to renew the D7, and instead of renewing the D7, I would just switch to GV, then hopefully after 5 years total in Portugal, I can apply for citizenship? Would there be any issues with this plan?
Sorry we decided to pursue only D7 and don’t have a definitive answer for you, but from what I heard when I looked into this, your residency in Portugal counts whether on D7 or GV and if you switch between them, you can count your years of residency towards a citizenship application. I would check with a reputable attorney to be sure.
But SEF will likely make you give up your D7 status for you to apply for your GV, so you’ll be stuck without residence for 2 years until they process youe GV. GV is a terrible program for people who want to live in Portugal. Read these forums for people stuck in limbo for years. Stay on your D7 if you’re living there.
I would suggest spending the effort to use the consulting income and cash as a justification for D7 rather than mutzing with GV. I think if you have been in country for a while, and can show you have the cash to continue to reside, you’ll be fine with renewal - at worst, hire a lawyer/consultant with experience to figure out the right thing to say. It feels like a ton less effort than dealing with trying to convert an existing permit to GV and then having to deal with that process.
The reason you want to switch to GV is of the hassle from rental property. But remember that SEF is a &$$head and hundred times more terrible than your rental problem. It’s much 100% better to continue the D7 than to switch to GV.
Hi, have you did this in the meantime? Currently I am also wondering which route I should take and thinking of starting out with GV and then switching to D7 if/when I can start living at least 6 months in Portugal. Is this doable? Thanks to anyone for their help in advance
I would love to switch. However I have checked with lawyers and I do not want to switch due to some inconveniences:
In order to apply for D7, the application must be submitted at the embassy of the home country. I live in Portugal and do not want to return to my home country to apply for a new set of bureaucracy.
To start D7, one must cancel his/her ongoing residency i.e. GV in my case. SEF does not consider your D7 application if you are still having a different residency.
If they allow to apply for D7 inside Portugal and at the same time allow applicants to keep the GV while the D7 is being considered, then I will proceed…
Thank you very much for your reply. We have an opposite situation then. I live outside Portugal and can start living there earliest in a year. So I wonder if I now apply for GV and once I start living there, can I take my money back and switch to D7. I will appreciate if anyone has similar experience and would share experiences. Thanks in advance
If you apply for a Portugal GV today, it will take 2-3?4?5? years to get your first residency card. If you have any intention of moving to Portugal to reside, a D7 is infinitely faster and less expensive.
At current speeds, no point, when you apply for D7 in a year your GV will still be “in process” in the earliest stages. Just skip the GV application and wait for D7 in that case.
