Hello everyone, I’m an ARI card holder since 2020, living in Portugal full-time since 2022. Does anyone know if any GV card holders past the five-year residency mark have requested a GV renewal on the https://contactenos.aima.gov.pt/contact-form site and then been given the option during that process to request permanent residency instead of a simple renewal? I’ve seen in other D7 focused online communities that the PR option does appear online as part of the renewal process for some card holders at the 5-year mark, but I haven’t specifically heard that this is an option that is presented to GV card holders who are eligible for PR and have requested a “renewal”.
My attorney said that you have to have lived in Portugal for 5 years to be eligible for the permanent residence option. We moved here in late 2021 so just doing a regular renewal.
Interesting. Our lawyer as well as another we consulted with indicated that it was indeed possible to apply for article 80 Permanent Residency given our circumstance of only being physically present for just over three years but having held a card for over five years.
Looking at the AIMA website, the article 80 page says you have to have held a temporary resident card for five years, it doesn’t mention that you have to have lived in Portugal for five years.
I found another page on the AIMA site which does reference having to live in Portugal for five years but that’s for something called a “Cartão de Residência Permanente” and that is for EU nationals. We are from the US, so perhaps that is why we were told Article 80 was possible.
1 Like
I don’t believe you have to have lived in Portugal - just held the card for five years.
But if you change your visa type to the regular permanent residence visa - not the GV specific one, but the normal, cheaper one - then from that point on you will be subjected to the physical presence requirements. So, probably not a great option if you don’t intend to live in Portugal.
1 Like
James, there are 2 types of PR - one is the regular one and the other is for GV holders. The GV one doesn’t require 5 years in country, but it’s insanely expensive.
Hi SJ and Jae, those are good points. We do live in Portugal and are planning to remain here, so we do want to get off of the GV track. Our lawyer is saying that they can switch tracks for us at the same time as we apply for permanent residency, so hopefully we’ll avoid the (much, much) higher price for the PR. But first we need to actually get the PR appointment, which is proving difficult. That’s why we were wondering if anyone has used the only online GV scheduling option which seems to be available, which is for renewal, and managed to end up with a PR appointment instead.
How expensive? Can we just renew the GV? my last renewal was 181 Euros
It appears to be about €8400 https://aima.gov.pt/media/pages/documents/f4adf3850c-1741971293/tabela-de-taxas-e-demais-encargos-a-cobrar-pelos-procedimentos-administrativos.pdf
1 Like
My attorney told us we can apply for citizenship 5 years after applying for the GV or permanent residence 5 years after receiving the first residence card. Our daughter starts university next year in another EU country and they accept the permanent residence card for local tuition. Unfortunately, there was a 2 year gap between applying for the first residence card and actually receiving it.
1 Like
As for the specific question asked in the original post, as I understand it requesting a permanent residence card (of either variety) is distinct from a renewal and requires you or your lawyer to attend a different appointment type specific for requesting PR; thus I don’t think it is available in self-service online renewals, no.
1 Like
Hmm, that’s interesting. Is it your understanding based on GV specifically or more generally? Because if it’s more generally, I’m wondering if they’ve loosened that up as part of a push to get people processed. I’m actually seeing a bunch of people on AIMA e Nacionalde Grupo de Apoio on Facebook who are saying they have had the experience of going in for a renewal appointment that they scheduled through the online renewal process, and then requesting to switch over to a PR, and the agent did that, telling them they would be sent a bill for the increased fee. And the moderator of that group also seems confident that one can do this. I hope it is true, because I am now leaning towards simply scheduling a renewal and hoping for the best for fear of being in resident card limbo (when my nationality application is being considered).
It’s AIMA, so perhaps random like other things at AIMA. Your experience may be different than the applicant at the counter next to you 
1 Like
I’m afraid I have no personal experience with it, only repeating what I have heard locally from other immigrant friends on different visa types. At least for them, apparently, there was a distinct PR appointment type they scheduled and attended. I will say that none of these were within the past ~6 months, so perhaps there have been changes to the process.
And, as @PTBound noted, AIMA is… capricious, even at the best of times. So who knows.
1 Like