As someone who just went through the entire thread, I think I have a decent understanding of the risks with opting to go with a fund vs RE.
It seems like there are a number of folks here who intend to use the GV program to get to a Portuguese citizenship rather than just permanent residency.
My question to folks who are planning to invest in funds for a GV on their way to a citizenship: is there a strong chance that SEF will grant citizenship to folks on a GV but decide to only spend the minimum number of days in Portugal to be in valid temporary resident (GV) status (63 days total I think?)?
The reason I am asking is because there is a clause in the citizenship application for “an effective connection to Portuguese community.” Will that be fulfilled just by virtue of holding temporary residence for 5 years?
I am planning to do my own due diligence with lawyers of course, but was hoping to get some perspective from folks who are also planning to go the fund route. It seems like folks going with RE might have an easier time demonstrating these “ties” ( by virtue of owning a home I guess?)
People are doing this for a variety of reasons. Citizenship is the goal for most, I would say. All would love to make money on these finds but I think many would be happy just to not lose too much, in exchange for a passport.
The tie to the country is a subjective measure and does throw citizenship into a bit of a murky territory. Some lawyers have told me that the GV in itself is your tie to the country and will fulfill the requirement. Others say the RE helps, but not necessary and you should do things like demonstrate other ways you have links like festivals you have been to, meetings you have attended etc. Personally, I believe the language requirement is more of a challenge to most people.
Here is an update based on my conversations with three different law firms in Portugal (2 big names and one that is focused on citizenship specifically):
Yes, you absolutely will have a strong application with just 35 days (7 + 14 + 14) of the required residence over 5 years under the Golden Visa (GV) program.
Apparently there was an update and the first Temporary Residence Permit you get after a successful GV application will now be valid for 2 years instead of the initial 1 (an exception for the pandemic apparently).
Like with any law, there are no guarantees (laws can change + there is some degree of interpretation with regards to “effective connections”)
“effective connections” can be satisfied with just the combination of holding the Temporary Residence Permit from the GV for 5 years + language test. There was a recommendation to document your travels and participate in the local culture in some way (as Larry mentioned above), but this is not strictly necessary (just makes your application stronger).
Folks with Real Estate may have a slight edge here with regards to “effective connections”, but folks going the investment fund route will not be significantly disadvantaged. Just use the recommendations in 4).
My ultimate goal is to acquire Portuguese nationality and their passport, so it was important for me to get some confidence before investing a significant amount of money in the GV process. There are folks who are content with just acquiring Permanent Residence, but I am not one of them.
I feel ready to proceed with the investment phase.
My first message on this forum so I have to start by thanking the founders and admin for the fantastic amount of valuable information!
I have exactly the same concerns as you Trid3nt and given you are slightly more advanced than me in the process I was wondering whether you have been get more info about how to demonstrate ties to the Portuguese community. I know there are some examples above but if you have more based on your diligence I would welcome your advice.
Also does anyone know whether there is observable data about the number of citizenship granted for GV holders that have actually not lived in Portugal beyond the minimum stay requirements? Given the programme started in 2012 I would have thought we should have visibility by now, but couldn’t find any statistics!
Thanks and I agree. But with respect to the real estate option we should have citizenship applications that started in 2018, so there should be precedence by now. Anyone has any information?