After much thought we have decided to give up the GV saga.
We dont even have the NIF issue yet, what puts our biometrics to some point next year, and residency card for the end of next year.
This timeline is not what we were expecting when we had the first calls with lawyers and fund managers. Thanks for everyone in this forum that helped to clarify how things actually work!
But we are not giving up Portugal just yet.
The new plan
Our plan now is to return to our home contry and wait for a year. Once we have been tax residents there for 12 full months (end of 2022), we will apply for the D7 visa. The one year wait should free us from having to show any documents related to the country we currnetly live in.
As we already started the NIF and bank account process, I will continue with that and have 60% of the GV funds invested on international ETFs (traded in London) via Bison Bank. This is a sound investment anyway, only caveat is that Bison will charge my double of what my current broker does. I will then use this as proof that I have significant funds in Portugal to cope with my living expenses.
Somewhere mid next year we will go to Portugal with 90 days tourist Visas and rent an appartment for 6 months. I understand this also helps with the D7 application.
Once in Portugal we will file for RNH tax regime.
This path seems to have a similar, if not better, timeline than the GV, with much less stress and fewer costs.
Let me know what you think!