Hi all, I wonder if any of you who have received D2 permit upon renewal (showing card type of “Temporária” as opposed to “AR Investimento” ) have looked into the legislation for D2 residency. Note D2 has existed as a residency category for a long long time - it is not something new. The minimum stay requirement is over 183 days a year (like all resident permits except ARI) . In addition to stay requirement, there are many other criteria to fulfill to maintain D2 residency for self and family members.
D2 permit requires no investment but holders need to stay 183 days a year. One of the key reasons why people have chosen to invest in a golden visa / AR Investimento is to avoid having to live in Portugal for a minimum of 183 days every year (thereby automatically deemed as a tax resident). In the past ARI holders get ARI resident permit which says “AR Investimento” as type of residency and “Atividade de Investimento” under remarks on their biometric card and they only need to stay 7 days a year to maintain it. Now renewed cards indicate “Temporária” as type of card, and “Atividade Empreendedor” as remarks. What does your resident card show? For ARI holders to be force-converted into D2/Entrepreneur permit upon renewal, is that in the spirit of grandfathering?
Legally speaking, Lei no. 56/2023 is the governing law on ARI since Oct 2023, replacing lei no 23/2007. This law only covers Atividade de Investimento (ARI) - with details under Article 42 & 43. Note: There is no single mention of Atividade Empreendedor (Entrepreneur residency) in Lei no 56/2023 which governs ARI.
This also has implication for permanent residency as ARI PR and normal PR have different stay requirement just as ARI vs any other type of resident permits…
Does anyone know or have consulted their lawyers on the legal status of ARI investors who now hold D2 temporary resident cards? What are the governing laws? Must they sell property and operate a company as an entrepreneur and fulfill the requirements of the competent authority for D2? Please kindly share with the community if you have any information/insights. Thanks.