FYI - There’s an upcoming webinar August 26 on the potential nationality law changes in Portugal. Our attorney is one of the panelists and has been our rock in advising and updating us with all that’s transpired this year.
Webinar: What if Portugal Changes the Citizenship Law? (Update: The webinar already took place, summary below)
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While I’m all for the dissemination of accurate information and webinars can be informative… surely it’s too early for this to achieve anything other than wind people up with speculation? We all just have to sit this out and see what transpires when Parliament is back from September. When something does happen in Parliament then a webinar from professionals analysing the impact would be a useful but I don’t see it can be anything other than speculation that would wind us all up again in this timeframe.
By all means, do as you please, and I will do as I please.
For anyone inclined to paddle the canoe, I’ll note that Madaleina Monteiro of Liberty Legal is a potent advocate for the ARI program, and that she knows what’s going on as well as anyone. She commissioned the critically helpful studies by Jorge Miranda, father of the Portuguese Constitution, of both the current legislative proposals and the Mais Habitação law in 2013. I greatly value her updates and I will participate in this event.
Moreover, I plan to continue lobbying Parliament members when they get back from their summer recess. I plan to pull every lever I can reach to ensure a satisfactory outcome. My observation throughout this program, contrasting my efforts with others’, is that passivity has been a less-successful strategy.
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Indeed. I’m just managing the expectations of the less informed that there can be anything new at a seminar on this subject taking place in August. I think this is valid. I do agree with your arguments. No need for conflict.
I’m an attorney in California and I believe any good lawyer should be able to offer an educated analysis and opinion of the likely outcome of the legislative process and its affect on your current legal situation.
Any lawyer who says they have no idea and you’ll just have to be patient isn’t worth what you’re paying.
Has anyone received an invitation? I registered and received an immediate ack by email, but no invitation link yet.
I registered last week, but never received the Zoom link. Did anyone receive a zoom link and/or a calendar block?
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Same thing here…
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Launch Meeting - Zoom
In summary, Attorney Madaleina Monteiro of Liberty Legal noted:
(1) Existing GV applicants or those who submit before the new citizenship law is passed should be grandfathered under the existing counting mechanism that starts from the application submission, because this counting mechanism law pertains directly to the Golden Visa program to which we applied.
(2) Existing GV applicants do not automatically qualify for grandfathering under the current citizenship law if a new citizenship law is passed if such applicants have not yet started their citizenship law application. She is sympathetic to the argument that GV applicants have an expectation of being able to apply under the existing citizenship terms at the time of GV application and therefore could potentially qualify for grandfathering on that as well; however, the legal merits of such a position are still under debate and the governments and courts have not solidified any position on this point yet.
(3) She has not seen any indication yet that additional physical presence (i.e. more than 7 days per year) would be required for GV holders to obtain citizenship.
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Monteiro also mentioned that she has requested a new legal opinion regarding this issue of whether or not changing the clock from 5-10 years is legal for GV holders who have not yet applied for citizenship under the “legitimate expectations” principle.
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