It is very clumsy statement. Strange for the lawyers. The rules are the following:
- You are required to keep the investment while you are in the GV program, either temporary residence or permanent. It was always like that. No question. And was communicated at the beginning. There is no relation to citizenship. Citizenship is the separate question. Some person may even decide not to get citizenship. Unfortunately, many lawyers gave wrong information and false promises to attract clients to the program. GV program for example never promised citizenship. But Portugal included our type of residence to be counted for citizenship even if we do not spend time here. It is a little bit different statement, isn’t it? Good lawyers even cautioned clients that law about GV program does not have any statements or relation to law about citizenship and it is a risk.
- Minimum period of 5 years appeared later in the program. I am reading it the following way: even if you decide to leave the program, you have to keep yr investment at least 5 years
- GV PR costs roughly the same price per year as usual GV. Neither me nor my lawyers have seen anybody who received that GV PR. The approval takes averagely same time as primary GV card. Don’t do it, don’t lose yr time. Especially that GV renewal now cost only 177.
- If you live in Portugal, you may apply for usual PR. However, you need to leave GV program officially. There are several successful examples, that people wrote an official statement to cancel GV program and applied for normal PR and got it. Not every lawyer knows that, and even not every AIMA knows that. But you may ask. Unfortunately, all examples are either on Madeira or Açores. But again if we could renew at 177 why to bother? I know that 177 fee is only for some investments, not for everybody. However, for that investments it is even more dubious that you will get GV PR. It is a separate applications and that investments are not eligible anymore. Who knows?
Caution: if you decide to cancel GV program and get usual PR, do it BEFORE applying to citizenship. Who knows how this cancelation will affect your process. Before application - nobody will take those years from you. The law does not require to have residence uninterrupted or on the same type of residence. Law says 5 yrs consecutive or interrupted in last 15. - Just want to repeat once more time. At the moment, the practice is the following: you need to have valid residence card at the time of citizenship application and at the stage 4 when IRN will check that requirements. IRN does not treat the law. IRN asks AIMA and takes contagem de tempo as a proof. IRN even does not know what type of visa you have been at. If you will not have a valid residence card when IRN asks AIMA, AIMA replies “does not meet the requirements”. Period. Than IRN will write to you saying “falta documentos” and you will have some time to provide them or ask for prolongation of that time. If you could not renew yr residence due to AIMA fault you will definitely get this prolongation. If you decided not to prolong yourself, I have no idea. I know cases when people get decline from IRN in that case.
In general, at the moment the process works that way, however new government is making some reforms now.