Question is once an ARI holder is converted to D2 permit (automatically converted upon renewal by AIMA), can the D2 permit holder still apply for GV PR? Does anyone know?
I donāt think anyone knows. But if you can renew D2 without too much hassle for 3 years at a time, thatās almost as good as PR isnāt it?
For D2 to renew, need to operate a company, pay social security, stay 183 days or more a year (per Article 89 of Law 23/2007). Even if the main ARI investor can fulfil the requirement, it is unlike all family members (kids, parents, etc) can fulfil such stringent requirements. The whole idea of ARI in the first place is no stay requirement (only 7 days a year). Being force-converted into D2 for ARI investors is like rights restrospectively taken away.
Not to mention the complication for kidsā¦there are certain benefits of kids getting GV (as dependent). Such benefits do not exist under D2. It is a messā¦
Maybe who knows. It seems we got D2 without any of that at least the first time.
Itās possible the government will treat all ex-GV D2 basically the same as GV, otherwise they are violating the constitutional guarantee against retroactivity? But Iām not a lawyer.
Family reunification is different to each family member holding their own D2, I wouldnāt worry about that.
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Yes - hopefully - but we will see. For now I renewed for 3 years and they have that long to figure it out. My concern at the moment is that my family can not renew their visas so if anyone gets any updates on that process, please pass it along.
Reviving this old thread as I suspect others might be hitting this milestone soon.
Has anyone else run into Golden Visa fund distribution questions after 5 years invested and how they impact renewals?
My investment has been held continuously for 5+ years, I recently had my second ARI card renewal, and my citizenship application is already filed and waiting analysis.
My VC fund is now doing a partial return of capital but is deferring distributions to GV investors out of caution around ācounting the 5 yearsā until they get legal advice. I suspect the lawyers will be conservative and say āwait longer just in caseā, but that has a $$ opportunity cost.
Has anyone here received distributions after the 5 year mark but before citizenship was granted? Did your lawyers treat the 5 years as running from application date?
Any issues at ARI renewal after partial capital returns?
It seems thereās a big gap between black letter law, administrative caution, and what actually happens (surprise, surprise) but Iām interested in knowing any real world experiences.
This is not a new question, but it is pertinent. It was always my understanding that during the renewal of the primary GV, it is necessary to prove that you maintained the investment. As I havenāt every renewed my GV, I donāt know what exactly is required to prove that you maintained the investment (i.e., do you need to show you still have an account, or do you need to show that you maintained the entire original 500k fund investment). If you review the SEF ARI Manual you will come away with the conclusion that you must maintain the original investment. Granted, this is a tad ambiguous. However, some promoters have a very loose take on this. I am attaching a link to video for a promoter (see link below at 10:02 mark) who was offering a 500k investment for 399k , with 101k immediately refunded in the form of prepaid interest.
In any event, there should be no issue with the fund making partial distributions that do not bring the retained principal below the original investment amount.
If the link get striped from this post, you can search youtube for āGolden Visas Arenāt Just for Millionairesā by author āexpats everywhereā
Golden Visas Arenāt Just for Millionaires - YouTube
TLDR: There is not a clear and definitive answer. The cautious approach is to the maintain the full original amount of your investment until you have PR or citizenship.
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That broadly aligns with what I thought too. And no the total wonāt dip below the original investment amount. My shares wonāt be diluted, just a reduction in the NAV per unit.
My sense is AIMA doesnāt really engage with the character of distributions at all. Theyāre just checking whether the qualifying investment existed and was maintained during the mandatory period and at renewal. But because thereās no published guidance, everyone defaults to the most conservative reading.
That approach sounds like itās playing with fire!
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Even the open ended, publicly traded funds like the IMGA AƧƵes Portugal fund pay dividends, are GV investors legally required to reinvest those dividends?
No, Iām almost certain you do not have to reinvest dividends.
I think the issue in my case is that AIMA distinguishes between income distributions and capital reductions. Dividends donāt touch the qualifying investment. A return of capital (which is my scenario) does, even if your retained amount stays above the threshold. Thatās why fund administrators get more cautious. But Iām not sure if thatās just the usual prevarication to reduce their own legal exposure, however minimal, or if there is a real risk there.
IMGA AƧƵes does NOT pay dividends, or Iāve been missing out for 5 years 
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Most of the open funds do not pay out dividends - I know IMGA and Optimize definitely donāt
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Interesting, so that means the underlying companies pay no dividends? Or the fund forcibly reinvests them?
The underlying investments pay dividends to the mutual fund the same as they would any other investor but the mutual fund reinvests those funds rather than distributing them. This avoid tax consequences for non-us investors.