According to a lawyer in a GV whatsapp group, it was agreed today that the validity of all expired cards would be extended until June 2025.
2 Likes
Would this extension until 2025 also be valid to support one’s ongoing citizenship application, where the resident card must remain valid the whole time until the process is finished ? Some say no. I have no clue. ( I really wish the answer is yes so I can completely liberate myself from dealing with GV renewals .)
1 Like
Expired documents are extended its validity until June 2025.
Official published here:
Circus show continues. I bet that next year the expired documents will continue to be extended to June 2026…Come on Portugal…unidos, somos imparáveis [united, we’re unstopable]… 
1 Like
Question regarding extension of expired documents. I have a passport that would otherwise require a Scheghen visa to enter EU. With the expired card whose validity has been extended by this decree, will I be able to travel ? I dont think most airlines would even let me board with the expired card.
Nope, this is just for “national territory”. You are still scr###d…
See previous posts on this subject - it seems TAP generally understands the system and let’s people travel based on expired docs & reference to PT decrees. I expect it happens alot in recent years.
So last minute, I was quietly watching when they will finally pull the trigger… What’s unclear to me is why let us have these expired docs for so long, instead of doing automatic renewals… they may not see any renewal fees $$ from some of us for almost 1.5 years…!!?
Also, I assume for those of us who meet the 5-year mark before 6/2025 can still use the expired cards and this extension law to apply for citizenship… but need lawyers to verify.
Trigger was actually pulled much earlier than usual. If you look at the past, all previous extensions were made on the afternoon of the last day. This time they made decision about 5 days before the deadline which is quite unusual to me.
They do not care much about the renewal fees. What they care is to block people and their investment in the country. The investment of GV applicants is the bigger fish. They know that once GV applicants have passport in hand, all money will be withdrew out of the country. Same thing can be applied to people with Manifestação de Interesse. Once those people have passport, lots of them will go to other european countries for better salary. Spain is right next door and have 50% increment of salary for sure!
In my opinions, extension only helps in counting the dates between two resident cards. For example, your 2nd card expired in May 2024, and your next one is issued in Sept 2024, then time between May to Sept 2024 will be counted in the “contagem do tempo”. But to physically apply for citizenship or apply for “contagem do tempo”, one must have a valid physical card. Expired cards with extension does not work. But I might be wrong and things can be changed in this country.
2 Likes
True. A lot of GV investors don’t understand this and assume the delay in processing GVs is just due to slow bureaucracy. That is certainly not the case. The govt is deliberately delaying the process at every single step so that GV investors don’t cash out early.
2 Likes
Certainly does not apply to all GVers, especially not the RE-path, but I get your point in general may have some grounds.
1 Like
You give them too much credit. They don’t think so far ahead. No, no. GV is only a “hot potato” so no one wants to touch. It’s unwise because GV can help drive the economy with more investment and spending.
3 Likes
Maybe but I use the principle “don’t attribute to malice what can be explained by incompetence”
6 Likes
No lawyers are in a rush to stop receiving their fees…
Nope, so far covid extention did not helped for the stage 3 of the citizenship process when IRN checks your time count and residency. There were real cases with refusal on that ground (no valid permit).
However, as you could blame it to AIMA, just be proactive: keep requests to AIMA, keep replies, and you will be easily granted extension. The process will resume immediately after new valid permit (after sending it).
Also, as the goverment change, may be (just may be) this practice will change too.
I know many GV applicants under RE route only wait to finalize their passports. Once they get it, they put their properties on sale immediately and withdraw the money out of Portugal. No point investing in where you are badly treated!
2 Likes
This is what the Portuguese want, they aren’t worried about house prices crashing like they were 2012 when the GV was created, they are worried about house prices being too high.
Of course the GV is only a tiny fraction of house buyers, D7 and expression of interest etc are hundreds, if not thousands times more numerous. All the rage about GV is very misdirected.
3 Likes
Back when Mais Habitaçao was a fresh idea, I did some data sleuthing and (although I forget the specifics) it turns out that if every approved GV applicant (since the start of the program) bought one piece of real estate … it would have been substantially less than 1% of the real estate transactions in the country. That’s not enough to affect the market, IMHO. IIRC, it was Northern Europeans at 10%+ of the transactions that really affect the market.
My point? who cares if some GV recipients sell their property once they have a passport. Those transactions are lost in the data noise.
And, of course, those people are counterbalanced by folks like us who love the country and are in it for the long term, not just the passport.
-Rob
8 Likes
Wo bist du, Garbonzo ? Wir brauchen einen vernünftigen Kommentar – hier wird es langsam wie beim Gemüsehändler – so viel Fruchtigkeit !
Neither group – those just wanting a passport or those who love the country – are bad or wrong, nor one better than the other.
I followed the rules and dumped a bunch of money into the country. What I want beyond that is my business.
On the other hand, the country isnt living up to its promises…so perhaps the love is at least temporarily misplaced.
4 Likes
Wenn ich etwas zu sagen habe, werde ich es veröffentlichen. Nein langsam wie beim Gemüsehändler. Ich verkaufe nicht wie im Gemüseladen. Du bist richtig – so viel Fruchtigkeit.
1 Like