I have been sending emails to AIMA for 10 days by myself. My lawyer told me that his whole firm has not managed to get even one appointment so far. I suggest you email them by yourself. They will reply to the email you sent to them.
Thanks for your suggestion. I did find the SNS printout. If you reside in Portugal, in theory there is no need to provide criminal record of your home country which is extremely difficult to get in Hong Kong. I just wonder what kinda document they need to prove my residency here. I read atestado is quite difficult to get.
It recently took me only three weeks to get the CNCC from HK Police using the new online request (from submitting the request, to picking up the translated and apostiled copy in Macau). It will probably take you an extra week if you have to FedEx fingerprints from Portugal. You will still have to pay a Macau lawyer to pick up from the PT consulate as before.
I am a GV applicant who completed my property investment and submitted my application in 2022.
My lawyers are unsuccessful getting a bank declaration from Novobanco proving that I have transferred funds from outside the EU and get the necessary bank statement that confirms the payment of the minimum amounts to the property seller, as well as the payments related to the construction contract (to show the payments). which is a necessary document to re- submit for GV.
Any help getting this document is appreciated.
Why do you need another bank declaration at the renewal stage? As you are on the RE path, the bank declaration should only be needed once when you initially applied, and it only proves the incoming transaction from abroad to PT.
The proof of the amounts you paid to the seller in PT is in your escritura document.
Then to prove that you still hold the RE you’d need to get a refresh of your Certidao de Registo Predial, which costs a few euros online.
Thanks for your update of the timeline. Let’s hope AIMA won’t ask for that and only ask for documents on the list. I will share this later.
Tommy,
If you purchased a property at the reduced amount, that is in 350K+ € range, you are required to invest in its renovation. AIMA might have discretion to ask for proof of additional investments into the remediation work. Now, whether a true bank declaration is required or a proof of legitimate (key word here) expenses can be presented from Finanças site based on your NIF remains to be seen. Logically, it would make sense to demonstrate the paper trail of investments into property.
The original bank declaration coupled with the original Compra e Venda and most recent print-out form Caderneta Prédial should suffice as the proof of continual ownership - that’s true.
From what I understood, the renewal process has been always the same as first card’s process. The only difference is that the fee is less. Your application will be analised and re-proved again just like the first time. All required documents are exactly the same as the first time except the additional proof of 14 days during previous two years.
Dear @taufiq.choudhury , appreciate your precious advice…
Yes, exactly. I used to work as a sales rep and account manager at several agencies. I always stipulate the role & responsibility, timeline (changeable but necessary to indicate as tentative) and cost, then receive a signature or definitive agreement from the customers. That is the process of any business, I believe.
This case, the timeline may be difficult to clarify but regular updates should be given, and some motivation for making an appointment should be shown. (This firm left me for a year with nothing…) Therefore, I gave up contacting them, and started to proceed for success completely by my own effort. It is terrible that they freeze the final step, and threaten me.
Thank you so much. I feel more confident by reading your comment…
Dear @Nachito, thanks for your comment.
It is actually hard to manage the disorganization of immigration authority, but about this point, I am getting used to it, and could be quite patient. However, I can NOT allow the action of this law firm… How come I could pay money to them for no support? This is the second time that they charged me an “unagreed” fee, and I just paid at that time, and told them that next time they should confirm the job and cost in advance. And, they did it again.
Since the beginning, I wasn’t satisfied with their jobs, as the firstly assigned lawyer suddenly disappeared without any greeting or saying good-bye. I couldn’t contact for over 6 months by email/phone call/WhatsApp at all while waiting for the first application with anxiety. The firm said she was on maternity leave, but didn’t assign the substitute lawyer, so I just waited. OK, she never came back and later I knew that she started to work as an independent lawyer, congrats!
As for the required documents, I think my case is unique. (For any reason, I followed the direction/instruction which I gained by “trial & error”.) Sorry, but let me write about everything, once my process has been done. I don’t want to confuse or upset other applicants here. But I will definitely share my experience later.
Thank you for understanding.
Sure, this is all correct for the renovations option, but still SEF/AIMA do not require the bank declaration for the original transfer of funds from outside PT.
They indeed may require a different kind of a bank declaration that shows a required balance of funds maintained in the PT bank account, in case the renovation works have not yet been fully paid as per the renovation contract.
I am just referring to the SEF manual here with the official requirements.
To my understanding that is not true.
I am referring to the SEF manual, section 3. Renovação.
Mine was based on practical experience. SEF was dissolved long time ago. Portugal is well known for its inconsistency. Maybe at some aima branches they follow the old manual. Maybe not. My renewal was done in Sept 2024 at Aima Central Lisbon and I had to provide the same set of documents as the first time. Proof of 14 days was done via receipts with Nif (No hard copies needed - aima accepted the scanned of receipts).
Fair enough, but how did you know which documents you had to present before your appointment? Did AIMA email you a list (which I doubt they do?) or did your lawyer send you his/her list?
If the latter, I think we all know how this may have been compiled…
My lawyer sent the list of docs to me.
I think Aima do not send anything. I believe that lawyer knows the required documents thru his previous clients. Imagine if you have 20 clients to take care of. After taking the first one thru the renewal process, you know what it’s needed and repeat the same thing for the rest 19 clients.
The lawyers think it is essential to re-submitting. It is holding my application as the bank is not providing it.
I think this particular thread has outlived its purpose, given that automatic renewals are over.
@tkrunning News and information about renewals in the post-automatic 2024/2025 is spread across multiple topics: this one, What are the latest GV renewal procedures?, WIKI: HOW-TO: Golden Visa Renewal Mega Thread (January 2025 -> ). Now that some concrete information is trickling in from people actually getting renewal appointments, I think it makes sense to focus the updates on one thread. Something like Awaiting Renewal (Stage R)? And a matching Awaiting Naturalisation (Stage N)?
The Wiki already exists that you mentioned. It should be easy to rename it to whatever you want, and merge any relevant information into that thread.
Yes, @Beanieskis , it is ridiculous. I will not surrender. They presented a shabby discount. I guess the law firms are lacking the source of income (cash flow) due to the chaotic GV situation. After the GV program is terminated, they may lose opportunities to collect revenue from its applicants/holders. We have to be smart to differentiate good law firms which can support us with fidelity and follow ethics from the ones which are willing to squeeze whatever money greedily from us.