Not sure this would affect ARI/Golden, but the current government is not so keen on the 5 years or even less with wait time on applications.
Already being āragedā about here:
Video of his comments is here:
I just saw this article posted on another site. Can any of the attorneys that follow this issue comment on how likely this is to happen and whether we would have any standing at all to contest failure to publish the 5 year from application rule if the Government simply stonewalls?
Since we applied for the GV based on a 5 year period of residency prior to application for citizenship, can the 5 year period itself change, or would it be a matter of requiring the 5 years to begin when the first residence card is issued?
At 77 years of age, I have already waited 3+ years for my first residence card and I am not confident that AIMA will finally issue my card before their self imposed deadline of July. If they renig on publishing rules to allow the clock to start upon application and payment of the application fee, I am unlikely to live long enough to ever see citizenship.
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@mborcherding
Itās not my place to give advice (Iām not a PT lawyer and applied later than you), but if you are 3+ years in, wouldnāt you benefit from a lawsuit and lawsuit^2? See the article below about a Brazilian woman (Manifestation of Interest applicant) whose initial lawsuit vs AIMA was basically ignored by the state, and missed the birth of her grandkid in Brazil due to lack of a residency card, so now sheās suing the state as well:
I could argue that she was free to return to Brazil for the birth, as Brazil is not a war-torn country and she was not subject to persecution etc., but she chose to stay in Portugal as an economic immigrant not wanting to lose the time she already clocked. But who knows, AIMA might find motivation to address the accumulated āprimaryā lawsuits from this āsecondaryā lawsuit.
One caveat: my opinion is that a lot of lawyers in PT are neither diligent nor honest. Out of the ones that are diligent and honest, still very few would have appetite for this type of white-elephant casesāmost just handle the day to day stuff in order to earn a living. Please note that this Brazilian lady is represented pro bono by a young attorney who herself is a Brazilian immigrant, whoās probably trying to make a name for herself. Donāt waste a few grand just to have a PT lawyer take your money and not deliver. Perhaps wait until June 30 to see how much of the GV backlog AIMA manages to clear (before June 30, just send AIMA begging emails and threaten with lawsuits)?
Setting the bar higher is just the ministerās aspiration at this point, but the move will probably be popular among PT voters. There are simply too many immigrants in the countryāsee the following chart from AIMA (source: https://aima.gov.pt/media/pages/documents/4a518251d7-1744128191/relatorio-intercalar-recuperacao-de-processos-pendentes-na-aima-populacao-estrangeira-em-portugal.pdf).
If you are a 2021 applicant and the stars align, you might just be able to squeeze by as the door is closing:
- PSD + Chega + PSDās allies might not win the majority necessary to pass any amendment to the Nationality Law;
- You get your residency card in the next few months. Then assuming AIMA will seriously drag its feet on the issuance of your CdT, if you start early, youāll still get it comfortably early before reaching the 5-year mark;
- Then if your language certificate is ready, you can submit your naturalisation application 5 years plus 1 day from the effective date written on your CdT.
Changing the Nationality Law before your naturalisation application is submitted is not āchanging the law retroactively.ā
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I asked my attorney today about this. She does not think it will likely affect us. We hit the 5 year mark in Nov. 2024. She did recommend to complete the A2 certificate as soon as we can.
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Thatās positive. I dove in this year and took a 150 hour A2 class and have acheived it as of today. So happy to get it done. Iām sure Iāll take a refresher, but it certainly helped a lot beyond just getting the paper.
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Lucky for you! We hit the 5 year mark in November 2026ā¦ Studying A2 now so weāre ready to submit then, but now worried.
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I will be surprised if anyone can sue the government or any company for the GV over the 5 year citizenship requirement. They are two seperate entities, the GV is a 5 year residency permit without physical presence requirements, itās not a 5 year CBI program. Yes itās a rug pull if they go through with it, but I would be surprised if you get anywhere in the courts.
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I was reading some comments on this from some Portuguese, they generally think itās unlikely to happen, and that this is most likely election pandering given the election is 1 month away. They expect the government to change and this is going to no longer be an issue. Until the government decide to change their minds again.
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Exactly my thoughts, Chega is #3 in the polls and AD is probably trying to steal some votes this way.
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People keep repeating this like itās fact, without ever having read the law. The original golden visa law clearly incorporated a bulletproof guarantee of access to the citizenship application process after 5 years. I believe it was @cj807 who did the research and dug up the details.
In the trailing months of the Costa government, when they were threatening to abolish the GV program, the EU smacked them for planning to violate the legal principle of legitimate expectations.
There are many worries and inconveniences about the program, but I donāt lose sleep about the citizenship requirements changing in mid-stream. Iām confident that the original GV law, which was in force when I applied, has my interests covered.
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That would be interesting because I believe the naturalization time was 6 years when the GV was created. Maybe they updated the GV law when they also updated the naturalization law?
Indeed. For whatever reason there are a lot of fatalistic and misanthropic people who post here regularly. Portugal has a very strong Constitution that protects the rights of its people and grants the right to citizenship to everyone. I have copies of court cases where the judges have upheld these principles you mention in the context of citizenship, yet people continue with their pessimistic attitudes. I would never say that anything is 100% possible or impossible, but I also donāt see the joy in life of taking a contrarian viewpoint to every argument.
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I would love to be incorrect if you have a link to the law!
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Unlikely. The Foreigners Act (Lei de Estrangeiros) of 2007 does not guarantee the number of years required for naturalization concerning the Golden Visa (GV). Unfortunately, naturalization is governed by a separate law, which has been amended several times recently in addition to the changes made to GV (Article 90-A).
I think a key thing to note is that the nationality law has changed over the period, BUT this has always been changed in favour of investors - reduced time, including the waiting time etc. So in practicality there would be no push back from any stakeholders.
The law on GV funds is a fund term 5 years or longer - the nationality law and the GV laws, whilst different laws, are inextricably linked.
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The Citizenship law canāt be viewed in isolation. Yes, parliament could raise the minimum residence period from 5 to 10 years. But they canāt lawfully apply it to golden visa holders already in the system. Portuguese law (and EU law) requires that citizens can rely on the stability of laws that govern their legal status. If you made a significant investment and structured your life around the 5-year rule, the state cannot suddenly change the rules midstream. Portuguese law is bound by the principle of legal certainty, and that is routinely applied by the constitutional court. Besides that the Portuguese constitution is clear that laws cannot apply retroactively to restrict rights or worsen someoneās legal status except in very extreme cases, and again the courts are very conservative in giving governments that power.
I get why people are upset about this statement by LeitĆ£o Amaro but, presuming you already have a card, I donāt think it is anything for us to worry about.
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The population of Portugal isnāt growing nor getting younger. Letās hope the next government has enough foresight.
Iād love to see this legislation/regulation that āguaranteesā GV holders access to PT citizenship after 5 years of residence, regardless of nationality law changes for other immigrants. So please do share!
I had a couple AI tools do some ādeep researchā and they didnāt find any such promise. For example:
A detailed review of the Portuguese Nationality Law, Lei n.Āŗ 37/81, including its consolidated version and amendments, reveals no explicit mention of āAutorizaĆ§Ć£o de ResidĆŖncia para Investimentoā or related terms like āinvestmentā in the context of residency for nationality purposes. For instance:
- A search through the lawās text, available at Dre Tretas - Lei 37/81, shows general provisions for legal residence without specific investment-related criteria.
- Amendments (as listed in a review of legal updates at Dre Tretas - AlteraƧƵes), such as Lei OrgĆ¢nica 8/2015 (dated June 22, 2015), focus on grounds for naturalization and opposition but do not mention investment-based residency, as confirmed by reviewing related legal databases.
- The 2024 amendment (Lei OrgĆ¢nica 1/2024, March 5, 2024) adjusts the residency period calculation but does not reference ARI.
Article 15 of the law, which defines legal residence, includes āautorizaƧƵesā broadly, suggesting that ARI is covered under this category. However, there is no specific article or clause dedicated to investment-based permits, indicating that ARI is treated as part of general residency authorizations rather than having a distinct reference.
AIās not perfect, but the deep digging that I watched it do on this topic was impressive. Again, if you have something concrete please share.
Also reading AIMAās overview of ARI Art. 90.Āŗ-A, all it says is that āA pessoa beneficiĆ”ria de ARI tem a possibilidade deā (ARI beneficiaries have the possibility of - and thatās AIMAās bolding):
- staying on the Temporary ARI residence permit with only 14 days required in-country ā this is the only option unique to ARI
- requesting Permanent Residence under the terms of the Foreigners Law (Law no. 23/2007, of July 4, in its current wording)
- requesting Portuguese Nationality, fulfilling the other requirements set out in the Nationality Law (Law No. 37/81, of 3 October, in its current wording)ā¦ which I had AI studiously pick apart above
I donāt find any promise in there that 5 years residence earns GVs citizenship, or that GVs get special treatment w.r.t. naturalisation.
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The citizenship benefit is the only thing i have gotten into the Golden visa program for. It would be inhumane to amend it to our detriment, owing to the fact that many investors might have structured their lives around the promises / assurances of the program.
This is a HUGE blow if they actual enact the new change for Golden visa applicants as well. Iād be fully in favour of pitching in for a large scale lobbying / lawsuit campaign involving top-brass lawyers. With collective pitching in, i think we can put real pressure and let our woes be clearly known instead of just asking our Golden visa consultants / lawyers who just auto-respond to our questions. Although i am aware for the general public, we probably have the impression of some another rich capitalists wiping our tears with currency notes, so we have to strategic in letting them know we are REAL people, with real pains and anxieties, exacerbated by this terribly run program.
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Exactly. Otherwise, why would I spend 40.000 euros and invest 500.000 euros more to live somewhere for 7 days a year, for a period of 5 years only. 
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