I do hope you’re right, but that is relying on the good graces of PT’s government and court system. It is absolutely not “a bulletproof guarantee of access to the citizenship application process after 5 years” that some people suggest. So let’s set expectations appropriately: to me the main value of this forum is to cut through all the GV boosterism and give people reality.
The termination of PT’s NHR 1.x would follow the logic you’re suggesting. First it was cancelled with immediate effect, followed by an uproar about rights, retrospective law-making, etc. Then the government backed-off and allowed a year or so of NHR 1.x grandfathering. But if you were still not able to get into NHR 1.x (i.e. become PT tax resident) during 2024 because SEF/AIMA was slow or other reasons, you lost out.
Following the same logic, if (yes, if !):
- PT government legislates that as of Jan. 1 2026, citizenship needs more years and/or more time in-country than the 5 years/7 days/etc. when we applied for our GVs
- Government also provides a one year grandfathering/transition (like they did with NHR 1.x) to Jan. 1 2027
- If I still don’t have 5 years (counting GV application wait time, which as we know is still very arbitrary - and probably will remain so) by Jan. 1 2027… then like NHR 1.x have I lost out, and now need 7 or 10 years or whatever for citizenship?