This isn’t a dig at you @piggy, but your experience and mine provide a perfect illustration of the random and arbitrary treatment that Portugal ARI applicants can expect from AIMA and the PT legal system. Even more than the years of waiting, the complete disregard for any sense of fairness or “first in, first out” is what infuriates me the most… and I say that on behalf of the many ARI applicants who’ve been waiting years longer than I have, too.
New GV applicants, I provide this real-life example to illustrate how capriciously Portugal treats investors - and the huge importance of luck in its senseless ARI process.
| Event | Your experience | Our experience |
|---|---|---|
| GV application | June 2023 | Feb 2023 |
| Lawsuit filed | Apr 2024 | June 2024 (rejected †), July 2024 (appeal) |
| Lawsuit won | Nov 2024 | Sept 2024 (appeal accepted, but as of Apr 2025 still has not been adjudicated) |
| Biometrics | Jan 2025 (new process, card fees paid at Bios) | Dec 2024 (old process, as of Apr 2025 still waiting for final approval and payment request) |
| Residence cards received | Apr 2025 | nada so far |
† Initial lawsuit rejected as ‘no urgent ties to Portugal,’ despite providing evidence of PT house and car purchase, PT home renovations, household goods importation to PT, and seventeen different return flights to Portugal since applying for ARI. [Since you’ll ask, we didn’t do D7 instead of GV because at the time we had full-time in-office jobs in the UK.]