I honestly can’t blame them either. I was just in Prague, we were passing near and decided to stop in. The lines for everything in the castle were so long we literally gave up and walked away. Massive crowds trying to cross the Karlovy Most. Huge crowds all standing around taking pictures in the Josefov square.
And yet, a lot of the various cafes etc … quiet. No line to get a treldik-wahtever or a coffee, outside the Josefov square. Like everyone’s there to get a selfie and leave. And the countryside … quiet and peaceful. Cesky Krumlov, Karlovy Vary, Brno… nice, normal.
I haven’t been to Lisbon in a while really, I only dive in to go to the lawyer’s office occasionally. I can’t imagine.
There are indeed a lot of tourists lately, but once again, the sentiment is misplaced when aimed at immigrants - the vast majority of tourists are only passing through, not staying; changing immigration law will have no effect on that. If they want to control mass tourism, then the EU needs to reconsider visa-free travel, banning vacation rentals like Airbnb, or that sort of thing.
My impression travelling around Europe is also that a substantial percentage of the tourists are European citizens themselves.
Well, yes, there is arguably over-tourism in certain areas of Europe. Then again, just as the U.S., the Europeans expelled most of their industries and tighten restrictions/regulations on many economic activities. If you wish to keep revenues flowing in to finance your expensive social programmes, then what else can you offer other than tourism? Just take a look at the former East Germany with limited number of touristic attractions (in comparison) and see what is driving the rise of ultra-nationalism there. It is not tourism, but rather a lack of economic opportunities. Not a much better alternative, is it?
I don’t get it. Why are we all being punished for something that’s not our fault? The govt set up the golden visa program, so I’m guessing the voting public wanted our foreign investment/funds. The bulk of immigrants came in when the govt started the “expression of interest” route, so I’m guessing the voting public wanted cheap labour. Why else would they come up with that crazy idea?
Now, we are supposed to feel so bad for the Portuguese public - overtourism, expensive housing, strange foreigners who don’t know the language/pronunciation and culture - all I see are greedy locals making a quick buck from illegal Airbnbs, greedy locals trying to sell their properties for more than they’re worth, greedy locals who want free money from richer foreigners and cheap labour from poorer foreigners, but have the gall to throw a hissy fit at these same foreigners for not instantly fitting in!
Frankly, after the “expression of interest” route was abolished, immigrant numbers have already dropped by 59%. Now instead of focusing on welcoming and integrating the people who they’ve made all these unkept promises to, they are making us feel like we are horrible intruders who just showed up without an invitation.
If the locals are so fed up, why don’t they just stop all the immigration programs, instead of coming up with these random new rules and regulations? Frankly, I don’t care what rules they decide for future applicants. But for all of us who have already kept our end of the bargain, they need to uphold their end.
They can treat GV immigrants badly because Portugal already has our money—investment first, GV approval later, and a CHANCE to apply for citizenship in the distant future.
It is precisely the current immigrants already in the country the new Nationality Law is designed to “go after”. Future immigrants who are not in the country yet will be of a higher caliber—no MI, no MI 2.0 (from CPLP countries who have visa-free access to Portugal for tourism). Portugal also wants more citizens in the form of great-grandchildren as opposed to just grandchildren of Portuguese citizens.
The Portuguese basically look at the existing immigrants (yes including immigrants who label themselves “expats”) in the country, and decided they don’t fancy many of us as fellow citizens. Whoever made the “deals” with GV investors are from a richer social class; the masses do not feel a moral obligation to respect these deals. Laws and institutions are our only protector.
I agree Portugal should raise the bar for all its programs. For the D7/D8 visas and golden visas, probably need to increase the price tags by at least 100%, since processing capacity can’t handle the demand already from new applications + renewals combined. Should also charge all foreigners for SNS and public schools, to reduce free riders in these systems that already don’t have enough money. Otherwise the right will keep on rising.
I have to admit to having my head buried firmly in the sand over this. Sort of an act of self-preservation. But if indeed the wait time for residency is extended to 10 years, wouldn’t that mean 4 rounds of renewal fees? I’m not sure what current fees are, but IIRC it used to be around €5000, give or take.
If the proposed regulation comes to pass where the residency requirement is extended, I see lawsuits fast following due to the implied promise of Portuguese passport of the GV program and ongoing expense of renewals.
My casual interpretation is the permanent residency path isn’t affected by the citizenship discussions. So, presumably, after 5 years (incl. waiting time), we could still apply for permanent residency, even if citizenship takes 10+ years? I haven’t seen any clarity on this front, so would appreciate some.
A meeting of the Portuguese Bar Association (OA) will be held next week [July 23] in Lisbon. One of the issues that will be raised by professionals, especially those working in the field of immigration, is the relationship with the Agency for Integration, Migration, and Asylum (AIMA).
The article includes cringe-inducing quotes from the most aggressive GV-peddlers , but perhaps the weirdest line is the following, which in my understanding is fully false:
“In June 2025… the government voted to extend the period required for a foreigner to obtain citizenship to as many as 10 years from the current five (reduced to seven years for individuals hailing from the so-called Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries…)”
Wasn’t the vote on the citizenship application waiting timeline postponed to September?
The timeline extension has definitely been postponed, but what infuriates me more than anything about these articles is that there’s no acknowledgment that it takes 3 years now to actually get citizenship after applying, meaning it’s an 8-year commitment, not 5 years, and you more often than not have to continue to pay the exorbitant ARI renewal fees during that entire time.
Three years to citizenship is frankly. When I applied for UK citizenship it took eight months from application to physical passport. It was quite simple and was resolved relatively quickly and there were no punitive fees every two years. The fees for GV fund renewal are very likely what will push us out of this program if they extend the time required for citizenship. We don’t feel like shipping an extra €40,000 to this government. It’s shameful really.
When I started this process 8 years ago, had I known what the truth was, I would have never gone forward. Now I live in PT full time and seriously wish I had just come in on a D7. It was a VERY expensive and frustrating lesson for me.
, but perhaps the weirdest line is the following, which in my understanding is fully false:
frankly. When I applied for UK citizenship it took eight months from application to physical passport. It was quite simple and was resolved relatively quickly and there were no punitive fees every two years. The fees for GV fund renewal are very likely what will push us out of this program if they extend the time required for citizenship. We don’t feel like shipping an extra €40,000 to this government. It’s shameful really.