Wouldn’t a no win, no fee scenario be great?
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Every single time I see someone bring this up, it’s been at the suggestion of their lawyer. A lawyer/firm they’ve presumably paid thousands of euros already, to even get to this point. So it’s hard to look at the suggestion charitably, even from the firms couching it in cya legalese, when they’re not also putting some of their own skin in the game.
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On the other hand I expect my legal advisers to tell me of all the options and allow me to make an informed decision.
I would be disappointed if they didn’t tell me and several years down the line reports of success emerge here.
In fact I did receive a similar message from my firm and will probably move forward - my 5 year point is in 11 months, easily within the processing window.
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I will be eligible to apply in last week of April 2026 under the current rules. I am probably to going to miss it and just can’t accept how unlucky I could be lol. I discussed with lawyers and I personally don’t see this working even in my case how close I am. In my case my lawyer also didn’t believe it would work but was happy to apply if I wanted to.
Good luck to us all!
I wouldn’t give up hope that this drags into late April… Here’s Andre Miranda posting yesterday:
"Hi everyone, based on the information I have, nothing will be scheduled until the Presidential Elections are finalized (1st round: 18 Jan; 2nd round: 08 Feb). Therefore, 1) in the worst-case scenario, and 2) assuming a very fast legislative process, the earliest possible timing would be around mid-March (approximately 15 March). I will share any updates here as soon as I have more information.
I think it will take more time, but this is the worst case scenario with the information available today."
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Any chance you could share the link to this WhatsApp group? Thank you
Your attacks on my character have no place in this thread. Take it elsewhere.
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Sent you apology via DM
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Which Whatsapp group? Media, Lawsuit, or something else?
Portugal Golden Visa - Waiting Room
Chris has already kindly sent me the link, but it’s full and there is a long waiting list. I was hoping to get Sr.André Miranda’s WhatsApp updates.
The lawsuit interest group has been locked by admin for a few weeks now. Nothing to see right now.
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when did you ever know lawyers to work for free? outside of ambulance chasing.
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Pro bono lawyers are a thing but those are volunteers to help people who actually can’t afford counsel, i.e. poor people, not middle class investors.
For sure. I think my original point was missed. That if the lawyers are so confident about this being worth pursuing, they should be willing to file a few (for long term clients at this point) as test cases. Not out of the goodness of their hearts.
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That could work, but my concern is that time is of the essence here.
By the time success is clear ( ie passport in hand) it’s too late - the new law is implemented.
A rejection in the first 30 days gives a signal but even then there’s increased risk of missing the window.
We really need to wait 3/4 years to find out if this strategy is ultimately successful and / or the consequences of failure.
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Portugal also doesn’t seem to have a culture of strategic impact/public interest litigation. There are many entry points. Where I come from the children’s rights issues would already be in court. Also, I would think, the vast and arbitrary disparity between IRN processing times, which is surely unconstitutional. Instead 100,000+ of us are individually waiting for the administrative courts to make 100,000+ individual decisions, when the basis of those cases is actually of general application to many/most of us.
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So we have decided to sell our villa. Turns out it is the wrong property in the wrong area for us. Not sure what we will do, but the decision has been made.
We contacted our local lawyer who worked on the purchase. We are happy with their service. I made a comment about how the recent proposed changes to the Nationality Law are causing a significant level of uncertainty for us and we are considering leaving the ARI program altogether. This was the response,
“Please note that the nationality law has not been changed and it is unlikely that the changes to be made in the future affect you and your family directly.”
This is news to me. Do they know something I do not or are they somewhat misinformed as their area of expertise is not immigration law. 
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Portuguese natives tend to believe the circulating narrative that residency is just as good for foreigners as citizenship. I won’t rehash all of the reasons why Portuguese residency is starkly inferior to citizenship; we have all lived it and we all know.
Stating that the nationality law won’t affect foreigners’ interests may follow from the ingrained assumption that full-time residency is just as good as citizenship for any conceivable life situation and purpose.
I’ve also encountered a ubiquitous assumption from all Portuguese citizens that political heat and noise will all blow over, and everything will inevitably be fine. So far, they’ve been mostly right, but the stress of being involved in this program is taking years off of my life. Dear me, I’d like to complete this quest ASAP.
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I agree with you, 100%.
I summarised them here last year. If there’s others I should add, please let me know 