The Government lost a confidence vote last night. The President will receive each party today, and call the Council of State on Thursday. All signs are that new elections will be scheduled in May - 11th or 18th May were dates the President referred to last week. Third election in 3 years.
On Thursday (13 March 2025) the same group that pressed for, and achieved, a change in the Portuguese nationality law to include the time waiting for the residency card to count in the Contagem de Tempo which AIMA produces (often used for citizenship applications), will be in Parliament to plead that the Regulamento (regulations) on the Nationality Law be published.
As we know there are inconsistencies in interpretation of the date(s) for this Contagem. A Regulamento would specify these dates for each type of residency application, including ARI, and reduce inconsistency.
I wonder how specific this is to Golden Visa applicants.
As an example, if a GV applicant, waiting for years to obtain approval were to give up and apply for a D7 instead, could it be argued that the applicant was successful in obtaining a residence permit, and therefore the start date for a nationality application would be when the applicant first applied for a GV?
Yes.
Probably a decision by the President on dates for an election, after the Council of State. And (hopefully) an affirmative decision by Parliament on the Regulamento. There are lawyers who think a Regulamento is unnecessary, but if Parliament authorises it, then it will be drafted. Whether the finalisation of the Regulamento will be affected by the general slow-down that occurs with an election /electioneering - is anybody’s guess.
Interesting question. The requirement for at least 5 years’ residence in portugal is calculated over the last 15 years. So it could, in principle, be an additive process.
The problem is that if you gave up on GV before getting your first card, none of your waiting time would count towards residence. The nationality law clearly states that the time is only counted if residency was eventually attributed to the applicant.
If you successfully get a D7 card, then your time will be counted from your application for a D7 card.
Think of it this way, if you submitted a spurious application for GV (you never invested anything), wait a few years, and then when your GV application is about to be refused, you switch to D7, should the years waiting for your GV spurious application count? I think the intention of the law is they wouldn’t.
According to the nationality law, the wait for residency only counts from the date from which it was applied - if the application was eventually successful.
I would continue to wait until you get a GV card and then switch, so that the time already spent waiting counts in your favour.
Think of it as time not wasted, if you can. Its just very painful to wait endlessly. And it would be good for ARI applicants to know explicitly from when the time starts counting for residence.