Does anyone know how the investment option of transferring a million Euros into Portugal works? Do you need to transfer it into a Portuguese Bank where it stays or can it go into a brokerage account?
Thanks!
Yes. Citizenship applications are taking around 1,5 years. So if you apply in after the 5 years of legal residence (which according to the law us possible) for citizenship, you will be at least in half of the 6th year when getting it.
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Are many people getting citizenship now. Are there any figures how many have obtained citizenship via golden visa process.
Thanks
@nassarfk there are no official numbers because each process is confidential. But if you comply with all requirements of the law for the portuguese citizenship there should be no problem.
cheers,
Alex
Thanks. Any idea how long it takes to get citizenship once you apply. I am hearing at least 2 years.
Thanks
After getting initial residence visa for 2 years, there is a 14 day stay requirement. Is this requirement for the main applicant only, or also for any children/spouse/parents who are under the applicant’s term of responsibility.
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Thanks.
What is “connection to Portugal and community “ that is mentioned. How can this be done and proven ?
Regards
Hi @nassarfk connection to Portugal and community are all types of registers you can have in Portugal ou associations or clubs related to Portugal.
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I think what Dumont is trying to say is “you have to satisfy a SEF officer that you’re committed to Portugal and a part of Portuguese society” and it’s up to the SEF officer what that means, but it’s beyond “I had a residence permit for 5 years and paid a bunch of money and speak a little Portuguese”, and your lawyer should be able to help you with what that really means and whether you’ve done enough.
Which of course is the shoals that the Malta/Cyprus programs ran into, you could get a passport and bind the entire EU to extending its protections and benefits to you without giving a crap about being European.
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Thank you. I am looking for help as it is difficult to justify and prove. So if you can help it is appreciated. I thought that was the purpose of this group.
Besides having friends there and visiting often , doing surfing and or golf and studying and knowing history and culture and liking to spend time there what can be done?
Any advice …
Thank you, can you suggest such clubs or societies?
Regards
Just visiting the country often may not be strong point if the officer is very strict about the terminology “connection”. He might argue that you only consider Portugal as a place for temporary holidays…
To me, personally, what I am going to do in order to show my “connection” to the Portugal:
- My kids will go to school in Portugal
- I will need to pass the portuguese language at the minimum level of B2
- My family will live in Portugal at least 09 months / year because kids go to school.
- I will have a property to have a rental income. Tax will be paid.
- I will take part in some normal sport activities: tennis or golf. Playing regularly 2-3 times/week.
So far, that is what comes up in my mind. If you can think of something else, please share…
Cheers,
Hi @anon16151502, in that case it would not be applicable to the situations which already started the Portuguese Golden Visa Process. If for any reason, that situation would occur, the portuguese governemnt would just close the system for any new cases. Anyway, as Portugal does not grant citizenship directly like Cyprus and other countries, we don´t foresse this to happen.
I’ve read (elsewhere) that people have gotten naturalized without spending a ton of time in the country, as well. So it doesn’t seem an absolute requirement. But they showed other ties - no, I dunno what. I think it is just situational. And this was one of the earlier ARI people, a couple years ago, so it’s hard to say what will happen by the time it’s our turn.
Personally I’m not going to fret about it because citizenship isn’t really my goal anyway. I doubt I’ll ever be that committed to Portugal and therefore it’s not right that I ask that of them; I just want to always be let in the door and be able to call it home if I’d like. If things go so far south as to fret about passports being pulled or whatever, then I’ll probably be hanging around there long enough that building ties for citizenship won’t be a problem. 
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A question about criminal records. I’d really appreciate if someone can clarify it.
On SEF site they have requirements for criminal records:
Extract from the criminal record of the country of origin, or of the country (or countries) where the Applicant is living for more than one year; otherwise, a certificate by the Portuguese diplomatic representation or consular mission.
- If I’m currently living not in the country where I was born, which criminal records should I provide? My current country? Or country where I was born? Or both?
- If I lived few years in a third country long time ago, do I need to provide records from that country?
- What does this mean exactly “otherwise, a certificate by the Portuguese diplomatic representation or consular mission”? Portuguese mission in which country? What are the circumstances when this “otherwise” applies?
To be more specific, I was born in Ukraine (which was part of the USSR at that time and later became independent country). About 25 years ago I permanently moved to Canada and I’m a Canadian citizen for almost 20 years now. Since immigrating to Canada I actually spent 3 years in Brazil and 4 years in China on student/business/tourist visas. In China and Brazil I never had long term residence permit, all my visas were short term from 3mo up to 1 year but they were all back-to-back, so I was physically present in Brazil and China pretty much non-stop for 3 and 4 years. For the last 8 years I’m living back in Canada.
So which counties I should provide criminal records from? Only Canada? All 4 countries where I spent at least 1 year of my life (Ukraine, Canada, Brazil and China)? Or I don’t need to worry about Brazil and China as I didn’t have permanent residence status, these were sort of long term visits?
It’s not like I have any criminal records, and I believe I should be able to get the transcripts easily. But to get them from 4 countries adds a lot of logistic problems. Especially considering that transcripts should be recent (within 3 months).
I am curious, what makes this question so hard to answer? No one seems to have a clue.
maybe simply lack of experience within the community?
I think it’s your country of origin (where you are citizen) and county of residence (where you are physically residing).
Tricky part is you are naturalized Canadian citizen so I’m not sure what Portugal considers country of origin (Ukraine or Canada).
If you are Canadian citizen and residing in Canada, I would guess that you only need to submit for Canadian certificate of clearance. This is just my educated guess.
If you are still concerned, I would get your lawyer on phone.
Hi all, I have a bit of a different situation:
I am a US citizen currently working in Germany on an EU Blue Card issued by Germany, and wanted to know:
- Can I apply for the Golden Visa while retaining my German Blue card? I think if I wanted to continue to work in Germany, the Golden Visa alone won’t allow that?
- If I can’t retain my German residency permit (blue card), am I allowed to work for other EU companies while residing in Portugal or am I limited to only working for Portuguese companies?
- I am eligible to apply for German Permanent residency very soon, if I do become a German permanent resident, can I still apply for the Golden Visa?
Many thanks!