Typically yes, but all renovation or refurbishment projects run the risk of delays. This is important to accept as an investor. As regards debt financing, anything above the GV threshold can be financed, as land as a debt lender will agree.
Sadly, I’m also waiting since May 2019. I reach out to my lawyer’s every month that goes by and get told that I’m still all good, and they are waiting to issue the card soon. Unfortunately, I don’t think it’s anything other than the fact that they have a huge queue of applications waiting to get approved, and things seem to move slower in Europe. Good for lifestyle, bad for bureaucracy.
Just know your frustration is shared by me as well.
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Hi Leigh
Did you draft and submit the forms to SEF yourself or did you get a lawyer to do it for you ?
rgds
Eugen
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@Leigh_Mac - I gave an update in December in this thread. Also waited around 9 months from my bio metrics done in December 2018.
Now the funny thing is the renewal in September. I guess I will start to proceed as soon as June to make sure I don’t have a expired permit by the end of the year.
Bureaucracy is just extremely slow, non-transparent and frustrating.
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@charmerc I have no idea what you are talking about. I’m a resident in Portugal now and can stay in the EU/Schengen for the whole year.
I did the 90 days out of 180 during 14 months before actually receiving my residence permit. Since I left my previous country and could not stay more than 3 months in Portugal/Europe, I had to travel in 7 different countries from the day of the GV application until my permit was delivered.
Glad this is the past as at some point you need to settle down somewhere.
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Oops, sorry! I misread the post. Reply withdrawn.
No problem 
@Leigh_Mac, @Zayd_Khoury, @thinktwice - thank you guys for sharing your waiting experience with Portugal.
Rare and valuable information, indeed.
It is important to know what to expect for a lot of money paid.
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Hello, does anybody know whether the 350k EUR property refurbishment option in Lisbon or Porto will be impacted or not by the parliament bill in February? i.e. are these property purchase still going to be eligible for GV even after the government will implement the changes?
Thank you.
Yong
Yes, it will almost certainly also be impacted.
@Leigh_Mac, Good news! Similar to @thinktwice, I waited 9 months and 2 weeks after submitting documents for biometrics, and I just got notification to make payment by my lawyers.
Hope this brings a bit of hope for those waiting in limbo.
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Hi Thomas,
Do you have any latest update/ information (I know they are non-official) on the timeline of the February bill implementation? If I make a decision to buy an eligible Lisbon property now and get the payment/ contract done within the next 6~8 weeks, how likely will I be able to fulfill the SEF submission without being impacted by the cut-off?
I saw some reports indicating the implementation will be end of 2020 - of course, nobody can guarantee anything. But how is it likely to be the case? And with Coronavirus, how the timeline may be impacted? Thank you.
Best regards,
Yong
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Hi, does anyone know what will happen if people are unable to travel to Portugal due to the lockdown for the sake of spending the 1 week or 2 week period needed for renewal?
Q for those waiting for their residency cards… Does this (~9 month) waiting time for the card count towards the 5 year GV residency time required for a PT Citizenship application, or does the clock starts AFTER the card is received? This would be relevant for those that don’t intend to spend much more than the mandatory 7days/yr in Portugal to maintain their GV residency status towards a PT citizenship. Thx!
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Hi,
My wife applied for the GV in Feb 2017 and she is in the 3rd year of her process. We got married in Jan 2019 and was just wondering if I apply for the GV do I start from year 1 or year 3 with her.
Also, can I wait for her to finish her 5 years and then she can pass it on to me once she gets it or will I have to wait for a period of time.
And we have a new born baby (2 months old). What is his status?
Thank you.
The clock starts AFTER the cards are received.
The counting of 5 years is done according to each validity on your cards.
1 years + 2 years + 2 years
I hope you are fine.
According to latest discussions the law should start to be in force from january 2021.
The online application for the Golden Visa should be done before the law is in force so that you are on the safe side, The online application needs the investment documents and your personal documents.
But now with this pandemic crisis it would reasonable to postpone this decision of limiting the Golden Visa real estate investments in Lisbon and Porto, as real estate prices will probably fall during the next month.
Cheers,
Alexander
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Hi @thinktwice,
Watch out, because with your Golden Visa card (which is a resident permit in EU eyes) you are allowed to be 90 days out of 180, in the Schengen Area. As the main idea of having a residence permit (Golden Visa) from Portugal is to live and work in Portugal.
Check Article 21.º for the below Schengen Agreement:
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:42000A0922(02)&from=pt
Of course there is no control if you go by car to other countries… But airports have implemented a schengen system. Dont know if it is working well.
Cheers,
Alexander
Thanks for that information. It’s quite logical too.
I don’t plan to stay over (3) months in any other Schengen country, but of course if that was a possibility I would use a car. (I’m not recommending this, but stating my opinion on this).
I have done the biometric in May 2019 and didn’t hear anything from the lawer too . Every four months asking for new Issued police certificate 