yes, I did in TLG group.
I read a news article recently and it made me ask the question, āAre we being lied to?ā When I mention āweā, I donāt mean only we ARI applicants, but rather I mean the citizens of Portugal as a whole. The article I reference was in Portugal Resident and mentioned how thousands of āpilgrimsā visiting for World Youth Day are missing having never returned to their home countries after the event. This news shouldnāt come as a surprise. Even before World Youth Day, news articles announced that hundreds of people were planning this disappearing act and Portugal deployed hundreds of police to its borders for two weeks. Did they really expect this to deter anyone? Even tourists can read the news and are smart enough to wait two weeks to enter or leave the country after the border guards have grown impatient and left. Was this just a charade with no intention of making any impact? One sentence in the article by Natasha Donn struck me. āIt really is āno big dealā, authorities assureāā¦ Let this sink in. Potentially tens of thousands of people disappear into Portugal society and no one cares, or even knows who they are? At the same time, a few thousand highly vetted and scrutinized ARI applicants draw the ire of PM Antonio Costa as money launderers who collectively have destroyed any opportunity for affordable housing for the average Portuguese resident. And letās not forget an important distinction between these two groups. ARI applicants by implication donāt live in Portugal full time. Some may own houses, but may rent them out. On the other hand, every one of these āWorld Youth Day touristsā now is living in Portugal and competing with Portuguese citizens for housing and resources. None of them have been vetted and they may not be travelling under real names. I donāt fault these people for seeking a better life, but I do fault a government that purposeful attacks a group of immigrants (ARI applicants) for no reason other than their own political gain. This article should be a wake up call to what is really going on.
3 Likes
Obviously the GV being blamed for housing prices was always a scapegoat.
Immigration policy is super fā ā ā ed in most countries, Portugal is even better than most by allowing so many people in with relatively no skills
2 Likes
We should also not forget that most parties in the portugues parliament are different types of leftists and the majority is the socialist party. Who you expect to be the scapegoat? Rich, of course, and rich immigrants are the worst among them 
They are coming to Portugal and robbing everything from the honest trabalhadores!
1 Like
Building on that thought, I genuinely donāt think that GV/Digital nomad access can go on indefinitely unless the government can demonstrate tangible benefit to the average Portuguese.
Consulting with any professional here (lawyer, doctor, accountant etc) often involves discussion on prices. To them they seem extremely high, but on wages or pensions earned by said visa holders prices here are very modest.
I donāt see how this continues, despite the economic benefits, if the government doesnāt bring the local population on board, which theyāre not at the moment.
This is just my opinion, Iām not a polictian or economist.
I can understand your frustration, isnāt it anything different in other European Countries with illegal migration? But Portugal has a bad habit to accommodate all the undocumented and protect them and the politicians do toast the GV applicants. Guess why? we are law abiding and waiting for them to approve everything and totally at their mercyā¦ We donāt protest in public, we donāt shame the government in the eyes of media by playing a victim card or using crocodile tears. Everybody knows the zero interest rate is the reason for the real-estate prices to skyrocket and GV has nothing to do with itā¦
GV holders mostly donāt stay in the country, they donāt vote (Negligible passports issued to GVs till date) and even if they do, we are a minority with not much of an influence towards the final decision. Sr Costa is bidding to become the boss of the EU parliament and his chances are getting stronger. He needs to stay in power to bid for the ultimate power seat, so GV holders are just a collateral damage.
1 Like
What if the GV applicants jeopardise his chances to the ultimate EU chair. Shall we raise our concern to the EU court? The program is shut down anyways.
we can do nothing about it, EU hates Golden Visas and they were pressurizing all the countries to shut their programs and many did chicken out along with Portugalā¦ So, now he is in their good books and any concerns you have has to go through the courts of Portugal and they do their jobs alrightā¦
I have just read that President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa has vetoed the More Housing Law.
May I please ask, does this mean that the existing law is back in force and the current freeze on Golden Visa processing is lifted, OR, does this simply give the Government an opportunity to try again with another proposal?
It means that the existing law has not changed, and cannot change until Parliament votes otherwise, and the proposal is signed into law by the President.
There has been no freeze in GV processing (which would also require an act of parliament).
1 Like
The existing law remains in force, as it has throughout. There has not been a freeze on ARI processing (at least according to the law, although it may seem like that in practice).
The bill returns to the Assembly, where the governing Socialist Party has an absolute majority. They can amend the bill or not, and will (we expect) send it back to the President, probably in late September / early October. At that point, the President has no choice but to sign the bill within eight days, and it will become law. So this is likely a delay, but not a real change (at least as far as the ARI is concerned).
3 Likes
āThere has not been a freeze on ARI processing (at least according to the law, although it may seem like that in practice).ā 
What about the " all applications for new golden visas lodged after February 16 , are no longer valid" reports?
Quite possibly. 
In short, there has been no change to the current law, and no more threats to āinvalidateā any GV applications made prior to the new law taking effect.
There is some fuzzy wording left over related to a supposed āconversionā to D2 but that is hoped to be either ignored by SEF in practice or cleaned up in further revisions of the new law.
3 Likes
I wish I hadā¦
Tommy
Thank you for replying. Much appreciated your explanation.
Now that we are a year wiser from the last post:
-Pre-approvals are stalled for all but those lucky enough to win a lawsuit;
-The conversion to D2 and its associated ambiguities IS happening;
-Vague promises that time in queue will apply to citizenship still have not been made official;
-Initial card fees keep going up;
-Some people lucky enough to win their lawsuits are being hit with additional ā¬600+/per person fees for biometrics forā¦reasons;
-The NHR rug has been pulled;
Etc.
BE WARNED. HERE BE DRAGONS.
3 Likes