Agreed, well said Chris.
For the record I used Bison Bank and Catarina Garrett at AGPC investments. Both are reasonably quick to respond to things and very helpful.
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Thank you very much Chris.
Many thanks Garrett. If I choose this route…can you put me in touch with Advisors there? I’d have to find my own lawyers etc correct? I very much appreciate the responses.
Google either Bison or AGPC and I’m sure you’ll find their contact info. IIRC I emailed a david at bison to start everything off, and then was transferred to Nuno. But for all I know that has changed. Feel free to tell them Garrett sent you if you’d like 
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This is what my attorney echoed. Apparently, changes to laws don’t apply retroactively, highly unlikely that they will do that in this case since it would cause even more headaches. But it brings up the question, "Does that mean that the entire process remains frozen for anyone that is in process? (i.e. including their renewals) or does that leave the door open that people would be subject to the new rules at the time of renewal , whatever those new rules might be.
It would be unfair to change the rules now. Let’s assume that you used the cultural / arts heritage investment option and donated 350.000 euros to Portugal for a GV with the promise they would allow you to renew for at least 5 years total. Now 1 year later they say, sorry, we changed the rules, thank you for your donation. You can see how this violates basic fairness principles.
Even without a donation, many people invested 500,000 in Portugal to make the country a better place, and with the idea that they would retire to Portugal in the years ahead knowing that they are helping to improve Portugal. I think everyone here feels bad about the housing situation but it is incorrect and wrong to blame GV applications for this problem alone. In fact, GV applications are just a tiny contributor to this problem. GV has existed since 2012 and never before has it been an issue.
Also, it is not right to complain that 5,000 Americans have moved to Portugal in the past few years. Only a tiny percent of all immigrants. I recently read that the United States welcomed over 70,000 Portuguese citizens to America, and now over 1,400,000 Portuguese Americans live in the US. It goes both ways.
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Hopefully PT cares about “fair” and not just “legal” or “constitutional”…lawyers seem to think it will mostly be OK for existing applicants and visa holders.
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Nuno at Bison bank is very helpful
You can contact him at:
Personal contact details removed due to GDPR, please only share via PM.
Update on the US FBI Background Check Apostille - just did one front to back in less than 3 weeks with Monument. The backup may have cleared.
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Interesting, when did you send it out? I sent mine on valentines day, so I should be able to confirm within a week or two
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It was sent out two weeks prior to you. If on the same pace, you should hear back in the next few days.
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Please do confirm. That process took me 10+ weeks and delayed my application. Ended up doing the app with a state apostille just so my other docs didn’t expire. Investment in Aug ‘22 and a Nov date on submission. Sigh
Would be awesome if it speeds up because will need it again ! And again! And again! 
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Portuguese Association of Residential Tourism and Resorts calls for study on impact of end of ‘gold’ visas and suggests alternatives
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TLDR on the alternatives?
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- Increase the minimum investments required, in order to bring Portugal on par with other programs and to create more tax income for the state
- Impose a surcharge on the acquisition of touristic properties, which can be used to fund the construction of affordable housing
- Create a new investment category for the creation of affordable rental properties
- Eliminate the term “golden visa” which has become a “toxic” term
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Ty! Those are good suggestions.
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Some more details of the initial proposal have been published:
Changes GV 2023 - March 4th.pdf (782.5 KB)
Note: this is not taking into account the feedback that has been provided so far in the process
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Seems to me that this says (broadly):
- anyone who applied by 16th February will have their applications processed, but later applications are invalid
- renewals for GVs connected to real estate investments will only be allowed if the property is leased for 5 years or is for personal use
- no changes to renewals for other GVs (e.g. fund investments)
Corrections and other interpretations welcome. And as Prime Legal says, this is all subject to legal challenge, amendment, etc.
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Pretty harsh, if not unexpected, to call Feb 16th the cutoff for applications. I say “not unexpected” because we are all seeing what happened when small rule changes were announced in 2021: people crush the system trying to apply. Doesn’t surprise me the govt is trying to avoid ending the program with a huge surge of applicants.
Also kinda harsh, and presumably the unconstitutional portion, is changing the real estate renewal rules for people already in the system. But not entirely unworkable if enforced. I am sure someone will create a leasing group on Weibo where everyone “leases” everyone elses properties for five years and no money changes hands.
Otherwise not too painful. Everyone in the system gets to finish up (hopefully with automatic renewals). Certainly not the apocalypse we are worried about.
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