For anyone watching Iāll be posting my fbi apostille turnaround time here Anybody else coping with delays on apostille for background check? - #32 by tizona
I submitted feb 14th, fingers crossed theyāre quick 
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What Iāve heard from lawyers is that the apostille isnāt required for getting your application in. The regular background check is sufficient to get grandfathered in. Of course the apostille needs to be submitted at a later point, itās still required eventually.
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My lawyers have said that the FBI report itself is needed to start the application, the apostilled version can be added later. Still necessary but helps with timelines.
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Great news, I am confirming with our attorneys as well just curious about what others have heard.
My lawyer thinks that HQA requires the same residency as D7 but I found it hard to find anything official on this, which was one of the reasons I opted for GV.
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I honestly think itās majority D7 (d8 now too) visa holders driving up the cost-outbidding locals to secure a 12 month lease on an apartment they might not even stay in to have it for the visa app. Any numbers on that?
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I am sure D7 (D8 ?) is one of contributors, along with Digital Nomadās visa (whatever its designation might be). I donāt have any statistics on investments from these other programmes.
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Algarve tourism property owners push back against housing package - Portugal Resident
There is so much back lash and criticism already on this move.
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What are āgolden visasā and which EU countries hand them out? | Euronews
For those interested in other options, the above article gives a good over view of what is out there. Personally I still have my hopes that the program will not change for those that are already in the process. Time will tell!
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The problem is, in the current economic environment itās almost impossible to make the development of new lower cost housing commercially viable. Full disclosure - I work for a company managing one of the funds and we develop purpose built student accommodation. What we build helps ease housing shortages as it helps get students out of residential properties. However with construction costs sky high and interest rates rising, we can only consider building in higher value locations, meaning we are building accommodation that will only be within the reach of better off students. Developing in lower value locations simply isnāt profitable.
If the government really wants to ease the housing shortage it needs to address this issue.
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You do not need to build affordable housing. Building housing at the high end (or any part of the market) reduces housing costs for everyone.
Somewhat like hermit crabs, the richest move into the new stuff, freeing up cheaper housing for others. This cycle repeats
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This scenario in the United States is handled through a variety of tax incentives (abatement of property taxes) on constrution and also through Section 8 housing payments (the government pays the landlord for people to live in the housing thus guaranteeing the landlord will get income to support the project).
This is all very frustrating. I am angry that somehow there is so much animosity towards the investors.
We did not solicit the Portuguese government to invest in their economy. The Portuguese government solicited us!
They designed the Golden Visa program, made the guidelines and requirements and then solicited investors to take part in the program in exchange for residency and/or citizenship.
We have been following their rules but they are not keeping their promises.
I hope they continue the program under the current guidelines for those of us that have me t the criteria and change it to something they believe suites their needs better for future investors. I took part in this in good faith that they would hold up their end of the bargain.
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True, building any housing helps the problem, however there is still a need to build lower cost housing too. Cutting off the money flowing in from GV investments is unlikely to help. But I think we all know this move is political rather than practical.
I do not agree with your premise that āaffordable housingā needs to be built. I cannot think of a time when any brand new housing was built for the poor, but if you have examples Iād be thrilled to add them to the collection.
Build enough market rate housing and housing costs for everyone go down.
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Yes It is a regular thing. Not exactly ābuilt for the poorā. Thatās insulting. but housing is built specifically with section 8 incentives in mind.
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Certainly, sorry - without outside incentive generally itās not profitable to build new housing aiming at the bottom of the market.
My point being, itās ok if the majority is chasing the middle and upper classes, because thatās what gets housing built, and building new housing helps everyone
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There are lots of examples of affordable housing being built in various countries. For example āaffordable housingā is a requirement of most UK planning consents that require the developer to either build some affordable housing or contribute money towards it. Affordable Housing Scheme - Bury Council
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I totally agree, reducing the building of more expensive housing will make the problem worse not better. But rather than reducing this they should be aiming to increase whatās built overall, including housing thatās more affordable.