I’m not sure if this topic has already been discussed, but I have a question regarding Golden Visa holders whose real-estate route has been converted to a D2/entrepreneur-type visa. When these applicants become eligible to apply for permanent residency, will the fee be the same as the regular PR application fee? This is assuming the applicant has been living permanently in Portugal since receiving the first residence card.
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It does not matter if you have been converted from a temp GV to a temp D2, or if you remain on a temp GV. In either case you will have the option of obtaining a GV PR or a standard PR. With the GV you will pay the (much) higher fee, but you will only need to spend 7 days per year in country in order to obtain your subsequent PR card after 5 years. If you opt for the standard PR, you will pay a small fee but will be required to spend substantially more time in Portugal on an annual basis. If you are living in PT full time, then standard PR would seem to be the logical path for you.
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@deepyarn, thank you very much, really appreciated 
On the dependent implications -
[Dependents] Can continue on Temp. ARI while Primary has Perm. ARI
I assume this requires the PR primary to maintain the qualifying investment as long as 1+ dependents are still on the temp ARI? I will have a late addition to the family, probably ~2 years behind the rest of us on card issuance and PR eligibility, so I’m curious how this might play out for us.
Hi all - thanks for your feedback on the Temp/Perm/Citizenship comparison table. Latest version is above here.
@hondo16 as for your question above, perhaps @tkrunning can shed more light (also see post here).
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Great job, @PTbound! An excellent tool for navigating the Portuguese madness!
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Just a quick question: if someone is on a Golden Visa, or has converted it to a D2 visa, but has been living in Portugal the entire time and can prove continuous residence, will they still have to pay the Golden Visa permanent residency fee, or will the normal PR fee apply?
I have asked my lawyer about this. The lawyer at the time was unsure and later she confirmed that I should be able to choose the regular PR and pay the lesser fee.
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I think that was @deepyarn’s point earlier… it’s more about your future intentions than the past.
If you can only manage the minimum 7d/year average time in Portugal, then you’d need the expensive GV PR. If you plan to sufficiently reside in PT (I think it’s 6+ months every rolling 3-year period) then you’re eligible for the regular/much cheaper PR.
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@melodyh203
Thank you very much. Do you know if someone can apply for the permanent card, even if their renewal card is still being processed (the 4th card) (1 year+2 year+ 2 year already completed)? Or do they need to wait until the new card is issued before applying?
I’m asking because the previous cards show “residency by investment,” while I believe the new card will state D2.
Some updates on non-ARI PR (all references below to EU Directive 2003/109/EC concerning the status of third-country nationals who are long-term residents):
Max time allowed in other EU countries: as per what has been set out under citizenship. 3 months, after which must apply for residency on the basis of employment, self-employment, studying, or “other” (Art 14(2)). The “other” category varies from country to country.
Eligibility for EU long term residency: Yes, per the Directive. Latest report from the EU shows majority (73%) issued in Italy and patchy implementation, with some countries issuing long term residency permits and others temporary permits. The EU recognises that its own language in this respect is vague (it refers to renewable permits, which some have taken to mean temporary).
Application to granting - estimated time: Will update with real life data. Yesterday in Lisbon I was told 2-3 months. Not holding my breath.
Card cost: ~ €350
Dependent implications – permits/visas: As per ARI. Plus entitled to join family in other EU countries (Art 16).
Dependent implications - education: Per Art 11: "Long-term residents shall enjoy equal treatment with nationals as regards … (b) education and vocational training, including study grants in accordance with national law.
NOTES:
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My context is ARI real estate, which AIMA dealt with as a PR (regular, non-ARI) application.
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I have gone down the Portugal/EU immigration law rabbit hole far too many times over the last decade and I’ve sworn not to do it again this time. I will just say that, from what I’ve seen, we are again in a cycle of consultants/lawyers publishing poorly researched/AI-generated expositions of the law, which are then picked up and republished again by the next lot, and so on. This applies to some big name firms, who don’t even seem to know the basics of how EU directives are transposed into domestic law. A clear example is the notion that it is possible to apply at AIMA for something called “EU long term residency” (Art 125) vs Permanent Residency (Art 80) after 5 years. I think this is wrong. On my reading EU LTR is PR + Art 125 implements the EU directives for long term residents of other EU countries. That is why eg proof of Portuguese language proficiency is not required in all cases.
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EU Directive attached.
CELEX:32003L0109:EN:TXT.pdf (147.4 KB)
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I’m not sure about that. Here’s AIMA’s page on Art 125: https://aima.gov.pt/pt/viver/aquisicao-do-estatuto-de-residente-de-longa-duracao-erld-art-125-o
- Comprovativo de residência legal e ininterrupta em território nacional durante os cinco anos imediatamente anteriores à apresentação do requerimento.
Sounds like a card for people who’ve lived in Portugal 5 years.
I’ve done as deep a dive as my sanity allows into the applicable laws and am not seeing any legal basis for the claim that there are 2 direct routes to permanent/long term residence. What I am seeing is the transposing of an EU Directive, in many cases verbatim, into Portuguese law. More fundamentally, there is absolutely no way that any other EU country would cede the right to determine if someone can have permanent residence in their country to the idiots at AIMA. That problem is quite literally what this Directive (with all its amendments, implementation studies, 2023 amendment proposals etc) is addressing. Anyone who thinks they can get Art 125 long term residency in PT (possibly even without a language requirement) and use it to move elsewhere in Europe at will, is smoking their socks.
I haven’t investigated that closely because it seems you need 5 years physical presence in PT which I don’t have. But I don’t see why it’s impossible for people who live there.
Here the EU itself sets out the rules very clearly: Already in the EU? - Migration and Home Affairs - European Commission. The law is settled - any form of permanent/long term residency in one EU country merely entitles you to apply for residency in another EU country. None gives you the automatic right to move to/settle in another EU country. All give you the right to travel freely in the Schengen zone.
I would strongly suggest that this type of exposition, which is suddenly mushrooming up all over the place (because why should any of this lot actually bother to do their own research) be treated with extreme caution: https://www.lvpadvogados.com/to-be-or-not-to-be-a-permanent-resident-your-options-after-five-years-of-calling-portugal-home
Thanks @Lala - I’ve incorporated your non-ARI PR updates into the existing table.
These 2 things might both be true re: “Eligibility for EU Long-Term Residency,” but they still need clarifying:
- (any form of PT PR): No, not eligible for EU LTR - as need 6+ mo./year in that non-PT EU country, but can’t due to Schengen (max. 90 in past 180 ex-PT) (@anonymous69).
- Must apply for and be granted LTR (i.e. new residency application) in other country, no automatic right to it. (@lala)
- …so I think they net out to this, right?
“Unlike PT Citizens, PT PRs can’t just go to another EU country for 6+ months (exceeding Schengen 90/180 limit) and earn the right to apply for EU LTR there.”
Also agreed that the GV hucksters are latching onto the idea of “EU long-term residency,” now that they can’t promise “5 years to citizenship” anymore. Anything to make a sale!
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That’s up to you. If you are living there and don’t care about the residency requirement, then apply for regular PR. If you don’t live there and want minimal (or none - is it unclear) residency requirements, then the GV PR is best. 5 years residency is 5 years residency and so you can apply for either PR based on your current situation.
More accurately, I think: “Unlike PT citizens, who have a right to freedom of movement in the EU and a relatively standardised process to apply for legal residency in another EU country if they intend to live there for more than 3 months, the process for PT PRs to remain legally in another EU country for more than 3 months* is more variable and the requirements (eg financial means) more rigorous”.
Just as one example of the variability, it seems that in Czechia you can get the equivalent of PR on the basis of holding another EU country’s PR. You basically have to go through each country to see how they handle it. (90/180 assumes entering with a Schengen visa or Schengen waiver passport (eg US), rather than PT PR, I think. If you’re just comparing PT PR it’s 3 months).
Not sure I understand the 6+mo/yr. The EU Directive refers to potential loss of PR/LTR if you’re absent from the EU for more than 12 months, but again allows each country to make rules that are stricter, or to carve out exceptions (eg ARI PR). On my reading PT PR is EU LTR. And I think that ARI PR falls within the realm of allowed derogations.
I’m having GV PTSD reading the fuzzy explanations that these firms have all been putting out. If anyone’s getting legal advice on this please ask them to refer you to the relevant legal provisions (and then please post them here!).
EDIT: Ok, so Art 85 deals with cancellation of PRs. I’ve pasted the relevant bit below and highlighted what I think is important:
2 - Without prejudice to the application of special provisions, the residence permit may also be canceled when the interested party, without reasonable reasons, is absent from the country:
a) Being the holder of a temporary residence permit, six consecutive months or eight interpolated months, in the total period of validity of the authorization;
b) Being the holder of a permanent residence permit, 24 consecutive months or, in a period of three years, 30 interpolated months.
3 - The absence beyond the limits provided for in the previous paragraph must be justified by application submitted to AIMA, I. P., before the departure of the resident from the national territory or, in exceptional cases, after his departure.
4 - The residence permit is not canceled for citizens who are absent for periods longer than those provided for in paragraph 2, when they prove that during their absence from national territory they have developed professional or business activity or of a cultural or social nature.
The minimum time required on a non-ARI PR is set out in 2(b): 6 months in 3 years and no more than 24 consecutive months. On my reading the ARI PR is an example of a “special provision”. The interesting part is that longer absences can be justified and that PR is specifically not cancelled where the longer absence is for purposes of a professional, business, cultural or social nature (whatever the last two mean!).
You’re right about Art 125 being applicable to PT permanent residents. (Although I haven’t seen any evidence to show that it is distinct from Art 80 - and it is implementing the EU Directive). Articles 116-118 deal with the right of residence in PT of third-country nationals who has acquired long-term resident status in another Member State of the European Union and remains in PT for a period of more than three months to work or study, presents another serviceable (atendível) reason for staying in PT. @PTbound this is the kind of provision that EU countries have to give residency to holders of LTR from other EU states.
Yeah I guess every country implements it differently but check this out from the official Swedish Migration Agency website:
A person with long-term resident status in another EU country may start working as soon as they arrive in Sweden, and does not have to wait for a decision about their application for a residence permit.
Maybe not as good as EU citizen but 2nd tier, above all other visas it seems.
But note that with just 7 days / year residence, you won’t qualify for this Long Term EU Residency, so it is purely theoretical for most GV holders.
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