With amendments to the Portuguese Nationality Law looming, what are the exact proposals and what are the risks of applying for a Golden Visa (ARI) today?
Part from the nationality new rules we are as GV applicants, when we applied there was a clear rule that the investment shall be hold of 5 years and we will get the PR.
in 2024 and to cover their delay and they said that the 5 years counted from the date of application .
is the counting from the first residency will be applicable on the PR as well?
I was recently informed that time counting for PR starts at first card.
As we are in the ARI program already and they confirm to us last year that the counting will start from the application time so they cannot do retroactive affect
Permanent Residence: Has always been, is now, and will continue to be 5 years from first card issue date
Citizenship: Until 2024: 5 years from first card. 2024-2025: 5 years from application. Going forward: 10 years from first card. (Provided the law just passed is promulgated.)
First, NOTHING is final in the new law yet. It WILL likely change because some parts are most likely unconstitutional.
IMO, the GV will 100% stay in effect.
The timeline as proposed currently will change to 10 years from card issuance (vs 5 and vs from application date). That is the only change that impacts GV holders.
I still believe (perhaps naively) they will add retroactive grandfathering in and especially for GV holders.
The Portuguese bureaucracy is never going to be efficient and there’s always going to be an arbitrary/capricious element. Assuming AIMA improves slightly, I’d add one year to get residency + 2 (down from close to 3 at present) for citizenship. So at least 13 to a passport. Children under 18 have to wait for their parent to get citizenship before they can apply. Currently those applications are taking around 4 years. Maybe they come down to 2 years, in which case it’s 15 years for your child, assuming they still meet the criteria. All of this, while the government has made clear its distaste for rich GV applicants (deixamos os mais ricos para o fim da fila is what the Minister responsible for AIMA told Parliament … AIMA vai resolver vistos gold pendentes em 2026 – Observador).
High risk, uncertain rewards.