The answer to whether your spouse obtains residency depends on whether you ( as a citizen) are yourself resident: You may want to check these 2 sites
(i) for EU: Your non-EU spouse and children's residence rights in the EU - Your Europe; and Registering your non-EU family members in another EU country - Your Europe
AND
(ii) for Portugal: Entering and leaving Portugal - ePortugal.gov.pt.
I believe that stay requirements are stricter until the spouse has a residency card and during the period of the temporary residency, the exit period is limited, if I recall well.
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Question about the Citizenship path given all the churn in the various regimesā¦ As it stands today (yes, I realize they can change the rules later):
Assume I get an ARI temporary residence card and comply with its stay requirements. Is it true that after 5 years, I can apply for citizenship without going thru permanent residency?
Meaning if I meet all the eligibility requirements for citizenship, I could conceivably apply for and receive citizenship without ever being a PT tax resident?
And that I could maintain said citizenship without tax residency?
Citizenship, residence, and tax residence are three distinct and different, albeit loosely related, concepts.
So yes, you can become (and/or continue to be) a citizen of a country without ever being a tax resident in the said country.
I have done that many times (just kidding, not many 
)
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Can anyone recommend a good lawyer or law firm for the citizenship application who has good experience with?
Weāre excited to announce that the President of the Portuguese Republic has officially approved an amendment to the citizenship law, bringing about significant changes to how residency time is calculated for citizenship eligibility.
Moving forward, in March/April applicants will begin accruing their required five years of residency from the day their application is submitted, rather than waiting until their residence permit is granted. This adjustment streamlines the citizenship process, offering a more efficient pathway for those seeking citizenship. It will probably safe about 2 years of waiting time.
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Moving forward, in March/April applicants
so only new applicants?
Is this some kind of joke? If so, how would this mitigate the backlog? Is this law all a scam?
Hi @nikessng, I hope you are fine.
It will be applicable to all cases.
The law will enter in force in March/April.
best,
Alexander
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There is already a long discussion in this thread Wait time now counts toward 5 year residency? - #434 by AussieInExile
@tkrunning maybe should move these posts there?
Thanks for clarification!
Dear all, as I have now progressed with my citizenship application I want to provide you some update based on facts which might be useful for future references.
- You would recall that there are 7 stages of the citizenship application
- Since last year if you apply via solicitor or a lawyer the application has to be online
- All online applications are forwarded to Porto
- Before online applications, stages 1 (received) and 2 (registered) would take up to 15 months; with online applications these steps now seem to take 6-8 weeks. Iāve heard few cases in which the first two steps were completed within a week!
- On the official page, the expected completion duration is still shown as 24-29 moths.
- Stage 3, which is referred as external consultation with SEF, ministry of justice and possibly the Portuguese embassy at your home country is the next one. Mine took just underneath 4 months to be completedā¦ I know three other cases which took around 3-4 months.
- Stage 4 is the most critical. It is defined as verification of all documents, once you are done through stage 4 the rest is āusuallyā pretty fastā¦ Basically stage 5 and 6 are almost straight forward and is a natural following steps of the previous ones. I heard cases where they were each completed in a day, or a case where the progress jumped to stage 7 directly from stage 3. Stage 4 can take some time, anywhere from 6-12 months. 8-9 months is what I hear as the average time.
- Stage 5 is more about checking whether you fulfill the criteria for citizenship and stage 6 is the final decision. If everything is in order till stage 5, Stage 5 and 6 should become formality stages and ānatural consequence of the previous ones.ā
- Stage 7 is the stage where birth certificate is created, you would need that certification to make an ID card or passport claim which can be only done in person.
Timelines for stage 7 can again vary. The current expectation by many is 6-8 weeks, but Iāve read cases who are stuck on stage 7 for more than 6 months.
Yet here comes the disclaimers
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It is generally believed that the tracker may not be always updated, this is not the DHL tracking system. You application might have progressed to stage 4 but the progress may not be captured on the tracker. Thatās why some people āmightā be stuck at a certain point.
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Contrary to what some might believe, from what Iāve read over the forums, the original nationality does not seem to impact the timelines, at least this is my conclusion.
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As a general rule of thumb unless something radical happens avoid Lisbon for any bureaucratical stuff, there is almost a consensus around thatā¦
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In my view, if you choose to work with a lawyer/law company, the reason why you need to work with an experienced one is that having the peace of mind that they wonāt make a silly mistake and slow down your application. Let me put it this way, I donāt think any lawyer can accelerate the progress, but an inexperienced lawyer who may be making mistakes may slow your application. You can read several cases of that here and there.
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In my humble view with the online application, 15-18 months is a more realistic timeline, however this will be verified once the first online applicants āgraduateā from the system.
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The two quickest timelines I have read/seen are 8 months each followed by two 12 monthsā¦ I donāt know those people in person and have read what they shared on forums so canāt really comment on the accuracy. Statistically speaking you might have few exceptional fast cases; but overall 15-18 months seem to be more common. Still in Facebook groups you will see many people who have made their application way back in 2021 at earlier stagesā¦ I think by now we all know that the whole process is not a math equation but is of an interest to statistics science.
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Last but not least applications via article 6.1 which will be relevant for the GV holders - citizenship after 5 years of residency - is regarded as the fastest route to citizenship except for the applications for minors whose parents are already Portuguese.
I hope the above info shed light onto the process a bitā¦
All the best
Mr.E
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Thank you very much for sharing the experience.
May I ask the following things?
- did you get the ācontagem do tempoā from Sef to prove that you meet 5 years residency? Or you use 1st card & 2 card to submit with the documents?
- at the time of submission, applicant must have a valid resident card. Are you under 3rd card right now? Are you going to renew it again or apply for permanent card while waiting for the citizenship outcome?
Congratz for hardwork and patience.
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Thank you for your incredibly informative post. It answered many questions that I have been seeking answers to, which no lawyers were able or willing to address.
I have a few follow-up questions:
- Based on your research, do you think filing an online application via a lawyer that goes to Porto is still the safest route versus, for example, researching which conservatoria currently has the shortest processing times based on rumors and filing the application there directly by mail?
- If SEF/AIMA refuses to print the third card even after taking payment and approving the renewalāa situation that apparently has been a frequent occurrence for many GV applicants recentlyāwill that hinder or delay the citizenship application? Essentially, the question is whether the best strategy is to file a lawsuit, as many lawyers are suggesting (presumably to collect more fees), or to simply allow them to delay printing the card and wait until the citizenship application is approved. This could potentially save the hassle of undergoing a 4th or 5th renewal, depending on how long it takes.
Congratulations again @Mr.E! Your posts are really helpful, for those of us who still dream of being in your position! Hopefully movement from stage 3 to stage 4 will move quickly for you!
You appear to have already answered the issue of proof of residency question by stating that your lawyers obtained the Contagem do tempo to cover gaps in residency card periods: Wait time now counts toward 5 year residency? - #72 by Mr.E.
The main change since that post is that the law on nationality altered to include the waiting time from application" for residence to getting the first residence card, for those that get their card. The unknown is how AIMA will eventually calibrate the start date for GV card holders (date of application submission/payment, pre-approval date or biometrcs date?) once the law is in force this April!
Dear all; responding to few incoming questions
- Yes I did submit ācontagem do tempoā for the citizenship application
- Thanks to extensions granted for expired residency cards during COVID, I was able to meet 5 year residency prior to the expiry date of my 3rd card
- My 3rd residency card is still valid till mid 2025, I hope my citizenship application is completed by then so that I donāt have to go through the residency renewal route, if I have to renew, Iāll do so. Iāve heard that after stage 4 , you wonāt need to have a residency card and your application can continue as it is, BUT this is something you need to check with a lawyer.
- I havenāt really done a research, when I did submit my application via lawyers, they used the online route; but I am overall happy with it.
- I am not sure about which conservatoria is the fastest one, there are also conflict reports; from what I feel is the process timing at conservatories changeā¦ At one time Porto might be faster, then when online applications are diverted to Porto things might slow downā¦
- I donāt know what might be the best strategy when the card is not printed; I would actually speak to people who are in similar situationā¦
PS: I now heard several GV holders who got citizenship after 5 years, I know this has been a question at least in the past.
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Curious to know if citizenship applications from GV holders are more likely to be approved or approved more quickly if the GV holder actually made Portugal their home prior to the application, as opposed to applying after 5 years of only visiting the country for a few weeks each year?
Through facebook, i found out one Hongkonger got the citizenship after 14 months from the submission of citizenshipās application.
He applied GV in 2017 and got his first card after 1 year. Then in Jan 2023 he submitted citizenshipās application and it was successfully approved in March 2024.
I think it is random. Some get results quick (1-1.5 years), some get it after (2.5-3 years). No pattern to conclude. But Iāve never seen anyone with rejected outcome. It is very likely that if you satisfy the physical time requirement + A2 portuguese + clean criminal record, you will eventually get the citizenship.
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Thanks for the update. Do you know how you can push the process? My lawyer says that very difficult to communicate with authorities and just wait and mentions delays beyond the 2-3 year period. Anyone with similar issues or better with solutions
Nope, the conservatory does not see the type of you residence permit, neither contagem de tempo states it. People have different group of processes based only on the article, based on which granted the citizenship. We all go on the base of 5 year residence and conservatory does not care if you live in Portugal or not. You need to demonstrate your ties with the country, and so far language test serves for that reason. It may change though.
@nassarfk You could not push the process. Period.
@nmg
When the card is not printed it is not a common situation. It is a very specific situation. You could either go to the court, or try to get the contagem de tempo. If you are lucky the new card will be mentioned in that contagem de tempo, but unfortunately it is not always so. Some get it with new card data, some not. It will not save you from renewing further. If the card is approved after autorenewal, it already has number, issue date (usually 1 or 2 days after payment) and expiration date.