Correct. My lawyer mentioned 2027 being the year I can apply for citizenship, based on my 2022 application. (Still no pre-approval for me.)
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They had GV residence only, but recently moved to Portugal, but for sure not have lived the whole 5 yr period. It is the same document contagem de tempo was used to prove 5 yr residency. But PR requires living here. And you need the proof of address. Unfortunately both cases were in Madeira. It is autonous region and the rules may differ. 
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Hi , any updates on this subject. Appreciate any feedback ?
My lawyer claims the 5 year clock starts at time of fee payment rather than biometrics. I followed up asking why she is sure of this and she replied:
We are still waiting for the specific regulations to this new law to be published, but we have information from Immigration Office it is counted from online application.
I canāt counter your lawyer, ohbee, and I hope she is as right as rain. Still, a lawyer I recently spoke with about possible GV processing services suggested that the 5 year clock may likely run from biometrics because historically for many years that was when SEF internally considered applications complete (of course, AIMA could ignore that precedent). Regulations may not arise any time soon, they continued, but applicants and lawyers alike shall learn the definitive answer once the Registry (Ministry of Justice) gets its first batch of citizenship applications timed to 5 years after paid application and responds. If those proceed, it shall be as your esteemed lawyer states and applicants shall act accordingly. Or, the Registry could reject those thus instructing us all that the timing is based on biometrics, assuming that we still lack regulations then. āThis is the Portuguese way, [without the regulations] do it and learn as you go, we are taught from that, and we do it again in the way that worked.ā
Finally, this lawyer observed that todayās estimated up to 2 years Registry citizenship processing backlog is nothing compared to whatās coming years down the road with 500,000 residency applications stuck in SEF/AIMA hell, among them some 10,000 or so GVāers. (Incidentally, I also learned that back in the before times SEF processed GV applications separately from all other residency types and with predictable alacrity. Clearly, Iām a dumbass for not pursuing my initial notion of exploring PT GV some 8 years ago!)
One more point back to my post roughly #305 above: this lawyer also countered what I conveyed from another law firm about GV citizenship qualifications. Legal presumptions overstep proof of ties with Article 6.1 naturalization applicants for citizenship, which include GV, just as we all understand. Not sure why the other lawyers asserted otherwise to me, leading to my questioning this threadās brain trust, but still no reply to my follow up email seeking clarity. Done with them.
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Yes, that is indeed the other possible interpretation of the law (as exhaustively discussed in this forum). No one knows until the regulations appear!
I was watching lots of clips and reading lots of opinions thru forum of the portuguese speaking immigrants. Funnily enough, some of them are worried that the new citizenship law is not going to apply to Manifestacao de Interesse. According to them, new citizenship law is going to apply to Golden Visa only. Because GV applicant paid 500k + fees that contributes huge tax to the economy. It makes me laugh. But I understand their points. A factory worker from Mozambique now works in Central Portugal and earns 850 monthly. How much taxes he pay per year? One GV investor with 500k property in Alfama has a rental income 2500Euros/month. How much taxes does a GV investor need to pay? It is normal that a low wage people have fear about the GV investorsā¦Only the stamp duty of the 500k property itself is already about 35k - a giant contribution to economy in the mind of MI people.
Here in this group, some people think that people of ManifestaƧao of Interresse contribute more and new law will be directed to MI people. However, in the group of MI people, they think the opposite and GV investors are the one who deserve the new law.
To say who contributes more, only the tax authority knows. It needs to be compared precisely by numbers. I believe that lots of MI people work at minimum wages or even under minimum wages (without contract during the time of waiting for resident card). And I am 100% sure that they entered the country without paying anything while GV investors pay fortune before they arrive. Lots of GV do not live in Portugal but contribute taxes via Fund or Property income rental. So, itās difficult to tell who contributes more unless tax authority mades an accurate comparison.
One important point to note that the requirements of citizenship application does not have anything related to tax.
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Safe to say on which side youād find applications that were deleted because of inability to pay the 400 euro feeā¦
The annoying part is, thereās absolutely no need to pick winners! Portugal has plenty of room for both groups, and in fact the GV investments could be directed toward building rental units to drive down rents if the government arranged it that way.
Though I think the issue of red tape and local planning controls probably is more of a problem than money, in Portugalās case (thereās plenty of money that would love to build housing, if it were practical)
I really hope us immigrant groups donāt fall for the us vs them thing. Maybe it would be good to try and interact with/make friends with some of the nonGV immigrant groups? I donāt know how weād start with that frankly but maybe something for us to think about
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Nothing brings people together like a good protest.
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Hi. Have you got ur seat for the birth certificate by now? Iāve heard many people would go to at IRN to queue for it once they reach 7 red, without appointments. How long have you spent on stage 4 ?
Hello @supermoira
Have you renewed you expired residency? Or could you manage to switch to regular PR or different type of residency?
Wishing you a speedy outcome for the citizenship
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The āreputable lawyersā are idiots. They are completely wrong. Find someone else.
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Yup, youāre correct. I figured that out and moved on to another lawyer (at about 323 above I update to that effect).
Not sure why this is resurrected, but my understanding is that ARI through real estate on renewal is now coming through as a three year D2, without the big fees. So that is an avenue while you are waiting for citizenship.
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No, we have not been able to renew our GV yet and havenāt been able to change it to anything else. So here we are again, not able to leave Portugal in case we cannot get back as this is our only home.
Colleagues, you need to understand, that IRN does not deal with the residency time count nor it treats that part of the law. IRN even does not see what type of residence permit you had. IRN asks AIMA, so it is AIMA who treats the law about time count. And everybody could check what AIMA thinks now about his/her particular time count. Cost about 40 euro, as I remember correct. Plus lawyers fee, if you couldnāt do it yourself.
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Has anyone here applied the citizenship under new citizenshipās law?
Hello @live2learn !
I think you are referring to when I was struggling to renew my GV and considering switching to D7 or a regular PR. So it turned out that I would have to leave Portugal while applying for the different visa and the wait periods for D7ās in South Africa are/were very unpredictable. So when the opportunity to renew my GV arrived in Feb 2023 I took it!
In the meantime I did apply for citizenship in January 2024 but I donāt expect that to happen in less than 2 years and my lawyers says that I need to have a valid residence at the time of being granted citizenship. So here I am again looking to renew my GV in February 2025. 
The journey continues! Hopefully this will be my last renewal and at the lower renewal fee!
I hope your journey is shorter than mine, all the best x
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Hi there ā¦ Iām, a newcomer to this thread having now finally received the 1st residence permits for all our family members.
Will be starting language classes in January 2025.
Hoping to submit citizenship applications in late 2026, i.e. five years after initial GV application.
Keen to hear of the experiences of others who are going through the citizenship application process based on the GV residence pathway, especially if under the new citizenship law.
What is the new citizenship law? I am planning to apply for citizenship next week and am not sure what the new law is.