I am looking into the GV and have read many posts about the process, but very few people post after they get their Portuguese passports. Does anyone here care to weigh in and reflect on the process, timeline, etc.?
Thanks!
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Look I think people on this forum tend to overlook that most people are working for a passport in a country without spending more than a few months total in. The process works but it’s not fast. likely 3 years from when you start till you are through the initial residency process I think you can likely spend a little money and sue every step of the way and it likely will speed that up. I would say it’s probably a 8 year process from beginning to end but keep in mind that may mean a total required time inside Portugal around 2-3 months which is simply incredible if you think about that. its probably by the time youre thought the process and sell the assets most seem to lose around 50-100K including the card fees and lawyer fees. I see people stress when the amount invested is a large % of their free cash or NW. I really think the program was meant for people 10M$+ but hey there’s really no actual NW test and if you have the 300K they allow it. For me it was worth every penny and I recommend it to most people I know.
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Nah, I think it was meant for anyone with enough cash to pony up and take the risk. They probably didn’t think about the idea that some people would dump their life savings into it - but why would they? Who are they to guess someone’s risk tolerance? Caveat Emptor and all that. And some people are in situations where they are willing to roll dice because well.
I do imagine they thought of it as a risky investment that they had to entice people into. 10 years ago, it was. I suppose it still is, along some lines.
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As this is an English language forum and you might not see more of success stories, until recently the share of Chinese and other Asian investors were roughly around 80 Percent of the total applicants. It all changed during the COVID travel restrictions and Brexit uncertainties, more and more US and Brits started applying for a Golden Visa. I do know at least 6 successful Nationality applications through GV and what I heard barring couple of them, rest had a smooth process and it took them less than 2 years in total from the date of nationality application. Those 2 applicants were having issues with some documents and they were able to sort that out eventually.
As of now, the authorities are flooded with the applications and delays are expected for sure.
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I believe we have had only 1 member on this forum who went through the full GV process and applied for citizenship, a process which is ongoing, and takes more than 2 years now. Wait time now counts toward 5 year residency? - #126 by Mr.E.
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In the GV WhatsApp group there is a 2016 applicant who recently reported getting their passport. Their timeline:
2016: applied
2017: first card
2022 May: applied citizenship
2024 June: final confirmation of citizenship
2024 Sep: Portuguese passport in hand
So 8.5 years, in a case without much delay until first card.
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This is not promising. I see mostly hundreds of companies eager to sign you up and take your money, and no one telling stories of receiving a passport.
I am not saying this isn’t legit, but seeing or hearing about some real results would be great.
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Incredible
I can share my timeline:
2015: applied
2016: got my first card, which was 1 year at that moment
2022 February: applied for citizenship. Was delay in card renewal in 2021 due to covid related backlog, and lawyers recommended to renew first, than apply. Managed to renew in 2021, which is the rare case, just lost about 6 months
2023: the process was stuck until renewal. Autorenewed in November, got new contagem de tempo and sent to IRN in Jan 24
2024 Feb: favorable decision, but system delay in creating registry and birth certificate
2024 June: got citizenship
My spouse with the same timeline received request for extra documents in February, those were sent immediately, but he is waiting so far
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So very nice to hear this. 9 years from application to citizenship.
Feb22 to June24 for IRN process. Well done. 
I know more people who received their passport via GV program (At least 5). All of them with the first cards received in 2016-2017.
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Congratz with the citizenship outcome. Your timeline makes sense with all intermediate processsing steps. For new GV applicant, do not expect to get passport in hand before 10 years. If taking all family members (husband/wife/kids)into consideration, total time might take up to 12-13 years. It is what it is. Right expectation will make life less stressful.
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Hi all, as mentioned above, there are people who received passport through GV residency.
On a ball park average the process takes 2 years, I am in month 14. I’ve read timelines of 8-12 months, but those are in my opinion real exceptions. I know two other other people who got passports, one with a 15 month timeline, the other with 18 months… Caveat: These are cases that were kicked-off when things were “normal”
Just recently the government has launched an “AI boosted” process to analyze the applications. The expectation is around a way more accelerated process, but so far there has been just a mess, as the migration to new platform still seems to be not completed. It is not almost certain that the data displayed is still not accurate even after a almost two months period after the initial launch.
In my opinion, there is now also a problematic back-log in Porto as all online application were once diverted to Porto and Porto seems to be finalizing cases from Oct-Nov 2022. For your note, I hear that now, online applications are no longer immediately forwarded to Porto.
Now to sum it up, below is my timeline.
2017 Dec: First application from Lisbon (I wish I had prior warning about Lisbon office being extra slow)
2018 May: Withdrawal of my application from Lisbon as I was told, I could lose an additional year
2018 June- Reapplying from Porto with biometrics (during those times preapproval was a thing that was completed in 10 days, though I think I had my preapproval from my initial application in Lisbon.
2018 Late Sep: Approval of the application and receiving the card in early October
2019 Jul - First renewal appointment @ Albufeira with biometrics
2019 Sep - Confirmation and card in hand by again early Oct
2021- unable to book a renewal due to Covid, extensions helped to secure the 5 years of contagem de tempo
2022 Jan - Last renewal at Faro
2022 Apr: Confirmation of approval, card received in 2-3 weeks…
2023 Sep: Citizenship application after completion of 5 years of residence. Currently, my application is at the “waiting for the final decision” This is the 3rd stage in the new tracking which has 4 steps; yet there is a big caveat on the accuracy of the information displayed.
Based on what Porto is processing right now, I might need to wait for an additional year.
I’ll update when things progress.
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Yes good point. Also worth noting that China doesn’t recognise dual nationality, so those who obtain it are not likely to leave a trail of evidence about their success online.
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There may be some who move a PR or keep renewing their GV rather than a passport because of dual citizenship rules in their country of origin, so another reason why success stories from China/India maybe limited even if they are not posting online.
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My observation is that; in this forum, the majority of the people have still not reached the citizenship application level - and are at earlier stages. Nomad gate is great, if you are planning to apply for GV or have received your first & second residency card as you have dedicated topics for pre-approval, biometrics etc. I believe there are only very few people who obtained citizenship here and as can be expected, those who obtain may lose interest in checking this forum.
What I realize is you will find and read about “success” stories way more often in facebook groups dedicated to nationality. Just search fb groups with key words of “waiting for Portuguese nationality” “Portuguese nationality” " “Nacionalidade Portuguesa” you will see what I mean.
If you want to get almost daily updates, whatsapp groups are the next level - there are groups of +700 members which provides almost daily updates of what’s happening, though you might need to filter out irrelevant messages from time to time. e.g. my application is online via Porto, based on approved applications I have a good feeling of applications of which month are now getting approved. For the moment the latest approvals from Porto for article 6.1 is Dec 6 2022.
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May I wonder how you knew the process got stuck due to the expiration of the card at that time ? The authority confirmed it with you or it is more of a speculation ?
I agree with you in general, but I would like to point out that for those of us who applied for GV with a real estate investment, it is not necessarily a 50-100K loss because we can get returns from the investment (rental + capital gains). This option is no longer available, and I am not sure what kind of returns the currently valid routes generate…
It is 100% speculation. IRN never sends out any email/letter notifying applicant that the application is being stopped due to card’s expiration and it will be resumed when card is renewed. Without concrete evidence, any thing can be speculated. It could be paused due to expired card or simply irn just does not want to process too fast, they leave it there for one year and hit the Enter button " ur citizenship application is approved" - although it was technically approved one year ago. Or it could be other reason…
Speculation. However, I was hinted by a friend to send Contagem de tempo immediately after renewal (of course with the time needed to get it), with him giving me the two other real examples that the processes moved exactly one month after that action. It happened exactly same for me. Have no idea what stage I would be now if I haven’t follow this recommendation. May be they were not waiting, just the new docs made them to remind about me. I don’t know. But the connection between new contagem de tempo and the approve one month after is obvious.
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