We bought a house for the GV for 401k (just over the minimum requirement!). If we sold it and bought another for the same price, is that still possible under the same GV application?
Or if it were revalued at, say, 500k, would we be able to get a mortgage for 100k and still be eligible under the same GV application?
btw, the application was submitted on 6 Dec 2021. We did biometrics in May and are awaiting our cards now.
Thanks a lot
Margaret
Technically it is possible if the new house is the same category as the original purchase (e.g., low density to low density). However, in my estimation this would be a very risky and foolish maneuver. What do you do when the SEF agent at renewal says that you purchased house after October 2023 when real estate is not allowed. I don’t think you would want to take such a chance. But why ask here? Ask your lawyer managing your application. This is just my opinion. They are experts and I am not.
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I believe if you read the original SEF ARI requirements they mandate maintaining your investment. Which equates to owning the real estate outright as was original purchased. Taking a mortgage would change your Registo Predial to the bank ownership so that’s really out of the question. Switching to another RE of the same or higher price would reset the start date of investment, so again, not a good prospect for renewal.
I would not recommend.
With the same caveat that I am just a random guy on internet, not knowing much about GV 
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Just dug a bit deeper into it - SEF ARI Manual explicitly requires maintenance of the original investment:
“O pressuposto do investimento inicial terá que se manter no tempo, nomeadamente por 5 anos. O Instrutor tem que confrontar a documentação legalmente exigida e adiante mencionada, com aquela que foi considerada para efeitos de concessão de ARI, por forma a concluir da manutenção do investimento inicial.”
So no, you cannot change anything on your original investment for 5 years.
This is interesting… Conventional wisdom on this site, that I’ve heard repeated several times, is that you can switch between investments within an Article 3 definition.
But I agree with you that the Manual, and for that matter the text of Dec Reg 84/2007 Article 65 et seq, suggests that this isn’t possible.
I wonder where the conventional wisdom came from. And also, what SEF would do if an investor’s fund closed down, etc ?
I’ve definitely been told by lawyers that you can change your investment within the same category, although IIRC it sounded like you’d need to complete the new investment before selling the old one (so there’s no gap of ownership).
But I’m also not sure what those statements were based on.
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Perhaps you can change but only after 5 years.
For example I was told by Mercan that if you want to continue renewing GV after 10 years (not getting citizenship/PR) then they have the right to execute the buy back but they will try help you move your investment to an equivalent one.
Since that would be after 5 years perhaps it is legally okay.
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