Thank you, Vikas!
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I just got my approval today, you should also be getting it anytime now, best of luck!
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Congratulations! Nothing yet for the rest of my family who applied on Nov. 29, but hopefully soon!
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Yes it should be anytime now
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Just heard that my spouse has been pre-approved, but still waiting on the children. Those were all submitted within minutes of each other, so we will see!
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Hello. As a December â21 GV investor, I got hopeful when I saw the Nov. â21 pre-approvals. Then it occurred to me that nothing will happen again until after August because of holidays. Is that what others are thinking? Any Dec. â21 pre-approvals?
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I was a November applicant and I was monitoring the approvals very closely in this forum. It took 3 months to clear November applicants. My best guess is they will clear December applicants by October / November this year. In any case Biometrics are still not open and the best estimate is they will open in October / November again. So there is nothing really to gain. We just have to wait and be patient.
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Iâm new to the group â in the process of applying for the GV, but have not yet transferred the funds, but am close to doing so. This conversation is somewhat alarming. Is there a link that someone can point me to that explains what changes are happening? The lawyer said that the approval of the application and issuance of the RV can take up to 14 months. What Iâm getting from reading through the comments on this thread is that SEF has stopped reviewing/issuing more GV visas with little or no communication with applicants/attorneys. Is that a correct interpretation? Thanks.
No, that is not correct. However, there have been major delays and temporary stoppages for parts of the process (e.g. 6 months suspension of the new application submissions earlier this year).
I suggest you skim through the main 3-4 threads on this forum tracking the main stages of the process - i.e. submission to pre-approval, wait for biometrics appointment, wait for the final issuing of the GV.
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I would say of they are telling you the residence card is issued in 14 months, they are straight up lying to you. Read the forums and see that youâd be lucky to get your biometrics approval anywhere near that fast. A more realistic number is probably 2 years and even then, if you end up one of the unlucky ones who get passed over at some point, it will be longer still.
The time to getting your passport is more like 10 years, not 5. If you decide to do it, go in with your eyes open.
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10 years for the passport seems a little pessimistic. Truth is we donât know one way or the other, again due to lack of information. Not like thereâs a lot of people in that queue, and Iâd guess almost zero who are on NG. Also, citizenship apps are processed by MoJ not SEF, so just because SEF is slow as molasses doesnât mean itâs the same over at MoJ. Now admittedly itâs still an arm of the Portuguese government so likely not terribly expeditious but potentially not as bad either.
That said if you are talking 2yr to permit then another 5, youâre at least at 7, sure.
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I base the ten years on 2 years to get the golden visa, 5 years with the visa, 2 years for citizenship (I have a few friends who went through it and the average processing time was a little less than 2 years. You can find some numbers on this and it used to be about a year, but is similarly slowing down even before covid and the backlog grows faster than cases are processed), and then rounding up from 9 to manage expectations and take into account eg the Ukranians who will be in the citizenship line ahead of you now and likely expanding out naturalization queues in about 5 years.
Might you get lucky and get it in 8 years? Sure, but I wouldnât count on it. Certainly you shouldnât invest money you need back anytime soon.
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We also need to count the waiting times between card renewal. Many people in this forum are now waiting 1-2 years to renew their expired cards.
We have to renew twice. Therefore, being realistic I would add 3 years of waiting time for two renewals. That makes 10 years for the total time to get passport
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Sorry Lourenço for the continued tangent on your thread, but I would like to add a little hope. The time with the expired card still counts as residency for naturalization purposes. I saw a few friends (not on golden visas, but I think it would be the same) go through this, and what happens is that you can either use the dates of validity on your cards, in which case your renewal time doesnât count, or you apply for a certain letter from SEF saying you were a continuous resident during that times between your cards. I donât remember the exact name, but they were all able to obtain this certificate without issue as even before covid you tended to go a few months with an expired card. It is true SEF appears hostile to GV applicants, so maybe they will refuse to issue that letter or drag their feet for years, but I havenât seen anyone on these forums complaining about that yet, so letâs hope this part at least goes on our favor.
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I think youâre forgetting that time it takes to receive citizenship after application. I think thatâs taking 1-2 years. So yea i think 8-9 years is a pretty accurate estimation at this point.
My strong feeling is that if all youâre looking for is a Plan B passport for possibly-maybe-someday moving to an EU country, save yourself the trauma and frustration and choose any other countryâs program except Portugalâs.
If youâre among the small minority like me who intends all along to move permanently to Portugal, and you want a couple yearsâ head start toward the passport, even then you might want to think twice. With at least 2 years delay in getting the first visa, you might just sit out those two years, then when youâre ready to move, apply for a D-7, which somehow SEF is able to process in a few months, costs a LOT less, and can feasibly be done without lawyers. With hindsight, I would never in a million years have gotten into the golden visa.
On the up side, the property investment youâd make for the GV is still a decent investment. But you canât touch it for up to the 9 years until you get the passport. In theory, you can switch to other properties, but Iâd be afraid of yet more bureaucratic bombshells being set off by doing so.
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Thank you for your insight. I chose PT to get EU access but donât want to give up my job in the US. I am in IT and pay in the US is far higher than anywhere else in the world. What other options should I consider? I am not rich enough to emigrate to Malta, however.
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My perspective: It all depends on you and your goals. Are you looking to live in the EU eventually? Are you 3 years out, 5 years out, 10 years, etc.? What kind of EU access do you want - ultimately citizenship, or permanent residency, or just travel? If youâre a US citizen, you already have tourist access without the need for a separate visa, and that is often enough for everyone. If you definitely want to live in the EU but donât really care about the rights of permanent residency or citizenship, then the D7 or its equivalent may be your thing (and waiting until you are closer to the time you want to move). If you want the flexibility of living in the EU or not, with the opportunity of permanent residence and potentially citizenship, then I think the GV is probably your best option. We looked into Ireland, Spain, Greece, Italy, Portugal, and a few others. For us, PT was the right mix of timing (ideally!) and investment. Since then, weâve fallen in love with Portugal and wouldnât change our choice, even with the delays.
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For pursuing an EU passport, the four programs you hear discussed are Bulgaria, Cyrpus, Malta, and Portugal. Malta and Cyprus are both much more money if you want citizenship. Bulgaria is a lot cheaper and gives a fast timeline to citizenship. Two years maybe, whereas the Portugal timeline is more like 9 to 10 years to get the passport. EU is EU, so having Bulgarian citizenship is in many ways just the same. A very major drawback is that itâs much less used and so there is little reliable information, in English at least. But considering how badly the Portuguese program treats its applicants, it seems worth spending the time and money to do the research.
Another interesting possibility is Montenegro. Their program expires at the end of the year, is similar or cheaper in terms of cost to Portugal and goes straight to citizenship. For an American, that passport isnât too valuable unless you want to live in Montenegro, but I suspect they will end up in the EU long before youâd get your Portuguese passport anyway. Even if they dont make the proposed 2025 timeline, which seems likely at this point, youâre not getting Portuguese citizenship in the 2020s anyway.
This is only relevant if your goal is only EU citizenship. If you would like to live in Portugal, even if your timeline is 3 to 5 years from now, the D7 looks pretty good. It does have the 8 months a year residency requirement though.
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Hi Karthik - are you based in India. If so which part and can we be in touch on the process and India specific experiences with regard to the GV
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