It has been almost a year; are there any new anecdotes people can share about ARI->D7 conversions and subsequent eligibility for citizenship? Has anyone successfully made the ARI->D7 switch? Has anyone successfully applied for citizenship, or achieved citizenship, with a hybrid ARI+D7 residency portfolio?
While it isn’t the motivation, I wonder whether we’re eligible to apply for citizenship at the lower D7 price, rather than the special €€€ ARI price, if we switch to the D7 in the final stretch that rounds out the 5 year legal residency requirement for eligibility.
My main motivation is to pay the one-time administrative cost of switching to a visa type that isn’t despised and mistreated by the current and future Portuguese government. I’ve had enough of the gut-wrenching anxiety of participating in this cursed program; I’d like to get off of that sickening merry-go-round while still reaching the finish line. I recently renewed my card but I have ongoing misgivings about the feasibility of future renewals.
I anticipate that I’ll buy a house toward the end of this year and declare tax residency to claim the NHR while I still can. That’s an inconvenient intrusion on my tax planning but so it goes.
That’s a pleasant surprise! I remember being quoted $1000s for the process but I can’t find any written record of that in my files. Perhaps my memory is playing tricks on me.
Well remember that the citizenship application can take up to 2 years and during that time you still need to be a legal resident. That means your options are either to extend the GV which is roughly 3k per person or apply for the GV Permanent Residence which is around 7k per person OR as you have suggested, switch to the D7.
I am also very curious if anyone has actually switched? When I spoke with my lawyer, she said that I would need to apply for the D7 from outside of Portugal which could take a 2 - 3 months. That is the only thing that concerns me about the switch.
A person could apply to D7 only outside of Portugal
GV holder needs to cancel his/her GV programm before applying for D7
Than you need to go to Portugal and apply for permit
You coulld not be out of Portugal more than 6 month simultaneously, or more than 8 month for the whole duration of permit
The main question is that there could be a significant period without permit: after cancelling the GV you first applying for visa D, which is not a permit. Than you need to get a slot in AIMA and get the permit. I think realistically it may take about 6 months or may be longer. What happens with residence time counting for the naturaluzation?