Initially when we applied for the GV in 2020, our plan was to move to Porto permanently and live there full-time, and so we didn’t rent out our apartment.
However, due to the 6-year wait for our GV to be approved (still waiting for first card), our life/familial situation has changed and we can no longer move/live there, and it seems such a waste to keep an apartment that we will only visit for 2-3 weeks every year.
We have also given up on the citizenship, which was our primary goal when we started this, because we have waited 6 years already which count for nothing, and to rent it out would mean paying taxes to PT - F that after how they have treated us.
So we are exploring the feasibility of selling the apartment and putting the money in one of the GV investment funds, but is this even possible? Has anyone done this successfully?
Appreciate any advice you may have on this, thanks very much
Once you’ve received your first residence card, can’t you speak to your lawyers about suing AIMA for PR directly? Sure the regulation says you need to clock 5 years of legal residency (i.e. 5 years from the effective date of your first card), but the law only requires you to hold the GV investment for 5 years–so assuming the delays are entirely SEF/AIMA’s fault (you are not at fault for missing documents in your application, for missing your biometrics appointment, etc.), then at least there is room to argue?
I’m a 2022 applicant who’s also losing 4+ years waiting for the first card. As soon as I’ve clocked 5 years, I’ll be talking to my lawyer about suing AIMA for PR. Even if I wait for 5 years after my first card (so in 2032 or later), chances are it will be extremely difficult to obtain an appointment for GV PR anyway. So might as well sue in 2027.
Since we are now in a high-inflation environment (government bonds yield 4-5% p.a.), and my GV investment is not in an inflation-proof category, no way I’m going to let Portugal benefit from my capital for an extra 5 years simply because AIMA put me at the end of the queue. I would rather call it quit and just take my money out.
I explored this option with my lawyers and there’s no scope here for a lawsuit according to them. There’s no legal basis for actually suing to get the PR early, and damages are hard to prove and when proven you don’t get a lot - around 2,000 euros or so would be the max payout for something like this. Even if a lawsuit had some merit in being filed, the speed at which the legal system in Portugal operates means you don’t see an outcome for 4-5 years. Best you can do is spread the word about your experience investing in Portugal and warn other people about the dangers of putting money into the country.
To be honest, choosing the right fund is extremely important. In the Chinese mainland market where I live, the funds that are promoted usually involve squeezing out management fees and subscription fees.
You are probably right. But lawyers’ opinions and legal strategies on these things typically fall on a spectrum, and landmark cases are not set by the most conservative/pessimistic of them all.
This case surely is easier than the citizenship lawsuit that’s going on based on expectation.
I forgot to mention that we only got our Final Approval a month ago, and obviously yet to receive our first cards.
And yes, suing AIMA is a waste of money - they basically just ignore court orders and do as they please, not to mention that the courts themselves are a joke.
I got this reply from our lawyers, finally (also a useless bunch):
Please note that it is possible to change investment in the middle of the Golden Visa provided a certain number of requirements are met. For example, it is not possible to decrease the amount of the investment.
The available investment options at the moment are, in summary, a donation towards art and culture and subscription of participation units in investment funds.
Also, the ideal scenario is that there is never a moment in time when the investment is not completed and so it will be necessary to plan the sale to match exactly the day in which you invest the funds into a different option.
I really don’t understand why the investment must the same value as our initial real estate purchase? Can someone explain this to me?
There is supposedly a general legal principle in Portugal “o Estado não pode beneficiar da sua própria inércia” (the State cannot benefit from its own inertia/delay) which could be used to argue for PR / citizenship clock start 90 days after application.
Are your lawyers familiar with this principle? Or perhaps worth contacting a few a different law firms?
I would stay clear of any of the closed-ended funds, ie any fund that locks you in to a minimum time period. I’d choose an open ended fund, eg IMGA which you can buy through Millenium BCP bank. You can exit that fund anytime with no exit fees or penalties should for any reason your life plans/situation changes and you want out immediately. There maybe other open ended funds but I’m not familiar with them. You could see what other open ended funds there are that are eligible for the GV.
No, you cannot switch your investment to another category. Theoretically there’s room to switch within the category you’re currently invested in, but it needs to be executed correctly.
Despite generating some taxes for Portugal I’d still rent it out if I was in your shoes.
@tommigun is right. You could have applied for citizenship when you hit the 5-year mark from application, irrespective of having received the cards or not. That was even highlighted by the constitutional court as a being allowed. I guess your lawyer dropped the ball by not telling you this. It became widely understood to be possible in December 2025, so you would have had quite a few months to apply until the law changed in May 2026. Unfortunately it’s no longer possible.
I agree with you on this point. One of the requirements during the renewal process is “comprovativo de manutenção do investimento”. It litterally means the proof of maintaining the investment.
Whether fund or property, one must provide a document proving that he/she is still holding the same investment as before.
If the original investment was already sold, then the renewal process is no longer renewal.
And one can argue that he sold the property to put the money into Fund Route. In my opinion, Aima will likely reject the renewal process and suggest him to re-apply GV again under Fund route.
It is just unfortunate to deal with Aima - the entity never respects its own timeline.
I think GV rules for investment holding period have been changed. I sold my apartment after 7 years (and 2 residence card renewals). AIMA refused to renew my card for the 3rd time until I purchased another property.
If you invested less than 500k in the property, then you’d have to top up to 500k.
You’d need to put the 500k into an investment fund before you sold your property since you need to be consistently invested.
Going forward, it’s not clear that PT stocks/bonds will outperform real estate. Renting out, even if you pay taxes, might be a better deal (depending on your property’s appreciation potential).
