Interesting 
article
Brussels ācould block Portuguese āMais HabitaĆ§Ć£oā policy - Portugal Resident
I donāt think Brussels would have a lot of say in the More housing bill given that this is a national issue. They might release an opinion or two but I donāt think theyāll be able to intervene directly.
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Hi Kai,
Yes, Brussels can stop the change of AL licensing and has already done so in Ireland through the end of the year while it is investigated. At that point there will be a a ruling on recommended changes if possible or the proposed AL plans get scrapped in Ireland.
Ireland was ahead of Portugal in doing the same thing with AL licenses, but the EU put a stop to it. The EU has asked Portugal for the same information on its AL plans. The EU charters have some but not all of the same concepts that the Portuguese constitution, in this case proportionality.
Unfortunately the ARI changes are clearly not something the EU is concerned about. I am still digging into EU charters to see where there might be an action for ARI investors at the EU level.
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Can someone please give me/link me to the latest update on where things stand? We bought a rental property and applied in October 2022. The news seems good so far, but Iām having a bit of trouble following.
Iāll have a goā¦
The government published its draft legislation on 14th April, as part of the much larger package of housing reforms. Under the proposals on the ARI:
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The ācut-off dateā for applications will no longer be 16th February, but is now the date the new law is passed
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The government wants to be able to say that the GV has ended, and that everyone is now on the D2 āentrepreneurialā permit instead. This appears to be why they have not simply amended existing law to insert a cut-off date for applications.
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New Article 44 covers those who already have a GV. The wording is very unclear, but it may be that renewals continue in a similar way to before
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New Article 45 covers those who have applied, but not yet received final approval. Here there is more vague language, including the suggestion that various government entities will get involved in āapprovingā the investments people have made
Some members on here seem have suggested that all our concerns have been answered, and that as long as people get their applications in over the next month or so, all is well. However, many of us on here are a lot less confident. The draft legislation is unclear and leaves a number of questions unanswered, not least whether existing investments will be treated as valid. Various of us have put forward concerns and suggestions to our lawyers, but frankly we donāt know what may be going on in Portugal in terms of lobbying or attempts to re-draft the legislation. If the ARI articles are not redrafted, we are concerned that we may have to look to the courts to protect our rights.
On 19th May Parliament will discuss the bill for the first time. (Given the scope of the housing package, it may be that the ARI gets little mention at this point.) Then the bill goes through a committee process where amendments can be made. Itās speculated that the parliamentary process may conclude by around the end of June, and then it goes to the President. As has been discussed here, the President can approve the bill, veto it, or refer it to the Constitutional Court (and we think there are significant constitutional issues to be addressed).
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Thank you, cj!
It seems at least that the trend has been positive following the initial plans to scrap it, but weāre not necessarily in the clear.
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I would also caution everyone considering applying now: the people who applied during the last crazy rush in December 2021 are only now receiving pre-approval. It is very likely you will not see your first visa for 2-3 years or more.
It is worth considering if it would even be worthwhile without the ongoing government rage against the GV, but given the upcoming law changes it isnāt crazy to assume there might be other changes between now and your first visa.
I am not trying to scare anyone off, but this is information I wish I had before making my āinvestmentā. None of the websites about the GV, or any lawyers we spoke to, mentioned the enormous pile of applications from Dec 2021 causing such huge delays. The end of the GV program may generate even more applications!
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Now Spain is also joining the list of countries considering banning the Golden Visa.
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In its latest annual assessment of the Portuguese economy released yesterday, the International Monetary Fund says that āthe planned end of the Golden Visa program is not expected to have a significant impact on housing pricesā
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I applied this Mar with expectation to get my card in 2025.
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Same! I have no idea if my dependents would be done with their entire education by then or not but it will be an issue during renewals.
I asked this question of my lawyers and they kind of brushed it off that it would be easy to show continued education. I wasnāt sure what they meant and didnāt bother to press on it at the time, but now with these greatly expanded time frames it may become relevant. Iām curious if any people in this situation have considered how to handle? For example, could you enroll the child in a low cost community college?
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2026 might be a safer bet but good luck!
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Impact of new housing measures being highlighted - The Portugal News
Bill on GV and new housing to be discussed this Friday!
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Parliament has passed in principle the Mais HabitaĆ§Ć£o package, and rejected all opposition motions. But the Minister made clear they were open to debate and amendment of the proposals. The proposals now head to the committee stage, before returning to the plenary parliament for final approval at some point (June/July?)
Links below.
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Is this the full package including GV changes, or just one part of it?
Thatās just the small part of the proposal that was passed as a decree law back in March, nothing to do with GV.
But it also shows that it can take quite a while for the president to promulgate laws that are sent to him. While it could be that the president accepts the whole housing program within 7-10 days after it gets final approval in the parliament, itās possible that itāll take far longer.
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As per this report parts of SEF are on partial strikes in some airports.
The transition of SEF is creating uncertainty among the employees.
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