On PT GV you can travel freely within Schengen but you cannot stay in any country permanently. There are 90 day stay limits. As John noted, practically there is no way for any country to enforce this. I have heard reports of many UK citizens living permanently in Spain with no repercussions. Personally, my thought is that if you are on GV and the PT government suspects you are not being honest or not meeting stay requirements they would have a basis to reject your application for GV so its probably not worth taking a chance in that context.
I’m sure it’s fine to apply for GV if that’s what you want. Residency permits are per-country not per-EU.
If you’re going to be eligible for permanent residency in Germany, why would you bother with a Portuguese GV? Also, if you already have a blue card and need to change jobs, I think you get a grace period in which to find another job somewhere in the EU, no? It’s not like you get kicked out immediately. I’d think you’d want to build on what you have with the blue card if you can before going GV.
This is not for the faint at heart.
I put together an estimate of actual on the ground costs to get through 5 years of GV process.
I am sure I missed a lot of things but this should give you a reasonable idea of what to expect. I was a little surprised myself when I started to add everything up.
you shouldn’t have to duplicate the perm residence and citizenship fees, and I think the citizenship fees are quite reasonable (by comparison). but it’s not cheap, no. at least hopefully the travel was something you’d have been doing anyway.
and you’re already 0.02 behind on exchange rate
You are correct. The exchange rate makes a big impact. For those that exchanged even back in September 2020, they are already ahead by about 18,000 USD based on today’s rates. I believe it is closer to a 10% swing from back in March 2020.
1- Are all the investment locked for a period of 5-years? Does someone have the option to change mind and get out of this in 2 years time and not stay in Portugal and cancel the permanent residency and take the money out?
2- The 1 million Euro option is for keeping the money in an account and not required to do anything with it? (like investment etc)
3- The investment fund of 350,000 euro can be invested in indexes like S&P or Vanguard etc through a Portuguese bank? And can someone cancel the residency after a year or two and take the money out if they chose to not stay in Portugal?
4- How is the interview trip made? Head of the family is provided with a visa? (I am from a country that definitly needs visa to visit Portugal)
Most of the investment options are locked for 5+ years. By design, these are very ill-liquid assets and difficult to get out of. Portugal wants the money to stay in Portugal. You can still buy real estate and sell it if you later decide against Portugal.
Correct. The e1M option just sits in a bank collecting what little interest it can. Not much info out there on this.
I only know of one market traded security that possibly qualifies: BPI Portugal I have no idea how you would go about using that. You will definitely want to find a Portuguese lawyer that has done it before. This is a very small fund and very volatile.
My understanding is that all family members must travel to Portugal for biometric scanning (fingerprints) once approved for the VISA. My assumption is that you are granted a visa for this travel (as you’ve basically been approved for a residency visa at that point).
I’d strongly recommend that you shop for a Portuguese lawyer that has experience with clients from your country. Most of the information here is from US citizens and some information may be wrong for you.
not all of them are. It Depends. There are lots of maybes and sort-ofs. There is no legal requirement that you be locked in - just that many are.
It’s really quite unspecific. There’s nothing saying you have to put 1mm in an account and do nothing with it. In fact, there’s very little said at all. That’d definitely best be a “go see a lawyer” topic if you have EUR1mm around to do it with.
My understanding is that all family members must travel to Portugal for biometric scanning (fingerprints) once approved for the VISA. My assumption is that you are granted a visa for this travel (as you’ve basically been approved for a residency visa at that point).
So after investment is made there is an automatic visa issuance to anyone from anywhere in the world? And then the family travels to do biometric to get the permenent resident card?
It is important for me to know this as someone I know wants to do this but is not able to get to Portugal without a visa.
I have read somewhere that investor need to show legal entry to Portugal. Someone who needs visa can not show legal entry without a visa. And visa is not easily obtainable by some citizens of some countries. So, unless this is an automatic visa right after investment these applicants won’t be able to travel to Portugal for biometric which effectively means the process fails.
Can you please link the official document on this?
You get a temporary visa for entry for interview/biometrics once your application is validated; that’s an “approved reason for entry” irrespective of Schengen status (or COVID). I’ve had multiple lawyers tell me this.
GV visa issuance is NOT automatic after investment. Investment is merely a pre-requisite. SEF may still deny application if they deem someone unsuitable. Visa is generally likely but never guaranteed. And yes, you might be stuck with your investment if you get denied. This is something you need to consider beforehand. Some investments like Mercan and some funds like BlueCrow will let you back out if your visa application is denied, but there is no requirement on anyone that they do so.
As LR says, it sounds as though you probably need to discuss the situation with a professional.
A- I see the list of accepted applications. Is there an official list of denied applications as well? Is this statistics available for either of the GV giving countries?
B- Does the applicant have to be an investor, business person, etc…or can receive the investment as inheritance for example.
(a) I don’t know, I’ve not seen it but that means nothing
(b) the person and sources of income are going to have to meet whatever test of character suitability that the SEF agent is going to apply. I’m unaware of there being clearly defined rules on that beyond “suitable moral character” or the like.
Hello,
My main goal is to work in the EU. I’d like to know if the GV, Temporary residence permit or finally obtaining a Permanent residence permit allow freedom to work within the EU?
Thanks for the response, I should have mentioned I want to stay living in Portugal. I work remotely from a Canadian company and want the option to work anywhere in the EU as well.
It’s a little unclear what you want to do. Do you want to
live in Portugal and continue to work for the canadian company?
travel around the EU here and there randomly and work from wherever you are?
base yourself in Portugal and work from wherever you are for the canadian company?
get a job with a EU company?
freelance or self-employ for EU companies while based in Portugal?
The ARI/GV does specifically allow you to work in Portugal before you have PR or citizenship. That’s a little different from the other visas. But that doesn’t extend EU-wide.
If you can get it, there’s the EU Blue Card. That lets you transfer around the EU after a certain point, I think 18mo.
There’s also some other classes of visa for the self-employed. They won’t extend EU-wide either but if you’re freelancing and taking short-term gigs, there’s going to be lots of fudge room.
To be more precise…
I am living in Portugal where I work remotely for a Canadian visual effects company, and Im planning to keep living here while I continue my remote work, which could be as long as I want.
However I am also an actor, and while I’m here I’d like to still pursue my craft in Europe. But most of the productions come out of the UK, Germany, and France respectively. So unless I have working status in either or all of these places then a talent agent won’t bother to take me on. So I’m looking at all options, but If it will take 5 years then I would go back to Canada while I work on possibly investing here to eventually get working rights.
And Im not interested in being tied to a EU company for a work visa.
I was surprised when I estimated too, especially figuring in the lost opportunity costs of pulling money out of healthy investments for something most likely with a much lower ROI for that period of time.
Yeah that one’s futzy. You might want to talk to a professional. If they’re insisting on work status, you might be outta luck, but that’s well beyond the bounds of this thread, other than to say ARI/GV isn’t likely to be of any more help to you than any other visa you could get; it’s not going to instantly give you EU wide work status in any event.
Yeah, I understand Im not as clear as I would like to be either. Thanks for the help, as I suspected a 5 year stay could get me where I want. It’s an investment with time. I’ve learned a lot on this forum though so It’s been a great deal of help, thanks!
