I was wondering if someone would know how it would look like if someone decided to transfer their D7/D8 residence permit into the Golden Visa.
I know that a lot of things are changing right now and there is no definite information but it looks like that the time towards citizenship will become 10 years and the waiting period might not count into that time.
So, if someone decides to switch from a D7/D8 residence permit to the Golden Visa, are they required to continue complying with the stay requirements of their existing D7/D8 permit until the Golden Visa is approved and issued, or do the Golden Visa rules apply immediately upon application?
Also, would the time spent on the D7/D8 count into the Golden Visa towards citizenship or does the clock reset?
On your last question of whether the time spent on D7/D8 count towards citizenship, Article 15(3) of the current Nationality Law (Law No. 37/81), states:
3 : Para os efeitos de contagem de prazos de residência legal previstos na presente lei, considera-se a soma de todos os períodos de residência legal em território nacional, seguidos ou interpolados, desde que os mesmos tenham decorrido num intervalo máximo de 15 anos.
The revisions to the law are:
3 – Para os efeitos de contagem de prazos de residência legal previstos na presente lei,considera-se a soma de todos os períodos de residência legal em território nacional, seguidos ou interpolados, desde que os mesmos tenham decorrido num intervalo máximo de 6, 9 ou 12 anos, consoante os interessados sejam apátridas, cidadãos nacionais de países de língua oficial portuguesa e de Estados-Membros da União Europeia, ou cidadãos de outros países.
The revision is, for the purpose of counting residency, the “sum of all periods of legal residence in the national territory, consecutive or interpolated” is considered, provided they occurred within a maximum interval of 12 years.
So if I understand this correctly, the last 12 years would be counted as the legal residences towards citizenship, which means there shouldn’t be a 2 year gap if the citizenship time would be 10 years.
However, if you apply for the Golden Visa and it takes 3 years to get the physical card issued, would this mean the time under the previous residence wouldn’t count considering there would be a 3 year gap?