If you followed other relevant threads on this forum, you will have noticed the legal opinion shifted steadily towards the implementation of the law into practice as intended, while some even stating that the regulations would never be issued due to the wording of the law being sufficiently clear as it is.
At the stage where you are now, I’d consider switching to a more aggressive lawyer who would fight for you in front of IRN, AIMA etc.
There is nothing worse than staying with an uninterested or perhaps incompetent lawyer, and it only takes a few phone calls and dollar bills to find a good one.
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Yeah agreed with Tommy, there are people here concretely saying their lawyers have seen CdT with the earlier date, you should contact one of them.
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Tommy, how would a lawyer fight this? When and at what point? You submit documents online to IRN, they accept them, and after 2 years you get a rejection. At that point you could probably go to court, but that would take another couple of years. I don’t see where a lawyer, no matter how aggressive, could challenge the system. These are all closed systems that don’t allow any discussion
I meant ‘fight’ in a wider sense. They would work for your interest, interpret the laws so as to gain most benefit for you, and stand the ground if or when any interactions with government agencies occur.
So far it seems the lawyers you spoke with did not even want to submit, let alone ‘fight’.
As an example, I recently had to hire a lawyer on an totally different time-sensitive matter.
Of the 5 that I spoke with, two said I had no chance, third was a scammer, fourth said they could do it some time later, but the 5th one turned out to be amazing 
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Why don’t you submit application in person? No need lawyer to do it.
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What Tommy Gunn said. Get a new lawyer, who agrees that it’s date of application. Your lawyers are not taking the consensus view - that has actually been confirmed by AIMA - even if some individual officers within AIMA got it wrong when issuing your CdT.
You don’t need the CdT to apply anyway, IRN will request it directly as part of the process.
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You can probably guess why I’m not applying in person, there are simply no slots available.
No need to wait for slot open thru Siga.
Many IRN gives 10 senhas/day without appointment. Example: Irn Odivelas; Irn lisbon marques,… Go there at 5:00 and queue up there. You will be served at 09:00 and done!
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We will get an answer on what exactly constitutes 5 years in the next few months, when all those GV applicants who applied post-March 2020 Covid Chaos, apply for citizenship. I myself will be eligible (optimistically under the new law, if the interpretation favours me) in August, 2025.
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Yes, and that’s the only way to know. I just spoke with a lawyer who said they’ve seen certificates issued for both GV and Expression of Interest clients listing the date application fees were paid. However, it’s ultimately up to IRN to interpret and apply the law pertaining to 5 years residency. He said they don’t expect problems, but we won’t know for sure until the process plays out.
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IRN will interpret nothing. Of the 5 year legal residency is demonstrated via Contagem do Tempo issued by AIMA.
Edit: which IRN obtains directly from AIMA.
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pls DM me the details of the 5th one 
Hi Tommy, do you mind sharing the name (and contact info) of the 5th lawyer whom you liked?
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I find it astonishing how the local legal system works. A law exists but isn’t being implemented because we’re ‘waiting for regulations’? What’s the timeline for these regulations? How can a law be dependent on lower-level regulations? And surprisingly, no lawyers seem concerned about this legal paradox.
The law came into force almost a year ago, and you’re trying to comfort me by saying that public consensus is slowly shifting in our favor? but you said that legal provision cannot be interpreted any other way, it’s very clearly stated. Yet now I have to depend on the opinion of some random immigration service official? Why did it take a year for anything to start shifting? Why does the local legal community consider such law enforcement practice normal?
I’m not talking about the golden visa programme, which is essentially a fraud at the state level. How can the legal community accept this blatant disregard of the law and violation of their basic rights as normal practice?
To the lawyers reading this - I’m willing to pay for you to explain where I’m misunderstanding the law. And I’m very interested to see what the European Court of Human Rights would say about this situation. I think I’m ready to invest both time and money into finding out.
If any lawyers are interested, please contact me. And Tommy, I would appreciate if you could share that ‘5th lawyer’s’ contact with me too.
Sorry for this ouburst, perhaps I should move to the ‘Golden visa madness’ thread
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Thank you for this information! That slot is no longer available, but at least now I know that they may appear
You do not have to depend on opinion of immigration officials. Their opinions mean nothing. What counts is what is written in Contagem do tempo. Just go to Loja AIMA at 4:00 and queue up there. You will be served at 09:00 or 10:00. Then you will have contagem do tempo and you know the exact date that you are eligible to apply for citizenship.
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If it does not appear, you can always apply by post. Use the most expensive and secured service (signature required), your application will 100% reached IRN with the signature of recipient. No need for lawyer at all!
If you don’t like submitting by post, then queue up at IRN at 4:00. You will be the 1st one to be served…
I find that during the citizenship process the applicant is 100% in active mode (it is totally 100% opposite of completing the AIMA’s biometric which applicant has to be in passive mode - AIMA controls location/date). No fixed date to submit. No fixed location to submit. Very flexible (can be by lawyer, in person, or by post). Having appointment via Siga is good. But if there is no appointment, not a big deal, get up early and queue up…Done!
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@anon45457555 @wassim_fares @nat.andreeva Guys, I did not expect my earlier post to be misunderstood, so apologies for any false hopes.
As I mentioned, my recent search for a lawyer was not at all related to PT GV.
For the PT GV purposes, I am with one of the legal firms recommended here on nomadgate.
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My experience has been that people who singlemindedly pursue results, often get expedited and favorable results, and people who sit around waiting passively for their number to be called, often have a long wait ahead.
“The squeaky wheel gets the grease.”
I wish you success. I further hope that your quest yields positive change, though that’s simply icing on the cake. Please keep us posted about your progress through the quest.
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