Did you need an appointment at AIMA to request your CdT? My lawyer says they are waiting for an appointment to request mine.
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If someone had a gap between cards covered with legal extensions of expired cards - does that gap count towards residence?
My lawyer has been long telling me it counts. That is why i am not very eager to ask for updates on renewal. Therefore I am ok to have one more year extension or delay in renewal when i will reach my 5 year residency.
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Since the new law says residency time counter starts at initial application that would assume any gap in legally extended expired cards would not be an issue for citizenship purposes.
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Could anyone please tell me when and in what form should we expect the first indications of AIMA actually counting in the waiting time for card issuance for the purposes of citizenship application?
Scroll up and read this thread. It’s happened already. At least one person (@live2learn )has received their Contagem De Tempo that shows wait time
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You can also scroll up in this thread and read different recent experiences.
It would seem not everybody working for AIMA has got the memo. If you’re hoping for consistency then I’m afraid AIMA (and Finanças, and…) will disappoint you 
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Did anyone file a lawsuit recently to expedite their application ? I have filed mine in July 2024 and still nothing. My biometrics were done in Lisbon in January 2023.
There’s a whole thread for that:
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I’ve filed on September 2023, it was finalized in August 2024 and cards issued November 2024
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Your reply suggests that a person on a GV residence permit has to maintain their permit for some time after applying for citizenship. Until the IRN sends a request to AIMA seeking proof that the applicant has been residing based on GV residence permit for at least 5 years from the date of application and, most crucially, that the applicant is still a resident at the time IRN makes this request. Are you absolutely certain about the second requirement? I haven’t read anywhere else that the applicant has to be resident at the time IRN starts processing their citizenship application. Is it written in the law?
I just got an email from Loja Santarém after asking them about the starting date:
Bom dia,
A totalidade do tempo para efeitos de nacionalidade, conta a partir do dia que ficou legal no País.
Cumprimentos,
Fátima Vieira
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That’s somewhat inconclusive: “…ficou legal no País” does not necessarily mean the date of the first residency card. It could be date of application for asylum/residency since you are allowed to legally remain in the country whilst your application is being processed.
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You are allowed to remain after biometrics right? But not necessarily after the first application?
That’s certainly an interpretation that could screw over GVs while helping MIs.
No, actually I have been there, with the blessing of my lawyer (take it as a caveat), since several months before being called for biometrics, and it was considered “legal” as my application was filed almost a year earlier and was accepted.
But it seems to imply some physical presence? So if you apply in 2021 but only visit PT for the first time for biometrics in 2024, the first 3 years wouldn’t count?
In my case, I reside in Portugal nearly full time (yes, shoot me - I should have gotten D7) since October '22, over three months prior to being called for bio in Jan '23.
In that case, it could be good for you, just not necessarily for other GV applicants who were waiting outside PT for biometrics to be scheduled.
Agreed, but the statement is still inconclusive until the official regulations are issued with due clarifications specifically for ARI since we are a “special case”, so to speak. However, in the context of the current alterations to the citizenship law, this point remains open to legal interpretation on a case-by-case basis.
Frankly I have to admit that this email helps nothing and the person who wrote email will not have to take any responsibility.
Unless the author of the email (Fatima Vieira) sends another email telling you to pick up a Contagem do Tempo, this email brings zero effect to your citizenship’s application.
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