Yep… thanks for the example - I know your weren’t endorsing it 
Sadly there are hundreds of GV promos like this, and people (who don’t follow this forum) buy in, thinking there’s a PT passport in store for them in just a few years.
Anyway… I posted the bit relevant to this thread earlier (i.e. wait time counting towards 5 years probably never will be legislated by this government, and 5 may become 10). We can continue complaining on the ‘rage’ thread.
anyone on this thread has been waiting for 5 years since their application has been submitted to get their residency card? If yes, did you start your citizenship application process?
Jamal:
If you have not received your residency card you are ineligible to apply for citizenship even if > 5years have elapsed. The provision in the law deeming the start time for residency to be the initial application date only applies if the temporary residency permit is eventually granted.
Hi Noah
In case the residency permit is issued after 5 years and 1 month can I apply for citizenship immediately?
As the law stands today, Yes.
While the Nationality Law was amended in 2024, which attempted to address the waiting time for a residence card, the Portuguese government has recently anounced it did not agree with the five years residence requirement. So it is likely, something will change to the naturalisation requirements when the next government is formed.
Link? To the article?
i was able in Youtube to have the subtitles translated of the news broadcast and official speaking. How does this have anything to do with the Golden Visa. They are talking about other forms/formats of immigration and residency.
Increasing the years required to gain PT naturalisation/citizenship would affect GV’ers hoping for a passport, same as any other immigrant.
I don’t think that’s right. The citizenship requirements for GV holders are already different to other immigrant paths. Regular immigrants must live in Portugal min. 183 days p.a. in previous 5 years to qualify. GV holders only need to be present 7 days p.a. The precedent is already set for different rules for GV holders, so it is not out of the question that the number of years to citizenship will be different.
Also the GV program has a 5 year investment requirement set into law. If the government tried to require existing investments to be held for additional 5 years, they would be in all sorts of trouble with their own laws and with the EU, much as they were when Costa raised the possibility of dumping the program. The most likely path would be to change the requirements for new applicants.
agree with you.Also i dont think that goverment will change counting day from online application to card issue date. So why we had an announcement smth related to this? I think, the reason is election. They have to keep everybody happy for elections.After that, everything will be much more clear. Most important thing is from my point of view, having a government which is from a one side, not like last time which was need to have support from parties outside government.
this is false
As I said over here, if you have concrete legislation/regulation that proves your point, please share.
Hey Jamal:
While the regulations implementing the law have not yet been issued, at a recent meeting with immigration attorneys, AIMA said that the citizenship clock starts ticking at the the time of the initial application. So yes, assuming that the residency permit is ultimately granted, the citizenship application may be submitted as soon as 5 years have elapsed since the initial application.
Hi everyone,
Has anyone else noticed that in the AIMA/SEF portal the “Commencement of residence period” field seems to match exactly (in my case) the date when you paid the DUC (i.e. at the very start of your application)?
In my case, that date is almost 2½ years before my actual residence card was issued. I haven’t seen this mentioned elsewhere, so I’m curious:
If it really is tied to the payment, it is already another great indication on the wait time x 5 years of residency.
Is this not referring to the commencement of residence at the address which was given at the time of application?
In my case the date given is my date of birth…and besides it is my address at the time of application.
This is just the info we already had, but on TPN (enjoy wading through all the horrible real estate ads that my adblock doesn’t even get!)
Thankfully, unlike some of the other outlets, TPN bothers to actually provide the context of what would be required to change the nationality laws. Even if the AD coalition really wanted to do this, it would be a multi-year uphill battle even before the constitutional court inevitably reviewed it.
Nope, GV program is not related to citizenship and 5 yr minimum time for investment is also not connected to residency time required for citizenship.
There is no doubts that if the time is increased, it will affect GV holders too. A GV holder may not keep nis/her investment after 5 yrs but e.g. go to other residence permit. Portugal does not differentiate between permits for citizenship and you are allowed to accumulate required time on different type permits. So formally, increased required number of years for citizenship does not require to keep yr investment longer.
But in general, even now a GV holder keeps his/her investment much longer than 5 yrs if his/her aim is to get a citizenship. Mostly until citizenship approval.