Short update
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So… it’s Parliament dissolution day…
Seems this lands with the President this week… open question is still what is the GV equivalent of accepting a “Manifestação de Interesse (MI)”? Pre-approval?
In the article below (which does not refer to GVs), they note a milestone where “the Government has already approved the request after evaluating the required documentation and the immigrant has already be contributing to the country.”
January 13, 2024 at 01:00
A decision will be in the hands of President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa that could benefit immigrants residing in Portugal. Next week, the head of state will receive the amendments to the Nationality Law, which provide, among other measures, for faster access to the right to apply for Portuguese citizenship.…In practice, this means that the time will be counted from the date of acceptance of the Expression of Interest (MI), a method used by thousands of foreigners in Portugal to obtain a Residence Permit (AR). The information was confirmed to DN by the office of deputy Alexandra Leitão (PS), rapporteur for this change in legislation.
…The President of the Republic has a legal period of 20 days to assess the law, counting from the date of entry of the document in Belém, scheduled for next Thursday (18th).
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Expression of Interest is the initial application and fee IMO. That would align with other countries’ use of that terminology.
Disclaimer: this opinion is not worth the internet it is printed on.
Does anyone knows if this new law proposal applies to citizenship application that is originially a D7 residency visa holder?
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Not a lawyer but yes, this new proposal applies to all kinds of residence permit holders - whether work or D7 or ARI.
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some decent logic in this article regarding how the new law might be applied to us.
My application was submitted online almost 4 years ago and got pre-approved soon after. But I have not yet done biometric appointment. Does the amendment allow me to apply for the citizenship next year without ever taking biometric? Sounds too good to be true.
I think not… the amendment says
“for the purposes of the counting of the time of legal residency foreseen in this law, the time between the moment when the temporary residency permit was requested will also be considered, provided that it comes to be approved”.
At the time you make the citizenship application (or at least when the application is considered) the authorities have to know that your permit application “came to be approved”. So I think you will have to have received final approval on the residency permit before citizenship could be granted.
Yeah you presumably still need to actually hold residency before you can apply for citizenship. But once you hold it, the starting date is backdated.
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Why haven’t you done your biometrics? Did you miss appointments? Have you filed a case? That may be only way to get your appointment. Otherwise you’ll forever be at the back of an ever-growing queue of newer applicants.
I agree, Vichy you best talk to an immigration attorney about this and get a lawsuit filed, else you will probably be lost between the cracks.
This makes it pretty clear the Expression of Interest is the filing of the application. Biometrics comes later.
I have read about the background of this legislative amendment to the citizenship law and it is all the result of a campaign by Brazilian immigrants who want to speed up their route to citizenship. We just got lucky that we’re caught up in it.
The ordinary residency applications give you the temporary right to live in Portugal while you wait for final approval but until now your five years of legal residency didn’t start to count until you got the residency issued.
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While I would love for that to be true for GVs, I’m not so sure yet.
That particular page “is aimed at foreign citizens who, having entered Portugal without a residence visa, wish to remain here for more than one year in order to carry out a professional activity.” So not GVs, which is my situation/concern.
The DN article I posted earlier agrees with you that this new legislation to count wait time in your 5 years stems in large part from the campaign by Brazilian immigrants to recognise their (long) time in the queue.
But that same article notes “In practice, this means that the time will be counted from the date of acceptance of the Expression of Interest (IM)” and “…the Government has already approved the request after evaluating the required documentation.”
When you first apply for a GV, SEF/AIMA only verifies that they got their application fee money, then tosses your request on the pile. I’d dare say they don’t even look at the documents uploaded with your GV application until Pre-approval, much less “evaluate” them.
As with last year’s changes to what investments are allowed for GVs, this legislation also seems to have holes that may need court challenges to clarify.
Just saw this article - it clarifies the timeline for various visas, including GVs:
Really hope this is true 
We applied in Jan 2023 (of course no preapproval yet) - will probably be 2026 (or later?!) when we finally get our residence permit 
Can’t believe how glibly Henley lied to us when they told us it was a 8-10 month process 
A lot of inaccuracies in that article…
I applied in Feb 2023 and the lawyer told me it was a 6-8 month process 
It may be counted from pre-approval rather than the initial application I guess.
Found this legal analysis of the new law in Portuguese. Seems fairly balanced. Main point is that the starting point for the GV application isn’t clear – the online application, pre-approval or biometrics.
The bill applies to future and current golden visa holders. Although “the day you apply” is open to interpretation and has not yet been clarified.
Could this refer to the online submission date? Or the payment date? Another possibility is the day of your biometrics appointment.
O projeto de lei se aplica a futuros e atuais portadores de golden visa. Embora “o dia em que você se candidatar” esteja aberto a interpretações e ainda não tenha sido esclarecido.
Isso poderia se referir à data de envio on-line? Ou a data de pagamento? Outra possibilidade é o dia de sua consulta de biometria.
I love this rollercoaster of not knowing how laws will be applied, if they even go into effect.
I bet we see some lawsuits if AIMA decides the ARI application begins at any time other than when they get their money. Would be a farce to consider biometrics the application submission date.