My wife and I were very excited about this and invested our E500k in two funds over a year ago, Oxy which is open and Fortitude, which is closed. I was told by Oxy I can cash out at any time, but Fortitude has an end date of 2030. I am one of the thousands that finally got a biometric appoitnment scheduled for March last month and of course my wife has not recieved one.
It feels like Portugal is making one last money grab before they move the goalposts to satisfy their political base. We will wait until the New Year to see if they keep the 5 years to citizenhsip (even with the start time reset) and schedule my wife, but I’m not holding my breath. Our legal firm GCS wants everyone to to commit to telling them whether they are proceeding, which also seems like a desperate move. It feels like these changes are probably just the tip of the iceburg including new stay and language requirements etc.
So my question is if we end this now and I have to keep the Fortitude fund for another 4 years do I need any legal help? GCS charges E350/yr for “fiscal representation”. Do we need that if we just have the fund in our BNI bank account until we are able to withdraw it? Is there anything else we should do to wind this down? We are both really sad about these developments. We even started learning Portuguese etc. However unless there is positive news we are out. We are too old to wait 10+ more years. I plan to retire in a couple years and after transferring most of my 401k into a Roth a D7 somewhere like Belgium or France seems like a better idea tbh.
Can GCS commit today that Citizenship will remain at 5 years for you? And that counting will be from your application date? Of course not!
The TC might not rule until mid/late-December, maybe January if Christmas hols count (I’m not sure, see here). Then the President gets his say - will he bounce back to the TC again, or veto it? It will likely be January before we have any kind of certainty what’s happening… and then the AD will no doubt try pull some other BS if they don’t get their way.
So what makes GCS think you can commit to proceeding today? Are they really that stupid (or devious)?
I suspect AIMA is demanding confirmation of the appointments, and if the lawyers are working with a number of clients they may need to figure out the logistics of being in multiple places at the same time. Why don’t you talk more with the lawyers about your reservations? Perhaps they can push back on AIMA to get you a later appointment date so you can see how everything plays out before you give them a go/no go.
My law firm Harvey Law even told me that getting my biometrics appointment means that my application’s already gotten approval in principle. And asked me to pay the remaining 50% of the fee.
When I confronted them with the facts about the new AIMA process & asked them to provide with the screenshot of my application’s status in the AIMA portal, the lawyers went AWOL. And the “account manager” basically told me to get lost and they won’t help with any of my requests.
Meanwhile, they and the Portuguese law firm Ines Horta Salvo that they sub-contracted to are still holding my original deed with Mercan. I’ve decided to not attend the biometrics and drop out entirely of the process. Now fighting to get my original deed back while both law firms are ghosting and ignoring my emails.
Is the fiscal representation basically them being named as your “tax representative”? If so, my understanding (although I haven’t done a deep dive on this) is that if you have a NIF you need a local tax representative. I’m pretty sure that being in a closed fund, and having a bank account of course, requires an active NIF. I think there are other places that will do it cheaper, unless you know someone local, but I haven’t looked at pricing in a while. For what its worth my legal firm is higher than $350/year for that service.
Thank you, someone else said the bank required a NIF which I paid to get and that requires a local rep. Not certain why if I only have a bank account with BNI holding the closed end fund. I will reach out to BNI as well. Still hoping a miracle happens but preparing.
If you are doing business in PT you need a NIF - kinda like a SS number in the US. You can’t have a financial account without it, and Portugal requires a local tax representative to have a NIF. So while it doesn’t have to be your lawyer, it has to be someone local. As long as you hold that fund, and the bank is custodian, that requirement will stand.
Crazy. All I asked for is the screenshot showing my application’s status in the AIMA portal. They sent me an email today keep saying that getting biometrics metrics means my application’s gotten approval in principle. While they can simply log in to the portal and show me the proof.
Now that I’ve decided to drop the entire process, I’m fighting to get the original deed and investor agreement with Mercan back. Let’s see how it works out. These law firms are supposed to perform their fiduciary duties and act in the best interests of their clients. Didn’t turn out that way for me.
They say they need more than a month to get all the paperwork and new background checks etc. My appointmen is Mar 18 so I think mid January should be good, but GCS asked for a decision by the end of this month. Honestly unless a grandfather provision is set in stone I am not sure I can trust the government not to change again. I think everyone is trying to make people with biometrics move forward so they are less likely to drop out.
This is extremely fishy. Is Harvey Law acting as a consultant for you, or your Portuguese attorney? Does your contract with Harvey say you can fire them at will without paying the second half of their fee?
TBH even the screenshot doesnt mean a lot. Were here on D7 visas, not investment. I rocked up to my first AIMA appointment, in Figuera da Foz 400km away. No, its canceled. But look heres a screenshot taken today confirming it. And .. wait a minute .. thats my name on the printout on your clipboard! Yes, but its cancelled. Couple of months later we had an appointment in Castelo Branco, 450km away. Rocked up, huge queue on the street, many obviously sleeping there. Sorry, all appointments cancelled. But Ive got a screen shot … yes so have they all. All cancelled. A month later an appointment in Faro just 10km away. For my wife, not me (she cant get a visa without me because all the income is in my name, so this is clearly a waste of time). Not so. The woman at the desk said well if youve got the documents I can just work double speed and do you both even without an appointment. 1 week later, 2 residence permits arrive in the post. So I guess the moral of this tale is that what appears on AIMA screens is not always a good guide to whats going on.
Funny thing is: While Harvey Law’s still unable to present the screenshot showing my “pre-approved” status in the AIMA portal nor any letter of approval in principle, they’ve just sent me a nasty email (this time from the founder) telling me that I owe them the 2nd installment (which is payable upon approval in principle, according to the service contract) based solely on the fact that I’ve got a biometrics appointment.
The email came after I told them I’m dropping the process entirely. And they’re still holding my original documents - deed and investor agreement. Which I don’t think I will easily get back.
I think it will go to arbitration and it’s time to lawyer up.
We are in the exact same place and don’t know what steps to take. The only difference for us is I’m not sure if I should pull funds before they pass the long term investment date (January) or let them become LT cap gains. I don’t understand the tax implications at this point. All the best to you I understand the level of disappointment.
