The article shows usual political drama. Seems like Chega supports GV and leftist parties oppose that. When it comes to nationality law (for everyone, not just GV folks), no one can say anything directly against 10 yr rule as it’ll hurt the party. Employers are against this change at a high level.
I think in the end, the factors influencing the decisions will be: if they want to grandfather existing applications in an inconspicuous way without enough media coverage to keep voters happy while maintaining country’s reputation, and how much corporates have influence on govt in Portugal .
if they want to grandfather existing applications in an inconspicuous way without enough media coverage to keep voters happy while maintaining country’s reputation
My money is on this. Well, literally everyone’s money - is on this
Yep, this is a very astute observation. I’d add that each time a government fails to fix the immigration system, Chega gains more votes at the next election, so it has an incentive to block reforms by claiming they don’t go far enough. At some point, that strategy risks they will be blamed as part of the problem, but until they gain a majority, they might decide to keep kicking the can down the road.
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tkrunning
(Thomas K. Running)
Split this topic
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Also the GV to my understanding is valid got 5 years right? Post that if you take your investment out, you get to keep the PR or not? Earlier you’d be able to get citizenship and take your capital out. Now will it be stuck for 10 years or is the path to citizenship from
the GV Gone for good?
Also, if they do grandfather in current applications, what stage of application is being grand fathered in? Must you be in portugal with an issued residence permit or should you have simply lodged your GV application with AIMA? or is it that the biometrics must be done?
Thanks @Bclip !
This is a weird decree as it only extends the validity of permits already expired before 30 June 2025.
Any permit expiring from July onwards is not extended…
Luckily, the Decreto-Lei n.º 10-A/2020 is still in force, so any future expiring permits are still good as long as their renewal has been requested.
I concur with Garrett. Tons of good input here and much written more thoughtfully and with more experience than I can muster. But rather than write to the choir, I am taking the path of sending a letter to the Portuguese Ambassador to the US (in DC, I live somewhat nearby). Attached, FWIW. Letter to Portuguese Ambassador 1Jul25 redacted.pdf (84.4 KB)
Drafting laws is like drafting contracts and such. You should spend significant time trying to anticipate situations, and particularly unintended consequences. That does not seem to be something that occurred here or with past laws such as Mais Habitacao or more notably, with the law implementing the MOI.
As someone who’s finalizing but not yet submitted an application, I’m not sure what to make of this article.
However, if approved. their effects will be retroactive to June 19, aiming to curb the surge in applications submitted following the legislative elections.
First I’ve heard of this personally and doesn’t sound super encouraging for my situation.
But then it goes on to say:
Other leftist parties united in denouncing the right’s support for golden visas , which can lead to nationality and are exempt from new restrictions.
Which is also the first I’ve heard about the current draft’s position on the program. Obviously it’s far from final, and I don’t even know if this comment has a source much less a reputable one. But interesting nonetheless.
On June 23rd, the Portuguese Government announced proposed amendments to both the Aliens Act and the Nationality Law during a press conference. One of the significant changes is a plan to increase the minimum residency period required to apply for Portuguese citizenship from the date of the first residence permit to 10 years.
In addition to the existing requirement of demonstrating A2-level Portuguese language skills, the proposal introduces new criteria:
Passing a civic knowledge test covering Portuguese culture, rights, and responsibilities;
Having no criminal convictions for offenses that carry prison sentences.
It’s important to note that there are no proposed changes to the Golden Visa programme. This means that Golden Visa investors and their families will continue to:
Meet the same minimum stay requirement of an average of 7 days per year in Portugal;
Renew their residence permits every two years;
Include family members in their applications (the new family reunification rules do not affect Golden Visa holders).
The next step is for these proposals to go before Parliament in the coming days. The draft bill will be debated, reviewed by specialized committees, and, if approved, sent to the President for ratification. Once signed, it will be published in the Official newspapers.
Please keep in mind that the legislative process may lead to further changes, and there is a possibility that a grandfathering clause could be added to protect those who are about to submit Golden Visa applications. Although the government has indicated a desire for the changes to take effect retroactively from June 19th, retroactive laws are generally considered unconstitutional in Portugal. Therefore, it is likely that any new rules will only apply after the law officially comes into force.
If the bill passes as currently written, Golden Visa residence card holders will still have the following options:
Apply for permanent residency after five years (renewable every five years), provided they meet the A2 Portuguese language requirement; or
Wait 10 years from the date of their first residence card to apply for citizenship, subject to the new civic knowledge and clean criminal record requirements (with residence cards renewed every two years until the 10-year mark).
At this point, the government has only released limited information, so it’s too early to draw definitive conclusions. We recommend waiting for the final version of the law, which could take several weeks or be delayed until September.
Sovereign Portugal is closely monitoring developments and will provide further updates as soon as more details are available regarding how the changes may affect your situation.
In the meantime, I take this opportunity to introduce myself as your point of contact at Sovereign and look forward to working with you in your particular circumstances.
Alright, enough about the benefits of immigration or the lack thereof in this thread. I split that discussion out here:
And if you want to continue that discussion at all, please be civil and refrain from name calling, personal attacks, etc. If that continues I’ll lock it down.
28 days ago the first post of this thread showed how confident the lawyer was.
We are going to see very soon if the confidence helps or the confidence means nothing after 4th July (when the proposal was discussed to passed/rejected in the parliament).
On the point of July 4th - I presume that’s when the Assembly holds a vote on the proposal?
Did anyone think of booking an appointment in person with your ‘local MP’?
I have just sent a request for such appointment to my local PSD section, telling them the matter is urgent. Let’s see what they reply with if anything…
I suggest maybe anyone could try their own local section of PSD/Chega/PS (not sure if any other party matters much…)?
Law can be changed. Raising from 5 to 10 is possible. Then reducing from 10 to 6 is also possible. Any investor would like to put down money now and expect that law will be changed again by 6th year? at the end of the day, passport is just a product and it has its own price and expectation. It is really interesting to see how many new GV applicants there are…
One interesting phenomenon is that the immigration consulting companies in our country haven’t posted the news of PT for a long time since the end of May, compared to one livestream about immigration covering EU US and AUS NZL a week at least before.
They are now focused on EB5.
Yes, seems on Friday. There are ongoing consultations with the parties in the meantime.
Government meets this afternoon with Chega and IL about immigration. Meeting with PS is scheduled for Thursday
The meetings that the government will hold with political parties to negotiate changes to immigration and nationality laws have already been scheduled. According to Observador’s findings from a government source, there will be meetings this afternoon with Chega at 5 pm and with IL at 6 pm, in the Government Room at the Assembly of the Republic. These are the two parties that have so far shown the greatest willingness to approve the Executive’s proposals, and they will meet with the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Carlos Abreu Amorim.
There should be a meeting with the PS early this Thursday, but the time is yet to be confirmed. José Luís Carneiro warned on Tuesday that the PS will not approve the proposals in their current form.
The proposals will be discussed and voted on on Friday.
at the end of the day, passport is just a product and it has its own price and expectation. It is really interesting to see how many new GV applicants there are…