Signed - Much appreciated!
Plus the missus…
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The petitions didn’t work. PSD has scheduled bringing this to the floor for October 22 on the full and complete rug pull, despite the petitions, despite the opinions of leading legal scholars about its unconstitutionality, despite pressure from immigrant organisations and rights advocates, etc. The message is unmistakable: f■■■ you.
It will hit the floor next week, and due to the coalition of PSD and Chega, it will pass. This is a foregone conclusion.
The only questions that matter now are what (president) Marcelo will think of it - will he refer it to the constitutional court? Probably, because he did it with the last one. And what will the constitutional court say about it? That’s the whole ball game now, folks.
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Yes, I get that, but I think it would still be useful to exhaust all methods available before writing to the President and perhaps later to the Court.
Because if there is nothing to refer to (like no petitions signed, no letters sent to the Deputados etc.) then the President or the Court would also disregard the later demands to them.
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While the petition does not guarantee a change, it increases the political pressure on the lawmakers to adopt a final text that includes robust grandfathering provisions for existing Golden Visa applicants.
Every signature added now amplifies that message just before the critical committee decision.
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On the other hand, if you feel nothing works, then why do you think they have further improved the exemption for ARI’s family reunification in the Foreigners Law that has just been made final? Out of their own benevolence?
As far as I am aware, neither the Court nor any other public body were asking the Assembly to do it anytime between June and now.
But I do know at least one individual who took a bit of personal action and in fact did ask them to do exactly that 
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FYI, I have shared the link to the petition with the PT GV WhatsApp group admin, hope he can post it there too for the whole group.
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Signed. Thanks
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I did sign all the petitions, and sent multiple letters to all the deputies. I’m disheartened that despite that, and the constitutionalists’ opinions, that the current government is solely interested in “brown people bad”. So, I’ve given up hope of reasonable outcomes from PSD, and am looking ahead to the TC instead.
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I figure time has run out.
I wrote to the President yesterday (contact form here) because:
- This thing is being steamrolled in by the Government, with Chega helping to push, and AIMA publishing supporting ‘The foreigners are quadrupling’ headlines for air cover
- Sr. Presidente is a busy guy! So let’s get into his headspace before the bill comes to him and the pressure gauge ‘goes to 11’ on this
- Sr. Presidente probably knows o «pai da Constituição» Jorge Miranda personally [1], and hopefully respects his opinion (unlike the Government, or the Committee on Constitutional Affairs, Rights, Freedoms and Guarantees). I quoted Sr. Miranda’s thoughts on arbitrary nationality start dates, etc.
- Sr. Presidente will no doubt punt the Nationality Law changes to o Tribunal Constitucional, and his instructions/concerns to the Court carry far more weight than any letters or petitions we can muster now
[1]
ChatGPT suggests Marcelo and Miranda know/like each other. I haven't had time to double-check these:
- The Presidency publicly announced that Marcelo selected Jorge Miranda to preside over the official Dia de Portugal (10 June) commemorations in 2022, noting Miranda as “one of the fathers of the Constitution.”
- University/academic outlets report that Marcelo awarded Jorge Miranda the Grand Cross of the Order of Camões at a ceremony in Belém Palace.
- Scholarly/proceedings material shows Marcelo’s involvement in volumes of “Estudos de Homenagem” honoring Prof. Jorge Miranda (Marcelo appears as one of the organizers/editors/contributors in the homage volumes), documenting academic collaboration.
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Dr Jorge Miranda made a coherent argument that in revoking Article 15, clause 4, the date of application becomes irrelevant and the date of approval becomes a game of chance (as not dependent on any objective criteria but at the mercy of the administration) violating the principle of the rule of law (Article 2 of the Constitution).
For those who have waited some considerable time for SEF-AIMA approval (and card), the question is whether the law as drafted post debate will include Article 15, clause 4, or not. And whether those who have fulfilled the residence conditions that were set out when they applied, will be protected, is not clear. We wont know until after the debate.
I believe the law is likely to pass (it has a majority in favour) and the high levels of recent immigration have had a cost to the country. But the question is in what form the law will pass.
Even then, we will see whether the President judges whether the draft requires the Constitutional Court (CC) to check that there is no possibility of any clause being unconstitutional. The President will have seen the arguments of Dr. Jorge Miranda, and will know that they are more likely to carry weight with the CC.
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I suppose they moved the commission hearing from Oct 15 to Oct 22, the state budget debates are scheduled for Oct 27 and 28.
In the latest proposal (13th october by PSD, Artigo 5 / 5 at page 13) i see that the clause about exclusion of duration from application to approval of residence for the time count is no longer there. It was there on the page 38 of the june proposal. Does it mean the time count will remain as it is now (from application)?
Do you have a copy of the proposal by any chance or a link to it?
Thank you.
The document is the one beginning with “PA1 parte 1” among the annexes of the law proposal. https://www.parlamento.pt/ActividadeParlamentar/Paginas/DetalheIniciativa.aspx?BID=315160
It can also be seen in the comparison table of the proposals at the end of the same page.
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I also saw that but it seems that they are still trying to remove clause 4 of article 15(clarifying the start date of the residency: application date), my friend told me that even before this clause was added, IRN used something caused “file lock date”, but there are several dates for most GV applicants, the DUC payment date, the appointment date and the date on the card. There may be a date between the appointment and card production when AIMA gives final approval. Clause 4 of Article 15 was initially designed to help the huge amount expression of interest applicants.
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I think he said he is sending to CC in anycase, but the law might actually be constitutional this time around.
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I wonder if they are trying ram in the nationality law before the state budget, because the budget is not going to pass and they are going to go another election on the back of being ‘tough on immigration’, and trying to eat Chega as a result.
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It is there, sadly. See Article 15 clause 4 - they still want to remove it.
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The budget’s failure at the end of October 2021 led to the 2022 election. With the increasing pace of holding general elections in 2019, 2022, 2024, and 2025, it could happen again. 
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Have you hugged a Socialist today? 
End of loss of nationality and shorter deadlines: PS asks PSD for “moderate law”
Challenging the PSD to draft a “moderate” Nationality Law , the PS presented proposed amendments to the government’s initiative this Friday. The Socialists want to reduce the residency requirements for nationality, eliminate the possibility of a citizen losing their nationality, maintain the current legislation in force for those who initiate the process by December 31, 2026, and already meet the requirements for granting it.
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