This requirement is for ARI application and renewal. I am not aware that it is required for citizenship application.
would really love to hear a knowledgeable person weigh in on this…
“this” = my question above w.r.t. people who came to PT via D-visas
Has it always been the case that the Contagem do Tempo is not required to be submitted with the citizenship application? Or is this new?
Thanks so much!
Yes, it is
Nevertheless, you can always asked for it, but it won t be considered. Only the internal official checking that IRN will do by asking the official bodies through the their official channels. No biometrics, no photos, nothing more.
And that s why they are not asking for it in the official list of documents in the IRN website
The conservatories will even refuse to add it to the file even of you have it. (They will tell you no thank you no need to add it to file we only rely on official channels)
And this is coherent , because the meaning of application based on article 6.1 (residence time) is finally a process mainly focused on documents issued by Portuguese official bodies (residence permits issued by aima, etc…)
Remain only criminal background check and original birth certificates are needed from original country to extract data such as (parents names, birth dates, sex,…)
Thats why it is the most rapid and most straightforward process.
Other artciles process need more attention, more foreign documets so more complicated to analyze by conservators…(more time consuming)
Thanks Kingo
My online application and payment of fees was more than 5 years ago, so that means I can now submit as I do have the language certificate and other docs.
I suppose my next worry is that my application is refused because an AIMA official puts my Contagem as March 2023 (which is when my biometrics were captured at my appointment…) Do you think it’s worth trying?
Okay i do see
So based on the contagem do tempo certificate you can apply starting March 2028
And based on the clarifications provided by the aima recently (the date of application to start counting for the 5 years ) you already gathered the 5 years of residency …
I d say:
If applied and refused you will apply again in March 2028
If you submit now regardless the contagem de tempo but based what has been announced in the aima official communication with lawyers …(payment fees more than 5 years ago…)
Honestly…would say worth the try absolutely, the process would last 24 months average…so before 2028 …
Mathematically the answer would be a YES
I have a question : what does your lawyer think ?
It is an interesting and meaningful use case :-))
Nb: i m not a lawyer or sollicitor
but if the Contagem do Tempo will show 5 years (from the date of the electronic submission) why can’t it be used to apply for PR?
PR is issued by AIMA so they may not use contagem de tempo. The new law mentions citizenship but not PR.
Contagem de tempo was never an obligatory document for citizenship application. Some people believe that it could help but we do not have any proofs that it really helps. AIMA asks IRN if the applicant fulfills the residency requirement at some point in the process (estimation 6-18 months)
However, if there is doubt about the starting date it is recommended to get contagem de tempo and to see what AIMA writes in it before applying. Takes 2 months and 40 euros.
As for expired card during the process, in the past, AIMA did not take the covid prolongation into account and replied “does not meet the requirements” if the card was not renewed. There are some indication that it possibly will accept covid prolongation now. However, it is not tested yet by anybody. On the other hand, I am not sure how long they could cover themselves with this flimsy covid prolongation as covid measures are gone for a long time. I expect them to stop this practice sooner or later. Maybe another half a year? Till this year end.
Contagem de tempo could not be used for PR not only because AIMA, having all info, does not need it, but also because contagem de tempo itself says “for the purpose of citizenship” The changes in the law were only about citizenship, so yes, we have an absurd situation when right for citizenship may happen earlier than right for PR.
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The process may last and most likely will last more than 24 months. The number of applications is increasing fast, especially with new law. There is no way that waiting time will remain unchanged. Now it is about 26 months, and at the moment grows unfortunately half a month per each month (based on replies from IRN in Lisbon and Porto). Hopefully, the additional staff hired recently will stop this slow growing of waiting time.
After refusal if I am not wrong, the person should wait 6 month before applying again.
So my advise: ask for contagem de tempo before applyng, and do not risk refusal
@ olga
Thanks for the clarification
What we saw is in 2023 there less application than 2022
(All articles) how can we explain that ?
I have a 125 xxx process number for a 11/2023 submission. We have not official estimation for 2023 number of application (but only 2022 / 230k applications)
Well, the problem is that there is a separate queue for each article. It might be, that the overall number of applications decreased in 2023 but the applications due to residency should increase after new law of time count. The law came in effect in summer 2024, but people who thought they might apply only in 2 yr time probably needed time to get language certificate. So I guess that the most people who have 2 yr until application with old law are applying now.
I think Portugal significantly tightened the rules for simplified naturalization for Sephardic Jews which could explain some of the drop.
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That are exactly my thoughts
But it is a drop of 40% for 2023 (140k) vs 2022 cases ( 230k)
So around 90 k less
More than tightening (sephardic article)
Found official number for 2023 - 198 thousands applications vs 230 in 2022, so decrease is only 14%. Could be easily sefarditas only
In 1Q 2024 > 63 thousands
Ah okay thanks
Any link please for this official metric please
My lawyer have a process number for a case applied end December 2023 with number 139 xxx (!!)? ( How comes?)
When did you get your contagem do tempo? If you tried to get it right after the moment that new law was published, then Aima at that time was still unsure what exact date would be used for the starting point.
And from which aima did you get it?
It is not 40 euros. In fact it is 22 euros.
It could take between 2 weeks and 4 months. No prediction of how much time they need to process it.
As for your process number, we actually do not know how those numbers are spread between articles and different conservatories. Maybe some conservatories numbered large portion of requests at the last minute.