- AIMA / SEF (and the government in general) is absolutely deluged with residency and citizenship applications and therefore under heavy pressure to clear the queue. The unfair, underhanded attempt below to impose new conditions on existing applicants of another pathway (CPLP) under penalty of forfeiture indicates their level of desperation.
AIMA charging €400 to speed up residency applications, under penalty of forfeiture! - Residencies & citizenships / Portugal Golden Visa
- Nomad Gate Community
What other measures will these agencies and/or the government at large pursue going forward to clear the queue…? To them, we and our applications are at best an inconvenience, a problem created by the mistakes of someone else, and at worst, a stain on the integrity of their nation.
- Even if AIMA doesn’t directly rob you of your status by adding new requirements with which you cannot comply, applicants still need to comply with all the existing “gotcha” technicalities and informally imposed requirements over the next 6-9 years until your citizenship finally clears.
Path to citizenship after 5 years on GV - Residencies & citizenships / Portugal Golden Visa - Nomad Gate Community
My understanding is that applicants must maintain their investments continuously until naturalization is completed (in order to maintain residency status, which the people on these forums state is a requirement). Personally, my investment was in funds whose duration is not under my control, and was never contemplated to last 10-12 years from start of investment.
You must succeed in renewing your residence card every 1-2 years in order to have valid residency status, which is a requirement of citizenship application, yet many GVers are having great difficulty renewing:
GV renewals: are there really no appointments? - Residencies & citizenships / Portugal Golden Visa - Nomad Gate Community
- Court system – in case AIMA / SEF or any government entity fails to follow the law (in addition to the ways they are already failing to follow the law), or tries to impose an unconstitutional requirement, then you’re at the mercy of the court system, which is hit or miss. Legal precedent isn’t a concept in PT, so you’re at the mercy of any judge who happens to take your case (if you’re lucky enough for that to happen in a reasonable timeframe). In this forum, it’s clearly noted that some judges don’t consider GV residency to have the same worth as physical residency, despite the purpose of the GV program to accomplish exactly that, and on that basis, they have denied efforts of GV applicants to force AIMA / SEF to follow the law.
Is it Lawsuit time? (Processing times) - #434 by meyerhenry6243
Adding all these factors together, very roughly I put the chance of obtaining citizenship at a coin flip. Maybe everything works out, maybe the system screws me, or maybe I or my lawyers just make a mistake that cannot be fixed.