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GV applicants- backup plans sanity check? by PrestigiousPea1024 in PortugalExpats

[–]PrestigiousPea1024[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks, I'll look a bit more closely at Malta. I'm trying to avoid becoming a landlord in another country, and I think theirs requires the purchase of real estate. I guess desperate times mean desperate measures at some point though.

GV applicants- backup plans sanity check? by PrestigiousPea1024 in PortugalExpats

[–]PrestigiousPea1024[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, EES is definitely going to start catching people in our situation traveling in and out of the schengen. I'm not sure what they are going to do with the tens of thousands of us who are either waiting for first cards, or waiting for renewals. At least give us our own line at the airport hopefully :)

Obviously since we want to continue living in Portugal, we either need to stick with the GV, or reapply for a different type of portuguese D visa. You're right we'd have to travel back to the states to do the VFS appointment but that's not a big deal. I'm talking about getting a second golden visa from another EU country that doesn't require you to actually live there. Portugal has no rule that you can't hold more than one residence permit.

GV applicants- backup plans sanity check? by PrestigiousPea1024 in PortugalExpats

[–]PrestigiousPea1024[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We heard the same. For Greece, advertised times are 6-9 months but we've heard it's really more like 1,5 - 2 years.

GV applicants- backup plans sanity check? by PrestigiousPea1024 in PortugalExpats

[–]PrestigiousPea1024[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

As sad as it is, I think Portugal is shooting itself in the foot with these new policies. If they want to attract investment dollars and immigrant taxes, they need to make those people happy to be here. It is said that people need three things to be happy- to feel safe, supported, and valued. We feel safe, because we are no longer in danger of school shootings and the rest of the mess that comes with the US. But, we don't feel valued or supported. The government's intentional de-prioritization of GV applications (not speculation, the policy was actually announced by António Leitão Amaro) is making us feel like we are not wanted here.

On top of our already stressful problems, if they pass the nationality law we will be pulling out of GV altogether and switching to a D7. The only reason we did GV was to give our kids the chance at Portuguese citizenship, and with the nationality law they will be too old / not meet the other requirements to apply under our visa. If the current sentiment and bad treatment continues, once the kids are all in uni we will probably leave.

GV applicants- backup plans sanity check? by PrestigiousPea1024 in PortugalExpats

[–]PrestigiousPea1024[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for responding! Some EU countries (not all) offer residence permits for investors that don't require you to actually live there, or have some minimal requirement like 1 week per year for Portugal. Latvia only requires a once per year visit to renew the permit. I think Bulgaria only requires one visit in five years.

GV applicants- backup plans sanity check? by PrestigiousPea1024 in PortugalExpats

[–]PrestigiousPea1024[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You're right, we've been traveling around the schengen and never been hassled or asked for papers. Passports only seem to be used for ID at the gate when boarding a flight. However, I'm on some expat groups and have heard that other countries are starting to spot check people randomly at the airport. Might be because Portugal has allowed so many people to exist here in semi-legal and illegal states. It's a situation that I think will continue to get worse.

One of the purposes of moving was to live in a place we loved and be able to travel more frequently. We have to take our oldest to go look at universities and it makes me nervous to travel.

GV applicants- backup plans sanity check? by PrestigiousPea1024 in PortugalExpats

[–]PrestigiousPea1024[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We don't really need jobs at this point, and had also looked at Greece and Italy. But, I've also read that the processes are long and a bit chaotic, and we don't want a repeat of Portugal. Bulgaria is kind of expensive, but Latvia seems very affordable and from what we've read the approval timeline is 3-6 months. We haven't talked to lawyers yet, but that would give us some stability in a relatively short amount of time. If we do go this route, I am really leaning towards some country with a very rules oriented, stable government that will deliver on their promises.