First Portuguese Citizenship Application Approved

Last month we received confirmation that the first Citizenship application has now been approved for a Golden Visa applicant. The applicant who originally gained residency through Portugal’s Golden Visa (ARI) programme applied for his official citizenship in October 2018 which was then granted just over a year later. The applicant complied with all of the minimum requirements, completing a 35 day stay in Portugal over five years as well as passing an A2 level Portuguese language test.

When Portugal launched their Golden Visa residency programme in 2012, the law stated that applicants could apply for citizenship following six years of residency. This timeline was reduced to five years in 2018. Whilst the citizenship legislation has always been stated in black and white, it is extremely reassuring to know that the first Golden Visa applicant has now achieved this. We are confident that many more citizenship applications will be granted in 2020 and look forward to seeing more of our investors obtain their Portuguese passports this year.

To discuss the Portuguese Golden Visa programme with one of our consultants, please do not hesitate to get in touch.