Around 12,000 applicants are affected, waiting for their residence permits. The average processing time is nearly five years, although the law stipulates 90 days. A petition signed by 1,200 affected individuals has already been submitted to the ombudsman, and class actions before the administrative court as well as civil damages lawsuits are expected to follow.
The governing parties PSD and CDS, together with the far-right party Chega, amended the citizenship law. For citizens of most non-EU countries, the waiting period for naturalization was doubled from five to ten years. Secretary of State Rui Armindo de Freitas argued that the change aligns Portugal with other European countries and does not affect the Golden Visa itself.
Lawyer Madalena Monteiro, who advises immigrants, said: “Many feel cheated after the law change. They want to take legal action against the state. We have already collected more than 500 signatures from those affected.” The state can change naturalization rules, she added, but must abide by its own laws and process visa applications within 90 days.
Source: www.dw.com
