Dear Clients, Partners and Interested Ones,

Following the declarations of the Portuguese Prime Minister about the housing problem in Portugal and political measures proposed to solve it, it was released the preliminary version of the proposal of diploma that gives a wording to such measures, was subject to general discussion on May 19, 2023, and the draft law was approved in generality, it was passed as expected, since the current governing party has the majority in parliament.

According to Portuguese regulations, it will be discussed in specialty, but there is no date set for this. The parliament's agenda can be consulted at the following site:
Agenda Parlamentar - Assembleia da República (parlamento.pt)

We estimate that it will take about 4 weeks before we have news about the discussion in the specialty and the specific wording will be approved or rejected. Finally, the bill will be put to a final vote. From that point on, it is expected that there will be complete clarity about the Golden Visa, including the terms and the timeframe. Still, and subsequent to this approval, the President of the Republic will have to promulgate the bill, which will take another 4 weeks or so. Even after the scheduling and after the approval of the law, we still have the possibility that the President will send the proposal to the Constitutional Court. This will add at least 25 days to the schedule and increase the likelihood of having amendments.
There is, also, a possibility of a period of time between the entry into force of the law, although this is not yet guaranteed.
We are entering a vacation period, so we believe that this will delay this whole process.
The dates are merely speculation, according to the procedures of the law, and may be a longer or shorter period of time, although everything indicates that only from September it should come into force, or until the end of the year, if they understand to give a transition period of the law.

Therefore, it makes sense at this point to explain what a draft law is and what its legal steps are.
In the proposals of law, the legislative initiative comes from the Government or from the Legislative Assemblies of the Autonomous Regions. If approved by the Plenary of the Assembly of the Republic, these legislative initiatives will give rise to a Law.
It can be found here:
Perguntas frequentes (parlamento.pt)

Still, it is important to note that several committees have given negative opinions to several of the proposed amendments, as you can see on the parliament's official website, and that they can substantially change what was initially proposed.

DetalheIniciativa (parlamento.pt)

For our part, we will monitor the situation as closely as possible, keeping Clients and Partners aware of any developments that occur and remaining available for any clarifications needed.

7th June 2023
Socilitor: Sofia Padhilha.
Immigration Department
BM Consulting Group.