<div><strong>A Question of Fairness and Rule of Law.</strong>
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Over the past several years, thousands of families and individuals have built their lives around Portugal under a clear legal framework: <em>lawfully follow the immigration process, contribute to the country, and become eligible for citizenship after five years</em>.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>These residents and applicants include:
</div>
<ul>
<li><strong>Families</strong> with children enrolled in Portuguese schools.
</li>
<li><strong>Entrepreneurs and Investors</strong> (ARI/Golden Visa) who injected capital into the economy.
</li>
<li><strong>Retirees and Professionals</strong> fully integrated into local communities.
</li>
</ul>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>They arrived through different lawful pathways, but all relied, in good faith, on the same legal rules in force at the time of their applications.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>The Risk: Changing the Rules Mid-Game</strong>
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Now, a proposed amendment to the Nationality Law risks applying new requirements to people already deep into their lawful process. Without a clear Transitional Regime ("Grandfathering") or a mechanism to account for delays, this could:
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<ul>
<li><strong>Double the waiting period</strong> from 5 to 10 years for existing visas.
</li>
<li>Create effective timelines of <strong>12–17 years</strong> when well-documented administrative delays (AIMA) are factored in.
</li>
<li>Create continued legal uncertainty for families who structured education, careers, and investments around the existing framework.
</li>
</ul>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>This fund exists to prevent that outcome.</strong>
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>What Is at Stake</strong>
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>The issue is not whether Portugal may change its nationality laws for the future. Portugal unquestionably can—and should—legislate as it sees fit.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>The issue is how those changes are applied.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>We are advocating for a fundamental principle of the Rule of Law: Legal Certainty. People who acted in reliance on the law as it stood should not be penalized by changes introduced at the very end of their process.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>Our Approach: Institutional, Disciplined, and Precise</strong>
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>This effort is not a protest. It is not a broad media campaign.
</div>
<div>It is a time-critical institutional engagement designed to ensure that the final law respects the principle of legitimate expectations.
</div>
<div>To do this properly—and credibly—we are working through experienced, established actors in Portugal.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>1. Institutional Leadership: Portugal-based Insititional Association</strong>
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>We are coordinating this effort with an established, Portugal-based institutional association with long-standing experience in residence and investment-related policy engagement.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>They bring deep knowledge of the Portuguese legislative landscape and credibility with policymakers across parties. Their role is to ensure this initiative is positioned not as "special interest lobbying," but as a matter of good governance and legal stability.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>2. Professional Public Affairs Support</strong>
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Alongside their guidance, we have engaged a top-tier Public Affairs &amp; Strategic Communications Firm to execute the technical work required during this narrow legislative window.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>This is a precision effort focused on the Committee on Constitutional Affairs, Rights, Freedoms, and Guarantees.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>Our Objectives: Solutions, Not Just Blockers</strong>
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>We are taking a constructive approach. Our goal is to secure a legislative outcome that protects the original time commitment residents and applicants signed up for. We are pursuing a dual-track strategy:
</div>
<ul>
<li><strong>Primary Goal (Transitional Regime):</strong> Ensuring that applicants and holders of ARI and D residence visas already in process are "Grandfathered" under the original 5-year rule.
</li>
<li><strong>Acceptable Compromise (Equivalent Timeframes):</strong> If the statutory limit is raised to 10 years, we will advocate for a calculation method that credits administrative waiting time (AIMA delays) against the new requirement.
</li>
<li><strong>The Goal:</strong> To ensure that the <strong>effective time to citizenship</strong> remains comparable to the original promise. If the government changes the law, they must account for the years we spent waiting for them to process our files.
</li>
</ul>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>What the Funds Will Be Used For
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>The €30,000 target supports a focused, short-term action plan:
</div>
<ul>
<li><strong>Technical Legal Position Papers:</strong> Drafting constitutional analyses addressing legal certainty and non-retroactivity.
</li>
<li><strong>Committee Engagement:</strong> Structured briefings with key stakeholders to introduce these specific compromise proposals (Transitional Regime or Delay Credits).
</li>
<li><strong>Operational Costs:</strong> Legal opinions, formal structuring, and administration.
</li>
</ul>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>Budget Transparency</strong>
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<ul>
<li><strong>~€19,000 + VAT:</strong> Public affairs and institutional engagement (Retainer for the critical legislative window).
</li>
<li><strong>~€7,000:</strong> Legal opinions, formal setup, and administration.
</li>
<li><strong>~€1,000:</strong> GoFundMe Platform fees.
</li>
</ul>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Governance &amp; Accountability
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Given the urgency of the legislative timeline, execution must be fast and disciplined.
</div>
<ul>
<li><strong>Decision Making:</strong> Their Directors are responsible for operational decisions. Some strategic and financial decisions are made by majority vote of this board to ensure rapid response to parliamentary developments.
</li>
<li><strong>Commitment:</strong> Funds will be committed only to defined professional services aligned with the stated objective.
</li>
<li><strong>No Refunds:</strong> Once professional contracts are executed, funds cannot be refunded due to legal and financial commitments already made.
</li>
</ul>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>Our Ask</strong>
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>This is a time-bound opportunity. The law is moving through Parliament now.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>If you believe in the importance of legal certainty and predictable governance, we invite you to contribute to this focused effort.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>This is not about privilege. It is about the fair application of the law and ensuring that the time we have invested in Portugal is respected.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>Donate today to help ensure the final law reflects these principles.</strong>
</div>

Anonymous

Charles McCrow

BAZHINA MARIYA

Alexander Bush

Anton Mardvinau

Roger Graves

Cynthia Jacquier

Mahmoud Gad

Hady Rashwan

Edward Sherman

Lesa Dixon-Gray

Fund for Legal Certainty: Protecting the 5-Year Citizenship

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Fund for Legal Certainty: Protecting the 5-Year Citizenship

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