Will an old drunk driving conviction impact a Golden Visa application for Portugal?

My husband has a drunk driving conviction from 8 years ago, this was the first and last crime on his record. The sentence for the drunk driving did not involve any jail sentence but he was placed on probation. Will this be a problem for Portugal Golden Visa? What can we do?

Answers

On January 24, 2022 Pedro Viegas answered:

No penalties will be applied for that.

On January 24, 2022 Nuno Albuquerque answered:

You will need a clean criminal record certificate from your country of origin that must be issued within the last three months of your application. A driving conviction is not a criminal record and doesn’t have an impact on golden visa application.

On January 25, 2022 Tiago Gali Macedo answered:

As the Portuguese law foresees, one can only apply for a temporary residence permit under the golden visa program if, in their country of origin, they are not charged as guilty of a crime which in Portugal’s legal framework would have more then a one year maximum imprisonment sentence. In your case, in Portugal, this crime has a maximum 1 year sentence, so, in principle, you should be able to apply for the Portuguese residence. Anyhow, in Portugal, after 5 years, these crimes are cleared from the criminal record; I do not know what is the rule in your country but it might be the same and the register is now clean.

On January 25, 2022 Diogo Capela answered:

Since the sentence was just probation and involved no jail time, this will not be a problem in the golden visa application.

On January 29, 2022 Barbara Pestana answered:

The crime of driving under the influence of alcohol is punishable in Portugal with a prison sentence of up to one year, which, according to Portuguese law, is the maximum acceptable penalty for granting a residence permit. Therefore, the practice of such a crime, by itself, does not jeopardize the concession of a golden visa.

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