Hi all,
I canāt believe I am approaching 5 years. I am now looking to apply for citizenship in November. Has anyone gone through this process? What did you pay or get quoted for the attorney costs? I assume the other fees are standard across the board.
Michael
Iād love to learn what people are seeing. I am trying to get this from law firms up front so I can select a firm that is economical for all steps of the GV > Citizenship process.
So far, I have been quoted $3k per person for the final citizenship process by Antas de Cunha, 2.5kEUR per person from PRIME Legal (but also OK offering a family discount, in that our 3rd kid would be āfreeā) and the below from CCA, who I really like:
Iāve got quotation from some lawyers:
But I am unable to see what the main differences are between the 3k lawyers and the 300 Euros lawyers. Hence, I apply in person and hire lawyer (cheap ones) to check the application before I go submit myself.
Our quote from NSM Lawyers (recommended by Pela Terra & Optimize) was as follows:
Golden Visa Package (includes all work up through application submission):
*ā¬ 5.000,00 for main applicant
*ā¬ 1.500,00 per dependent
Renewal of the Golden Visa Process:
*ā¬1.500,00 per applicant
Final Citizenship Process:
*ā¬ 1.500,00 per applicant
*ā¬250 Civil Registry fee
If you live in Portugal, best way is to apply by yourself as the documentation is very easy. A lawyer wouldnāt add any value and for certain those high dizzying prices are a grand rip off.
This is helpful. My attorney is on the low end of the āhigh pricedā attorneys.
Shoaib I know that I can do it myself but in my situation I look at it as insurance because the process takes two years. I do not want to find out in 2027 that I did something wrong and need to wait another 2 years.
Unless you have something weird. For example: your name changed because initially you were born in a different country and later you immigrated to US. Or you were in Soviet Union until 20 then you immigrated to Us and now Soviet Union was dissolved long time ago and you could not get the criminal record from the original country. Other than that, I cannot imagine things go wrong. Criminal record canāt go wrong. Birth certificate canāt go wrong. Same for Portuguese certificate. Thatās all documents we have. But, if you are happy with lawyer, no worry just go for it!
Isnāt there some benefit to have a lawyer submit the application digitally? I believe I heard or read that processing might be faster that way, but itās not something Iāve tried to verify yet.
Letās see if any lawyer in this forum could reply your questionā¦I hope they will 
Itās kind of surprise if no lawyer wants to advertise their price and service in this thread 
Applying in person or by CTT could be sometimes as gambling. Some people have seen there processes stuck one since 2 years at step 1 (submitted) amd other processes submitted later have been completed.!!!
Truing to reach irn is one if the most to understand how to resolve issues could be even more challenging ā¦!
2- In the other hands applying through online with lawyer (obviously a serious law firm) you win immediately peace of mind and granting serenity
The process will be at its 2nd step in around a month
( all the automated information checkings should Already have been done )
So it up to each one how can manage the stress of processing amd the waiting time and how he can manage seeing (eventually) the case stuck at step one 2 years later
Even though people here in the forum are mostly applying based on article 6.1 (time for residency)
Then followed by cases if have kids (article 2)
Added to this, with the new priority given to CPLP, imagine the number of applications in just 1-2 years ā¦!
Honestly i prefer being at step 2 amd wait for my turnā¦
Otherwise the fair fees of a serious law firm could be
around 1000 euros / case
Nb: in fee months the online processes should be start being analyzed in few months (around June)
And completions should be faster than before, meanwhile some cases of 2022 are not yet completed (stuck or falling in demand ā¦) . Just imagining the level of stress of the people with stuck cases.
Nb: i m not a lawyer. But so having processes managed by a serious law firm obviously
However, it depends if you are a single, retiree or just like me still active and yet with dependents , we don t know what could things go in the feature, you pay as well for follow up of the cases let s say an insuramce premium ā¦
While applying for PT citizenship : peace of mind is the Moto
I thought it was the opposite?
You may have seen this on the new IT system now at IRN: Sistema de informĆ”tica para cidadania portuguesa āestĆ” um caosā, dizem advogados | Sociedade | PĆBLICO
Having a lawyer used to how the system is supposed to function, and able to deal with it, may have been a good idea.
So I was told. The lawyer retains the documents and submits copies electronically, and they are automatically in the system. If you submit yourself, there is the additional step of having the physical documents checked and then transferred into the system, a process that is estimated at 6 months or so.
I was told differently and indeed the opposite of what you wrote. If you apply in person, you get the receipt with the process number (to check progress online) in same day. If you go thru lawyer, you have to waitā¦
Hi
Exactly.
The lawyer keeps the original and uploads the scanned documents
This what i was saying. Applying by yourself can take around 6 months to see your process at step 2 which means documents in system (em analƬse)
So when the irn s reach the first processes submitted by lawyers online (around june-july 2023)
Those who applied in person let s say before six months will see the delays appoed to their applied in person ā¦and so on ā¦
It s about mathematics then
I got my process number and the password within a week after applying
What i was saying has nothing to do with processes numbers but with chronological processings
Even with the chronological processing, I was told differently.
It does not matter that you apply in person or by lawyer, in Portugal there is a rule of FIFO (first in, first out). Application will be processed by the date of submission. But it it what I was told. I do not have any proof. Same person cannot make 2 applications (one in person, one by lawyer) and submit at the same time to verify which one is faster. Therefore, it is only personal estimation.
These charges including government fees OR these are just only Lawyer service chrages?
@Aaron_Josh The GV program fee is basically the main legal cost for them to process us, and does NOT include the actual application fee of roughly 5K euro per applicant. That fee is paid after you get your application approved.
Based on my understanding, the renewal and citizenship fees cover the government fees (basically a pass-through fee), though there are some minor line item fees I didnāt include above that also get paid (30 or 50 euro here and there).
@Aaron_Josh I should add that the GV Program fee includes the cost for them to open a bank account and get a NIF number etc. as well.