I know there has been various comments in different posts on experiences with Portuguese Attorneys and the assistance they provide for Golden Visa Applications.
I’d like to ask anyone that has had an A+ experience to please share your attorney’s information. To keep this post clean, please only respond if you have had exceptional service. Thank you!
No one seems to have had a genuinely positive experience. At best, the service appears mediocre. Most lawyers do not even respond, despite several follow-ups.
Anyone recommending lawyers without having meaningfully contributed to this forum should be viewed with caution. In many cases, such recommendations may come from people affiliated with those lawyers, or even from lawyers using fake accounts.
We have had excellent service from TFRA attorney Catarina Bastos. While there are still lots of things we have had to do and figure out on our own, she has handled all the AIMA translations with apostilles, submitted all forms, taken payments for specific stages rather than requiring all payments up front, been responsive to questions, arranged for an associate to meet us at biometric appointments, paid Aima on our behalf so we have not yet had to deal with a bank account (we used Optimize for the investment) or had trouble with AIMA accepting payment, and gave us a slight discount on handling our daughter’s separate application. We fully understood from the beginning that this is a law firm, and did not expect them to handle things outside of this scope, but know that they would refer us to others if we needed it for some reason, such as finding real estate.
If you look under the Legal Services directory then you will find the most ubiquitous GV law firms. You can follow the links to set up a 1:1 introductory video meeting with most of them and make your own determination.
I know you are looking for more personal recommendations but ultimately you will have to make your own decision and take responsibility for the experience you have with them. Different people have different experiences at the same law firm so your mileage will vary. I would be wary of any gushing recommendation on here as you do not know if it’s genuinely a client review or just someone associated with the company. Hold your video consultations and make your decision. The companies on the directory here are all legitimate if that is your concern.
I don’t think that applies to everyone. Experiences with Portuguese lawyers vary widely and can’t be equated with North American lawyers, who usually bill by the hour; in Portugal many work on a fixed‑fee basis. Salaries for similarly skilled attorneys are much lower here, and they’re often swamped with work. Culture also plays a big role: the quality of service depends more on your relationship with the lawyer than on the firm’s name or how many clients they handle. You need to build and maintain connections to get the best service. For example, my lawyer answers my WhatsApp messages on weekends, while a friend I referred only receives email replies after a week or two.
Hi David,
I used CCA and am fairly happy with them. If I call, I get a call back. If I email, normally get a response within 24 to 48 hours. So, overall pretty happy with their services and the other aspect I like is the firm is large enough if I need real estate assistance, etc., they are available.
Sorry to ask but where is the legal services directory? I am looking to switch lawyers. thanks.
Follow the menus: Articles > Golden Visas > Portugal > Legal Services Directory
Ours aren’t in the list, and we’ve been well satisfied with their services over the last eight years. Accurate, timely, and not able to move this mountain any better than anyone else.
We’ve had a terrific experience with Madalena and her team at Liberty Legal. Based on all the posts, it seems like we should consider ourselves lucky. I’m happy to connect you with Madalena if you like, just direct message me if that would be useful.
I’ll second this recommendation for @madalenamonteiro and her team at Liberty Legal . We’ve found the team responsive and proactive.
Adding here that I’ve also used CCA and am satisfied. As with any firm, I suspect, sometimes there will be a delay in replying or a missed email, but overall I’ve gotten responsive service and no mistakes (as far as I can tell). Recommended.
We are with Prime Legal and unfortunately the experience hasn’t been great. I need to do multiple follow ups for simple questions, there are multiple add on fees and I have spotted errors in forms and invoices.
The experience isn’t necessarily bad but I expected better for the premium price point they have.
im a lawyer. MY ADVICE: dont do the PGV
I concede that participating in the ARI program has been extremely stressful, year after year after year. “May the odds be ever in your favor!”
This is my eighth year in the program and i can say that if you want to age faster, you can hardly find a better place.
11th Year for me 
Has anyone used NSM Lawyers ?