I’d like to ask those who have actually hired attorneys to share information on their experience with them so far. There’s no shortage of attorneys offering GV services but I’d like to hear from people with actual, first hand experience.
Please consider providing:
Where in the GV process you are
Whether you’re open to further conversation to discuss in more detail
Thanks!
I’d recommend Irina Akhmetova from Lisbon. She has quite some experience and in our case which has multiple unknowns and tricky points she easily got it all done with attitude “we’re good, no problems”, while three other attorneys I contacted had the attitude “if it’s not 100% clear I don’t care and don’t guarantee anything”. Link to her website.
Our timeline was highly affected by corona - I’ve bought the properties in February 2020, applied online in March, we got the opportunity to schedule the meeting in August, interview was in November, just now in early February 2021 our case was reviewed and we’ll get our cards soon.
Tried to hire her but failed. The fees are on the low side, but as soon as we started to ask specific questions she had chosen to quietly ignore the emails, which makes one question her competence.
Email… hehe, forget about them. It’s Portugal. Call her.
We’ve received the visas 3 weeks ago, and during the process I did feel very confident about her competence. Unlike her Portuguese colleagues she focuses on result.
But of course, I don’t know your specifics, maybe indeed she is not interested.
One tip - if you’re just starting the process, think twice about buying a rental apartment. We’ve got a couple of them for a year now and it’s not working out that well. Hotels, airbnbs are also quite empty everywhere, even in Algarve. I’d rather buy something else. Perhaps a grade A commercial space, since Louis Vuitton-kind of shops don’t care about covid and pay the rent. Or an office space in a business center with real tenants. Anyhow, the more expensive - the better, otherwise there’s a big change the investment won’t work as an investment. Everything that is advertised as “managed” business or “in development” - is hopeless here, Portuguese people just don’t like to work and never ever stick to any deadlines. That’s my experience so far, and I didn’t meet real people with a different opinion. If you plan to live here though - just buy a house for yourself, 300k somewhere off the city in a beautiful place - that’s a good investment. Renting out a good house is also extremely difficult, the quality of housing here is very low.
Does she offer the house list to choose? Or just law side assistant? Thanks
This is a law firm as you can see for yourself by visiting their website.
May I ask which attorney you chose? We’re just starting our GV process and are seeking recommendations.
Thanks!
We went with Vanessa Rodrigues Lima. She was excellent… very responsive, knowledgeable, and proactive in getting us successfully through the process. We can’t recommend her enough.
Good luck with your endeavor.
Hi. I went with EDGE International Lawyers and I am very happy with them. They are very responsive and very professional.
I worked with Francisco Barata Salgueiro. Good luck with your application 
Thank you, Emily. I spoke with Francisco yesterday, based on additional NomadGate recommendations for Edge, and my first impression was positive. May I ask how far along you are in the process and whether it’s proceeding as expected?
We have collected a list of lawyers/law firms that our community members have used and recommended. I hope it helps!
I’m trying to choose a law firm and have spoken to several. Based on reviews and my discussions I’m looking at either Vanessa Rodrigues Lima (VRL Lawyers) or Pedro Marques Monteiro (LegalSquare). Both seem very knowledgable and helpful but both have positives and negatives. Being such a big decision for an 8 year process it would be great to get some client experiences.
Does anyone have experience with either? It would be great if you can share here or PM me.
We have successfully used Vanessa for our Golden Visa process and highly recommend her. She is extremely knowledgeable about the visa processes, as well as immigration processes in general. We have also recommended her to several others and the feedback we received from them has been positive as well. She is a delight to work with, and is very efficient. If you have any specific questions, feel free to DM us. Good luck on your journey!