New to the group and first post, so apologies in advance if a similar question has been posted.
I’m wanting to begin the immigration process to establish residency permit and citizenship. However, I see on the Portuguese Consulate site for DC, that applications are not being accepted for non-family or Portuguese related applicants.
I would like to search now for an attorney so that when applications start being accepted I will be ready. How does anyone suggest retaining an attorney in Portugal, from the US, to facilitate immigration process?
John, I could be able to refer you with a couple of immigration lawyers based in Portugal with whom I work. Feel free to contact me in private if you would like.
I had two different lawyers. I worked with Paula Santos to get my NIF and was very satisfied but she stopped her practice for a while but recommended me to my current lawyer Raquel Prata (both are out of Lisboa) who is very good. The D7 process is complicated enough without being a native speaker. You may want to shop around because the prices can be very different. While I am picking up the language well enough it is not nearly sufficient for reading governmental forms let alone reading your lease.
@john.haake There’s a wide variety of options when you’d like to choose immigration attorneys. What’s important to know is if they resonate well with your value systems and meet your expectations and timelines that you have. If the process is for GV, I highly recommend doing it with one that has done a handful of files prior to taking your application. Lawyers in Portugal mostly practice everything so it’s important to find one that has a specific niche! Happy to recommend a few if you’re interested.