Hi did u have an independent attorney review any of the paperwork you signed with Mercan also how’s the legal process coming along?
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HI Stacy,
We did not get a third party to look over paperwork. We did get an SEF appointment last month and were very impressed with the Mercan group.
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Hi Laura, in my opinion, it is much more secure to own the real estate instead of buying into shares or funds. It is a little bit more work to understand the market but once you get to know the location and the product, your investment is much more secured that investing in a fund.
Here are some developers that Nomad Gate recommend - List of real estate investments for Golden Visa in Portugal
Yes I’m also new here and keen to know if anyone has updates on this? Thanks so much!!! 
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Hi David could you also DM me? I’m new here and can’t find where to start a DM…
Hi Thomas!
I’m in the same position as many visitors here - looking for the safe GV option in EU and consider Portugal. I’ve met with Mercan representative in Russia and received draft contracts for the above mentioned projects. What is disturbing me, that they use dedicated companies for each project (Single Purpose Vehicle, SPV) with the initial capital of 1500 EUR, there is no formal link to the mother company! There is no fixed commissioning date in the contract, no fees for not meeting the dead-line.
Out of 14 projects in Portugal (the first one started in 2016) there are only 3 hotels commissioned (according to Mercan representative) and 3 projects are coming. At the same time they claim 18 months as the full development cycle from basement to the building commissioning. These two facts are not matching to each-other and delays are very likely to happen. The worst thing might happen is the bankruptcy of the particular SPV. Do you have any idea, is there any warranty or cover from the mother company – as I understood, there is no and from this perspective the whole project looks like 350 K gambling.
This has been discussed extensively up-thread. No, there is no guarantee, just a lot of circumstantial evidence that Mercan is a going concern and has completed a lot of projects both in Portugal and worldwide and will probably complete the projects. Suggest reading backwards a ways.
18 months from breaking ground to operational is reasonable. However there is a lot more that goes into such a project than construction. It takes a long time to do market research, to do planning, coordinate on finding a hotel chain to sell to, to find investors, etc etc. And Portugal is a new market for them, it simply takes time. I am surprised they are up to 14 - they see quite a bit of expansion apparently. And of course there are delays, this is Portugal.
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Seems, like no one here…))) at least not yet))
Hi All,
Ran across the forum on a search. Great info !! Also looking at GV and sent a few emails out to different companies. Had a call with La Vida today on 280k option for LOGOS. Was told it was 280k plus around 5k-6k for Lawyer fees. Prospectus on property shows additional cost of immigration 24.500k, other fees of 11,500k with total investment 336k and program cost of 40k.
Just started the process to see if it’s good for the Wife and I. Going to figure out what the “immigration fees” entail with a GV. If anyone has those deails and will post that would be great.
Read through the Thread on Mercan and check them out too.
So Many Options !! D7 too.
It’s awesome when you have a place to find details and hear from others.
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So, basically, there are costs you pay to the fund, costs you pay to the lawyers, and costs you pay to SEF/Portugal for the visa (as well as costs you pay to FedEx, county clerks, the state department, apostille services, etc.!). I’m guessing that the immigration fees include the SEF ones. There is an application fee of €533 for the first person and €83 for each dependent (including spouse). Then, for the visa, there is a fee of €5325 for each person, and for the renewal of the visa, a fee of €2663 for each person.
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Laura,
Thanks for the info. I’ll do a little more research on it. Just got the info from Mercan. Seem’s like their docs explain the costs a little better than LaVida.
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Do you know a way to get them to validate this?
A lot of people start with Mercan but we don’t seem to have any examples of people who make it all the way through the process.
Tks,
Eric
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At least two people have reported on the Mercan mailing list that they’ve received their approvals. Several more have completed their in-person biometrics appointments.
We had a similar issue about a year ago. We hired one of Rick Steves’ “preferred” tour guides to walk around several of the Mercan properties (it took some work to locate them on google earth!), but she sent back pics and videos. Everything appeared as advertised. It is surprising that there is no publicity (except Mercan-backed PR) about the Porto Marriott Lapa project, given the large donation of parkland Mercan discusses.
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Hi Sarah,
I am thinking of using the Mercan group. I saw your post and I was hoping you can share your experience with me.
Thank you!
Khadija
I would also loveto get the contact Information of the law firms. I’m currently exploring either the golden visa program or D7 in Portugal as well.
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Thanks for the great information. Can you advise on your final decision?
Peter Chu
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