Does anyone have lawyer recommendations for the GV process? Need someone who is efficient at their job considering the mad dash now.
Thanks in advance!
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This was created by another member (@jjmz ) a couple of years ago that I used as a starting point. See the Lawyers tab - Portugal Golden Visa Model - Google Spreadsheets
Thank you so much! Very helpful.
Did you end up using the one that you favoured and were they any good?
Here’s also a small selection of law firms our community members have used and been happy with.
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We had good experience with this lawyer. Nobody can do miracles when it comes to SEF but he is responsive and responsible.
Pedro Guerreiro
Advogado/Lawyer
(http://www.lisbonlaw.pt/)
Moderator edit: Phone number and email address removed for GDPR reasons.
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I am curious why in Portugal there is not any type of robust reviews process as in some other countries. Ok, sure if you search on Google you will see a few reviews for the law firms but they don’t seem deep and its unclear whether they were written by clients of the law firm. In the USA they have a AV peer rating system that is helpful, and there are public bar discipline records. Basically there isn’t a good source to research reliable lawyers in Portugal.
On a related note, I am curious about one thing. If I were running a business I would occasionally reach out to a subset or sample of customers to determine if the service they receive is as expected, or if there are ways I could improve. A lot of business use survey monkey or similar tools to gauge whether they are falling short in key metrics. I have worked with 3 law firms in various projects in Portugal, and never have any of them asked how they are doing, or if they could do anything different. Its rare that they even return emails much of the time. In one situation I was having a dispute about a point with a junior attorney and cc: ed the senior attorney and requested her intervention but nothing…
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I can recommend Catarina Sardinha at Dixcart. She and her associate lawyers have been very responsive to us whenever we had questions. Their fees are reasonable and transparent.
We applied in December 2021, had pre-approval in about 14 months, and just completed our biometrics appointment and anticipate receiving our residency cards in the next 4-6 months.
We interviewed three lawyers, of whom two seemed very good. The other firm we liked was a much bigger Portuguese firm with a good reputation, and they were also responsive and clear in their communications and fees ( Caiado- Guerreiro). We chose Dixcart because they are a smaller boutique firm and have been happy with our decision.
Of note, when we went for our Biometrics, are appointments were secured in Portimao, where the current processing times are said to be 3-4 months rather than 12 months in Lisbon. Antonio, one of Catarina’s team met us at the SEF offices in Portimao to present all of our documentation. We were present but did not need to speak with the SEF officer because of the preparation and representation that satisfied their questions. Also, the SEF officers and officials and officers seemed very familiar with him.
Not sure if I am allowed to share their cintacts, but I can provide if you PM.
Best of luck!
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I suspect the most critical consideration in choosing a lawyer at this point is whether they have sufficient capacity to handle your case, amid what must be a deluge of applications.
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Thank you all for the info and input, unfortunately I checked this thread a bit late as I just saw these now! Ended up going with Vasco at Lexidy which someone has mentioned in another thread I’ve seen previously. So far communication is very good and I had a good feeling from our initial chat, also they have great reviews online.
@anonymous64 I agree with the lack of reviews process, but it seems to be the case in a lot of European countries in general. It’s definitely one of the down sides of living in Europe - everything is just more difficult and bureaucratic in general and not as streamlined as North America.