Hi Mike,
I can highly recommend Dixcart. They are a small boutique international law firm with Portugal offices in Madeira and Lisbon. They have been very professional and knowledgeable and have been very responsive to calls, questions, emails etc.
When we went for our biometrics appointment (which they scheduled in Portimao since it is faster there than in Lisbon) they accompanied us for the meeting and handled everything efficiently. Their fees are reasonable and are probably in the middle range.
Good luck!
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Congrats once again. I believe once you complete all 7 steps, you can then head to IRN to apply for the citizen card and then the passport. I tried to do both for my kids the same day but they said it wasnāt possible.
Hi, in my case it was only one as even though I travel frequently I havenāt resided in any other country other than my home country. If I would have done so, I would need to get criminal record from those other countries that Iāve resided as well.
Hi Mike, What if you are overseas once you get the approvals?
Your presence is only required when applying for a citizen card and passport. You donāt need to be present during the citizenship process.
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Great information. Another point to note is that a new online system was launched since March of this year. You can only apply through a lawyer though. But it seems that the initial 3 stages go by really quickly, then it goes back to being slow. I have seen people on a Facebook group who applied this route go from stage 1 to 3 in 8 days.
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Can you share which group?
Thereās one called āWaiting Portuguese Nationalityā and another one called, āPortuguese Nationalityā.
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Hi Mr.E , can you apply for PR concurrently while your citizenship application is pending? And have you checked about what is the documentation requirement and time frames for approval for the PR?
Dear @s_kates81;
I think it is best if you check this with your lawyer or people have expertise in this as I donāt want to misguide you.
If you ask my thoughts, from what I recall, you can apply concurrently . For the PR I recall language proficiency being a prerequisite. As my last card is still for some time, I did not have to apply for PR, but the documentation is not too different from the GV renewals. I donāt really have much idea about the PR process times, but I donāt expect anything rapid. Therefore it is better to check with lawyers & experts.
@Mr.E Iām almost at the point of applying for citizenship but have a gap of 8 months between residency cards during the pandemic. Were you in the same position and if so, did your attorneys indicate that was an issue?
Question 2: My passport has an insane number of stamps and visas from travel. My attorney indicated that it might make sense for me to get a new passport and apply with that, but I still have a little over 2 years on my current one. Any thoughts on that?
Dear @Jae1012
Again let me share what I recall from my case
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You would recall that residency cardsā validity were extended several times. Those extensions count for the 5 year period. CertidĆ£o de Contagem do Tempo is what your lawyer should ask for. Hopefully the extensions will cover for the gapsā¦ During this process what kept hearing many many times is that the issuance date of your first card is what matters most - and will start the clock for your 5 year countdown.
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I was like you and I had to get a new one as the first passport expired - yet for the citizenship application, I only needed to scan the first page and nothing elseā¦ Please bear in mind that Iāve done an online application via my lawyers. By the way I was surprised that I didnāt have to send scanned copies of all pages.
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@Mr.E thank you for taking the time to respond! I was under the impression, like you, that the extension time counted by my attorney hasnāt been sold on that. I may need to go with a different attorney if she doesnāt come around, but I imagine that by now she should have heard of enough cases!
Itās not up for debate, itās in the law that the extensions in between renewal count towards your legal residence periods and thus included in your Contagem do Tempo 
Attorneys may not exactly know everything for everyone, so best is to ask this forum, check the law for yourself, and then ask your attorney to act accordingly
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Surprisingly, Passport is not required by law at all for citizenship applications. Your valid residence card is enough. Some people still include passport biodata page copy in the application though, but thatās optional.
By the way I am surprised that your attorney wasnāt aware and still couldnāt be āsold onā to that - which is actually not requiredā¦ Without promoting anyone, it makes sense to work with lawyers who has some track record in handling cases. I am also aware that sometimes you find it easier to proceed with someone you know for a while, but if you have doubts - or if they are not up-to-date with basics like this, time has come for you to at least talk to few othersā¦ There are number of law firms / lawyers mentioned on this forum - you may want to talk to them - them referring to members for their experience and then to lawyers.
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Can anyone clarify, regarding the countries from which you need to get criminal record certificates for a citizenship application - namely country of birth, citizenship and all other countries where you resided after 16 years of age - is it only the main applicant of the GV who needs to supply criminal records from all these countries, or the family members also? In fact as I write this I think I have figured that it must be required of all applicants for citizenship, as presumably by this stage the GV itself is no longer relevantā¦ each person (including GV family members) apply for citizenship in their own right once they have fulfilled 5 years of legal residence.
You are correct, citizenship applications are processed individually and has nothing to do with the main applicant et al., Yes you need to produce the criminal record from every single country an applicant has ever lived over an yearās time since turning 16. If the applications are made online that must be made by a lawyer or a solicitor with an active digital signature.
Yes, in this case they used the conjunction āandāā¦
O seu registo criminal: * emitido pelos paĆses estrangeiros da naturalidade e da nacionalidade, e onde tenha vivido a partir dos 16 anos e a sua traduĆ§Ć£o certificada para portuguĆŖs.