We are in the process of looking for legal representation for a Golden Visa application. We have some recommendations, sent lots of inquiry emails and have had a few conversations. But if anyone has used an attorney they thought was good, we’d love their contact info. Also, if you have guidance what the total cost SHOULD be, that would also be much appreciated.
Kelly
Hi, I have been using EDGE International Lawyers (Managing Partner: Francisco Salgueiro). The helped me negotiate my property purchase agreement, got me a NIF, opened a bank account, act as my tax representative, got me my first GV residency card in 9 months in 2000, registered me with the national health system, got my COVID vaccine validated, got me a renewal appointment this past summer 3 months before my visa expired, and they accompanied me to both SEF interviews. My GV renewal was approved I am just waiting for the new residency card to be mailed which should be in the next few weeks. Everything that they have done for me has gone exceptionally smoothly. Francisco Salgueiro and his associate Catarina de la Cerda have been fantastic and I highly recommend them both.
Good luck.
I can second this opinion. We are working with EDGE right now to get our GV, and they have been very helpful. We are working with Claudia. They do charge 10,000 euros, but in my opinion, it is worth it to work with someone who really knows what they are doing. They helped us work with a bank (Novobanco) to open an account, counseled us on all the paperwork we needed to pull together, helped us with reviewing and making changes to our purchase contract for the investment we made etc. They just submitted our GV applications a few weeks ago, so now we just wait.
I can also highly recommend EDGE. I have worked with them for almost 5 years, and all of the attorneys at the law firm are highly knowledgeable, patient with my questions, timely in their responses, and on top of every development in the law or GV process. As far as the cost, they were transparent in our first meeting and laid out the costs per family member for the government fees and legal fees for each step in the process. I did some back-of-the-napkin math and estimated that the entire process through citizenship would cost approximately 30k euros per person for a family of 3 for the government fees and attorney’s fees. Of this amount, approximately 25-30% is for attorney’s fees. These are just estimates to give you an idea of what to expect, and could be higher now, as I started the process in 2018. Also, you are required to appoint and retain a tax representative to essentially guarantee to the government that you will pay any taxes due, and this representative assumes liability for any unpaid taxes. EDGE provides this mandatory service for approximately 1200-1400 euros a year. Offsetting this expense is the extremely low taxes I pay each year. I do not rent out my apartment, so I do not pay the 28% tax on net profits on rental income, and my property taxes are 250 euros a year for an expensive apartment that is in an old building. My building is well over 100 years old, and it is my understanding that property taxes are much lower for old apartments than new ones. If you would like contact information for my attorneys, please contact me directly. Good luck!
Hi, Kelly. If you want another choice, I recommend Margarida, Vanessa, and Daniela, who were with the Caiado firm, but left to form Prime Legal. Experienced and responsive; good transactions with them so far. I feel like their fees are reasonable but I don’t have much knowledge there. What matters to me are experience, responsiveness, diligence, and good communication/truthfulness. These lawyers have all that.
Good luck,
Kenton, Ridgefield WA, USA
Hi We used Edge in lisbon for Gv who were good but expensive .However when we used their tax dept ,they were poor and tried to charge large fees for minor corrections and when we questioned the large fees,they abruptly resigned .We found an alternative wbo has been excellent on both attitude and fees and of course much cheaper.His name is Joao pinto Goncalves .tel 217 261 165 .