Hello all, I am a first time user and hoping to find recommendations for an experienced lawyer in GVs. My husband and I live in the US and purchased 2 properties in Madeira, Portugal before the deadline (Feb 2023) and went with a lawyer suggested by our realtor. She submitted all our documents approximately one year ago, but has not submitted payment for the application! When we asked her, she said she has been emailing AIMA but has not received a response for how much the fees are- well, the fees appear to be easily available on any website. We would like a more pro-active and experienced lawyer to help us navigate this process. Any recommendations? Does the legal representation have to be from the area where we purchased our properties?
We used NEWCO for our home purchase in Funchal. They’re great to work with, and happy to meet you in person if you need to. Madeira being “autonomous” sometimes like to interpret rules their own way - I’ve seen this with both SEF and Finanças. So I appreciate having people on the island who you can actually talk to and know its quirks.
One caveat is that if someday you want to jump-start your GV application’s progress with a lawsuit, I don’t know if they’ve ever filed one before. Other people who’ve succeeded with their suits often note their law firms in this thread.
Oh, and if your agent submits your online GV application properly, then the next day there’s a prompt on the same portal asking you to pay the fee amount.
Hi Janice. Welcome to the forum. 
We bought a property last year, independent of our GV application and we used a local lawyer who made the legal side of purchase painless. Lots of people here, us included, use Lisbon-based lawyers, many of whom have experience with GV applications as well as other immigration/visa issues.
Our original law firm was efficient in the beginning but were reluctant to undertake legal proceedings against AIMA, so we changed firms to NSM Advogados who filed a summons to the court. We got a recommendation from a few posters on the forum. We are happy with their representation so far.
Worst thing , without making payment = no qualification under new law
Paxlaw is great law firm and Dr. Barbara is always responding emails and assisting clients for immigration issues. If you need contact no, I can provide
Wow I want to thank everyone for your quick and informative responses! With three recommendations, we reached out to NMS on their general website and am hoping to hear back. Fingers crossed our non-payment does not severely affect our GV application as we did everything possible to get the property purchases and documentation in as soon as we heard about the Portugal GV criteria changes. I am grateful for this community!
@jklou2005 I hope it works out. But you are facing two problems:
- Without payment it is possible that you didn’t register your application and therefore not qualified under the pre-October 2023 rules allowing real estate investments.
- Several lawyers have advised that under the new Constitutional rules, the start date begins when payment is made so even if your application is accepted now, you are waiting an extra 1+ year to start your waiting time.
I am not a lawyer, but I think it would be best to submit your payment now and see what happens. Assuming they deny your application, then you should consider filing a lawsuit.
It is good you have a new lawyer now.
Good luck.