I am in the middle of diligencing law firms to help my family of 5 through the GV process in Portugal. We live in California and so far it seems that a lot of what these lawyers want to help you with - getting a NIF, setting up a bank account, etc - is not terribly hard. That said, for convenience, to ensure nothing is missed, and ideally to see if this ends up slightly expedited, I would like the help of an experienced attorney. I am, however, SHOCKED by the expensive quotes we’re getting. They range - All in including the final passport / citizenship step - from 19k EUR (assuming only 1 renewal) up to 33k EUR (assuming 2 renewals) . I would appreciate hearing from people who have found competent but more economical firms.
No, these quotes are just for the legal work. The state fees (approx 10k per person up front) are in addition. We’re budgeting 85k in fees total for the family of 5
We used CTSU in Lisbon, which is part of the Deloitte network. Almost 5 years ago now and have no complaints. They are professional, helpful and responsive. Not sure what their current fees are but worth getting in touch to find out. Jorge Martins is their main contact on immigration matters:
So far I’ve only paid half of the initial fee. They don’t have any annual fees for tax representation like some of the other lawyers had. The only extras that I’ve had to pay for were translation services for the documents, but that was only a nominal amount. Considering the effort to apply, I can’t imagine trying to do it myself.
I’m about to sign on with a firm for PT GV application - thus far I’ve spoken with Holborn, Portugal Homes, Global Citizen Solutions, movingto, and Edge. Comments on experiences with any of these would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Since when working with any of these you still need a lawyer, my choice was to just cut out the advisor and work directly with the law firms. Once you understand the process, it’s really not that complicated and it seems the primary value these middleman like Holborn provide is to vet investment options for you, but there are some well known options out there so not sure what you’re really paying for tbh
Yes, I agree with Grant. He listed some good options to vet (I would only add SBPS to the list.) Also, some of these middle man brokers have arrangements with the investment firms to get kickbacks. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it also means they may not have your best interests in mind.
You seem to be adding layers upon layers of ‘consultants’ to the process, which is unlikely to bring you any extra value for your money. In fact it could be to the detriment as you’d have too many middle-men to go through on each enquiry.
There are some folks here on this forum who of the extreme opinion that you can go totally solo, without a lawyer. I am not one of the same opinion
However, I would recommend a balanced approach and some proper hands-on input from the applicant themselves aided by a good lawyer on the ground in PT.
I have had a great experience with Lexidy. My lawyer was Vasco and Im sure we couldnt have done it without him. Specially considering the amount of investment not worth it pursuing it by yourself, unless you can spend a significant amount of hours working on this- anyways it gave me a peace of mind and visited them a number of times at their Lisbon office. Cheers!
If I were to do PT GV again (I would not), here is how I would cut down unnecessary costs:
Tax representation:
Whether kids should obtain NIFs has been thoroughly discussed on this forum, but Dependents (including spouse and kids) do NOT need tax rep, assuming they have no income and no assets (that would generate rent/IMI/dividend/etc.) in Portugal. Just pay what it costs to obtain the NIFs, then sign up for email notifications.
Main Applicant doesn’t need ongoing tax rep either in most cases, if you remain non tax resident, the investment is your only tax exposure in PT, and whatever income/distributions are already post withholding. If at any point you become tax resident of PT, then you need a proper accountant to FILE taxes, not tax rep.
bordr has very good articles on how to do simple things yourself.
Attorneys: Assuming scope of work does not include due diligence (before you make any investments) or contract negotiation, and instead only includes the GV and citizenship applications. I would not pay more than the following:
initial application: 5k EUR for the ENTIRE FAMILY
each renewal: 2k EUR for the ENTIRE FAMILY
citizenship: 2k EUR for the first two family members, then 500 EUR for each kid
FYI this is how much IAS charged as of 3 years ago. I would avoid the rent seekers who try to charge you more than a few hundred bucks per kid. After all, all they have to do for each dependent is type in some basic info, help with logistics, and get you to collect the documents (birth certificates, etc.). The part of the application relating to the investment, bank letter, etc. are not repeated for the dependents.
STAY AWAY from “consultants”. Sure, talk to them for free as much as you want. Most of them are under no legal obligations to disclose to you the amount of kickbacks they receive to recommend what they recommend.
