This is the best article out there on the Golden Visa. After reading this article about 3 months ago and comparing it with a lot of other information out there, I decided to go for it, and since then we have bought an apartment in Lisbon and are now in the process of applying for the Golden Visa.
I wanted to share my experience as an American applying for the Golden Visa in the middle of the pandemic.
I did this in a bit of a rush because of the imminent changes at the end of the year and because I thought I would get a better price buying an apartment right after the lockdown restrictions were lifted. I flew in from New York with an invitation from a lawyer and Pearls of Portugal since tourist wasn’t allowed. I found Lisbon to be rather expensive relative to the cost of living, but have no doubt that with the new “work from home” changes, Lisbon will become a Mecca for both Europeans and Americans wanting to live and work remotely. I’ve been coming to Europe and Lisbon for 15 years, so I already knew how good of a life exists here relative to New York and other place in the world I have lived.
First, I found very easy to book appointments with Idealista. Everyone looking must download the app and use it to communicate with realtors. Almost all speak good English and are very happy to show you their properties and others. I also connected with Pearls of Portugal as recommended by this site. I found them very friendly as well, but ultimately redundant and a waste of money. I wound up cancelling a lot of the viewings I had scheduled myself because all they were doing was looking at the same places probably in Idealista. They are just a very expensive Uber service and I am sure all buyer side brokers are.
Another company that I connected with was Ei! Immigrante hoping they would help me with the Golden Visa. I had heard very good things about them from a local friend. They were discouraging me from the Golden Visa initially for good reason. When I explained that I actually wanted to invest in property in Lisbon and live in it, they understood and connected me with a lawyer who specializes in that, Dr. Daniel Reis from Reis Pellicano. Ultimately that was the lawyer that I stuck with but not without comparing a couple over email . I exchanged emails with several lawyers and ultimate settled on Reis Pellicano. I wanted to bring in my in-laws who are over 65 and I had read that I don’t need evidence of support. One of the lawyers I connected in Porto recommended by Pearls of Portugal was telling me I still needed support evidence. That was enough to discard her. Dr. Daniel Reis was super helpful, in fact, way more helpful with negotiations for the property than Pearls of Portugal. One issue I am encountering is the delays in the US State Department for Apostilles. It was taking more than 3 months to get anything apostilled. And the FBI fingerprints are only valid for 3 months. Fortunately, got mine back in 10 weeks, just enough time. I also would recommend a “channeler” to get your FBI fingerprints. Their turn around time is a week for FBI fingerprints, as opposed to at least a month without them.
One of the requirements to do anything in Portugal is applying for the NIF (tax id). Ei! Imigrante did that for me. But I also hired them to be my “tax representative”. That is a weird requirement in Portugal, where you must have a Portuguese Tax representative who inherits some serious liability if you wind up not paying taxes. So, that was another 1,000 euros for 1 year of tax representation for my wife and me. I believe even my in-laws will need a “tax representative” while going through the immigration process if they don’t live in Portugal.
In the end, I would up spending more than 500,000 euros for the apartment, so I didn’t have to worry about 350k rules. I found nothing for that price range with 3 bedrooms in areas near the center. Closing on the apartment took about 30 days. It could have been less but there were some small repairs that the seller took care of and gas installation. Installing services has been a total pain. The lawyer advised me that it would. Lots of paperwork. I asked for help from Pearls of Portugal but they basically refused and pointed me to the website.
So, I am very happy with my decision. I could have saved some money (particularly the 7,000 euro fee from Pearls of Portugal) if I had known better, but relative to the entire process, it was a small mistake. One of the most shocking things was the real estate purchase tax. About 8% when you get to over 600k euros. I did not expect that. I hear it is a lot less when you are dealing with 200k (2-3%). I think if you are willing to live 30 minutes from Lisbon or further, you can get really good deals for that price range. For me, that was non-negotiable.
