# Applying for Golden Visa - By Yourself?



## PortugalBound (Nov 24, 2018)

Hello, my family and I are going to move to the Algarve next year (for a year or two) from the US and are planning to apply for Golden Visas, by purchasing real estate. I see lots of firms that handle the paperwork of ensuring the house qualifies, applying, etc., but they all seem to charge 5.000 Euro or so per person (in addition to the government fees). Has anyone just hired a solicitor/lawyer to help on an hourly basis, or done it themselves? 15.000 Euro seems like a lot to fill out the same set of forms three times for me, my significant other, and our kid... Or is it more complicated than I'm understanding? I planned to hire a solicitor to help with the real estate transaction anyway - couldn't he or she also help with the Golden Visas? 

Thanks so much for your help!


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## travelling-man (Jun 17, 2011)

Some of the agencies are absolute rip off merchants & some charge several times more than the 15k you've mentioned. The short answer is yes you can have a lawyer do it for you but it's a lot more convenient if you use a lawyer in the same local area as you hope to invest/live in so in the case you mention an Algarve lawyer will be required.


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## johnjohn47 (Feb 9, 2014)

I have hired lawyers here for various reasons with varying amounts of success/failure. You could outline your situation and questions band emailto all these chambers in the Algarve, a publicly available list for information only = no recommendations from the UK FCO

https://assets.publishing.service.g...573/Lawyers_in_the_Algarve__Portugal_2018.pdf


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## PortugalBound (Nov 24, 2018)

Thanks, Travelling-man. 

It's really hard to tell if all these Golden Visa services are legitimate / whether they provide value above and beyond just hiring an independent solicitor to do the application (and help with the real estate transaction). 

Has anyone here successfully applied for a Golden Visa, either by yourself or with a service or solicitor? Cannot seem to find anyone documenting their actual real-world experience, and am only seeing marketing pieces. Thank you all


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## PortugalBound (Nov 24, 2018)

And thank you for that list JohnJohn47.


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## AquamarineSea (Dec 6, 2018)

How much do you have to have for a Golden Visa? Do you have to invest the money and/or create jobs? Could you please give me an outline of the criteria?


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## travelling-man (Jun 17, 2011)

AquamarineSea said:


> How much do you have to have for a Golden Visa? Do you have to invest the money and/or create jobs? Could you please give me an outline of the criteria?



Golden Visa requirements:

https://www.expatica.com/pt/visas-and-permits/golden-visa-portugal_1042263.html 

https://imigrante.sef.pt/en/solicitar/residir/art90-a/


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## PortugalBound (Nov 24, 2018)

Basic options are: a) buy 500k of real estate, b) buy 350k of real estate (if property older than 30 years old. 350k can include money spent renovating property. Unclear to me if you NEED to do renovations or if you can just buy an older property for 350k that's already done), c) bring in 1mm of assets, or d) create some number of jobs (I think 10?). I'm trying to do b - but still not clear to me if any 350k house built in 1988 or earlier counts, or if I really need to renovate it.


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## DrT (Aug 25, 2019)

*Success...feedback?*

Hi Portugalbound

How did you manage with your GV application?


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## PortugalBound (Nov 24, 2018)

DrT said:


> Hi Portugalbound
> 
> How did you manage with your GV application?


It worked out! Application for golden visa was approved a couple months after submitting it. We bought a sub 500k property that was built in the 60s and renovated by the developer. Still have to go interview with SEF but the property qualified. Thanks for all the guidance on here. We did use a lawyer for our purchase and application. Fingers crossed it all goes smoothly from here!


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## suiko (Dec 7, 2015)

Why does anyone do the Golden visa as opposed to the D7, which demands resources much more within the reach of most people?


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## PortugalBound (Nov 24, 2018)

For me, it gives me more options than the D7: A) I can still get citizenship in 5 years but don't have to be in-country the whole time (only an average of a week a year on GV), B) I can live elsewhere in Schengen on if I want without 90 day limits (I don't think this works on D7 but I'm not sure), and C) I'm allowed to work on the golden visa if I want as opposed to being purely retired . So it's more expensive, but it affords more optionality. 

Agree that if the D7 covers your needs, you should do that instead given the cost differential. Sometimes the GV is necessary though. 



suiko said:


> Why does anyone do the Golden visa as opposed to the D7, which demands resources much more within the reach of most people?


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