If you’re thinking about moving to Portugal as a non-EU citizen, you’ll probably need to apply for a visa like the D7, digital nomad visa, or any of the other routes to residency that Portugal offers.
Naturally, you’re more likely to be successful if you work with a Portuguese lawyer who specialises in immigration. Immigration lawyers see hundreds and thousands of visa applications per year, are regularly in contact with the different consulates, and in short, have a good idea of what it takes to get a successful visa application.
But lawyers in Portugal are not cheap. Expect to pay around €2,000-€3,000 per person on the application, typically with some discounts on any additional person included such as a spouse or children. This money adds up, which is why many people try to do it themselves.
But, there’s a new kid in town, visas.pt, which charges a flat rate of €1,195 (or €895 with the code plvisa) for assistance with the following visas:
- D7 (typically for those with pensions or other investments)
- Digital Nomad Visa (typically for remote workers or freelancers)
- D2 (typically for entrepreneurs)
- Work Visa (typically for those with jobs in Portugal)
- D6 or Family Reunification Visa (typically for those with a family member already in Portugal)
€895 is at least half what you can expect to pay with any other law firm in Portugal. So what do you get? Once you’ve signed up and paid, you’ll be put in touch with a lawyer who’ll arrange a call, check over the documents required for the visa and make any necessary comments on what needs to be added or changed.
This cost does not include the cost of a NIF number or Portuguese bank account, both of which are typically required for visa applications like the D7, and the additional cost comes to €495. This is cheaper than what most lawyers charge, but slightly (around €50) more expensive than online services like Bordr, which charge USD $460 for the NIF and bank account. However, visas.pt might be slightly cheaper as they suggest a bank account opening time of around 2 weeks whereas services like Bordr and E-Residence suggest you should expect to wait 3-4 weeks.
It takes around a week to obtain a NIF number and around 2 weeks to open a bank account, assuming all the necessary paperwork has been sent. This is all done through video call where the lawyers verify the documents via a video call. The lawyers are given limited power of attorney and are then able to go to the bank and open the account on their behalf. Currently, visas.pt open accounts with Novo Banco but may start partnerships with other Portuguese banks in the future.
If you do everything through visas.pt, expect to pay around €1390 for an application for a single person. If you want to add additional people to an application (e.g. a spouse or partner and children) there are additional costs but these are discounted: 50% for the second person and 70% for any additional people beyond that.
(You will need to contact visas.pt to obtain the discount – contact@visas.pt. Be sure to mention the discount code plvisa so you can get your original discount too).
Services
Currently Visas.pt offers two categories of service:
- NIF and bank accounts
- Legal assistance for visa applications (such as the D7 or digital nomad visa)
Reviews
Visas.pt is new and to date, does not have any reviews on TrustPilot, Google, or elsewhere. The company is run by Buy Property Inc, which is the same company behind BuyProperty.com, the fastest growing property portal in Portugal. Buy Property Inc has partnered with one of the largest law firms in Portugal and the lawyers within that firm handle the visa applications. According to the visas.pt website, your application will be handled by lawyers and not just a relocation expert.