Portugal Golden Visa lawyer fees: costs, scope and VAT

What does the initial Golden Visa legal fee include?

The starting fee is for legal assistance across the initial application, not just submission of a form. The proposal identifies the particular route and work through the first residence title, including:

• Assessment of the applicant's eligibility and the proposed investment route.
• Immigration-related review of investment and source-of-funds documentation.
• Legal assistance with the NIF, bank-account process and powers of attorney where required for the file.
• Preparation and review of the application documents, including coordination of translations, apostilles and certifications.
• Application submission, appointment preparation and attendance support.
• Administrative follow-up and responses to document requests within the agreed initial application scope.

Coordination of an external service does not include the provider's charge. Bank onboarding and authority decisions remain outside the lawyer's control. If separate court proceedings become relevant, their mandate and fees must be expressly addressed in writing.

For eligibility and the wider service, see our Portugal Golden Visa legal support page. Our AIMA appointment checklist explains why the document workload can differ between files.

What is not included in the lawyer's fee?

• Government charges: AIMA application, analysis and permit charges, and other official fees.
• The qualifying investment: capital invested or contributed is not a legal fee.
• Third-party expenses: translations, apostilles, certifications, document issuance, courier, banking, transfers and investment-provider charges.
• Later procedures: renewals, permanent residence and a possible citizenship application require separate assessment and quotation.
• Other professional advice: separate tax, investment or foreign-law advice is not included in the initial immigration legal fee.

ABRS provides independent Portuguese legal advice; it does not sell investment funds or promise investment returns. A proposal should distinguish the work performed by ABRS from amounts payable to authorities and other providers.

How much do dependants add to the legal fees?

Legal fees start at €1,500 per dependant in specific situations. The amount depends on the family relationship, dependency evidence, documents and scope. It is not a universal price or confirmation that a particular relative is eligible.

The following calculations illustrate professional fees only, assuming the starting fee applies to the main applicant and each dependant and is confirmed in the written proposal:

Main applicant only

€6,500

Main applicant + one dependant
€6,500 + €1,500

€8,000

Main applicant + two dependants
€6,500 + €1,500 + €1,500

€9,500

These are not total Golden Visa budgets or binding quotes. Add the applicable government charges for each person, third-party expenses and the investment; VAT is added only where legally applicable.

What government fees should be budgeted separately?

AIMA's fee table effective from 1 March 2026 separates ARI analysis from grant of the permit. In the table's reduced-charge column, applying section XIV, the amounts are:

Receipt and analysis of an initial ARI application

€632.10

Grant of the first ARI permit

€6,314.20

Analysis + first grant, per person in this example

€6,946.30

The table lists the same analysis and first-grant amounts for family reunification with an ARI holder. Its unreduced amounts are €842.80 and €8,418.90 respectively. Section XIV provides channel-related reductions, including transitional treatment for in-person services; the amount actually charged must be checked for the procedure and date of payment.

At the €6,500 starting legal fee and using the reduced amounts above, one applicant would budget €13,446.30 for legal fees plus these two AIMA charges, before investment, third-party expenses, any other applicable official charges and VAT if due. This is a worked example, not an all-inclusive package.

Source: AIMA official fee table, section III.3 and section XIV (PDF). Reviewed on 2 September 2026; confirm the current payment notice rather than relying on an older fee quotation.

How does ABRS prepare a fee proposal?

1. Initial call: understand the intended route, country of residence, family circumstances, document status and scope.
2. Viability assessment: consider whether the matter can reasonably proceed on the information available. This is not a guarantee of approval.
3. Written proposal: only if viable, set out the legal work, applicant and dependant fees, VAT treatment, separate expenses and payment terms.

A useful proposal makes the end point explicit: the first residence title, not an unspecified multi-year service. Where documents need to be signed remotely, the scope of a Portuguese power of attorney should also be clear.

Applicants with U.S.-specific document or tax questions can read our Golden Visa guide for U.S. citizens. Those issues may require advice beyond the Portuguese immigration mandate.