Golden Visa Consultants

I'm neither a financial adviser nor a Golden Visa expert but this may solve your problem:

You can contact Caixa Geral de Depositos, which is the biggest and oldest portuguese bank, more than a century old, and state owned but run like any other commercial bank.

This bank has an investment arm that will be able to advise you as to which investement(s) will be accepted for the Golden Visa. They have the best and most professional financial experts on their staff and won't sell you anything you don't need or want. They won't press you or mislead you either.

They are what banks used to be like in the old days = an honest service to any client.

Here's their contact page for Investment Banking in Lisbon (headquaters): https://www.cgd.pt/english/institutiona … mento.aspx

They have an office in New York as well.

Please note that there's been many scams with people pretending to be visa & investment consultants, when they are not, just trying to make money in fees and promoting dodgy investments that may not be accepted for a Golden Visa application. Be aware of money sharks!

The process for applying for a Golden Visa is similar to any other visa:

1) Get a portuguese tax number = NIF number (one for each of you)

2) With your own NIF number(s) you open a portuguese bank account (can be a joint account)

3) Transfer money to your portuguese bank account to invest in Portugal (must be an investment that is accepted for the Golden Visa)

4) Choose your investment and pay for it with your funds.

5) Apply for your Golden Visa online through the VFS Global site (follow steps). You'll need to book an appointment online for your nearest VFS office in your country and go there for an interview in person, with all your docs including proof of your investment.

6) It'll take about 60 to 90 days for you to hear about your visa (accepted or rejected) and to collect your passports with visas.

7) The initial visa will be issued for 3 years, and it will be renewed for 2 more years. After 5 years you can apply for permanent residency or portuguese citizenship. Allow another 2 years for a portuguese passport.

Please note that Caixa Geral de Depositos may not sell all financial products currently on the market but they'll be able to advise you on everything you need to know relating to investing.

Hope this is of help.

You can follow news on Portugal Golden Visas here: https://schengen.news/

Long delays are common:  https://schengen.news/long-visa-process … -in-limbo/

Thank you for your help.  It is truly appreciated.

I'm pretty sure that you could apply for your Golden Visa without involving any "agents" or "law firms", just follow the info above, if you so wish. Unfortunately lawyers & solicitors are not always what you'd expect them to be = honest. Some will just try to squeeze out as much as possible in fees and will recommend dodgy funds that pay them fat referal fees but may not be what you need.

There will be many investment funds sold by other banks & financial institutions, but I think that Caixa Geral de Depositos (aka CGD) will have a selection of the best and most promising ones. After talking to CGD you could also talk to other portuguese banks & financial institutions and see what each one has to offer in investment funds.

You can open your bank account with CGD and buy an investment from somewhere else.

On your next visit to Portugal you can apply for you NIF numbers just by visiting any branch of Finanças (Tax Office) there's always one in each town center, just ask anyone where is the nearest.

It's free to apply for your NIFs, just take your ID docs and proof of your address in your country, or an address in Portugal if you have one you can use for 6 months or so, as you'll be receiving by post your NIF numbers and a code to access your NIF accounts online plus any correspondence from the Finanças. That's important to keep your correspondence secure, as you'll need your NIFs and codes in the future, one for each person. It'll take 3 to 6 weeks to receive you NIF numbers and codes.

With the NIF numbers you can go to any bank and open a bank account, you don't need to give Power of Attorney to dodgy "immigration consultants". CGD will give you further advice about opening account etc.

Please take all your ID docs with you, including proof of your current address and mariage certificate when you go to the bank or tax office.

But you can also contact CGD Investment by email any time soon (email in link above) and start the ball rolling. They'll take you under their wing and direct you.

I think it's all for now. I'll send you a Private Message with a link that may be usedul.

P.S. It looks like I need to add you to my contact list to be able to send you a PM. Done now!