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Hi Victor, Welcome.

We don't advise anyone here. But a simple search on the internet shows us that your contact is a firm of English lawyers who have a branch in Lisbon.... and so they charge more for their services, and know less about the local reality than Portuguese lawyers...

It's your choice, but many people from US do the whole process themselves. Here are some support links:

Experience sharing about Visas to Portugal (D7 & others)

/forum/viewtopic.php?id=971460

+ info for non EU citizens who want to apply for a PT visa:

/forum/viewtopic.php?id=908742

@JohnnyPT

Thank you so much!

Victor,

I am through my VFS appointment and waiting for approval of my D7 Visa.  I hired a very prominent lawyer, but after doing so I heard a lot of people tell me that it really isn't necessary and you can do pretty much everything yourself.  In addition, apparently lots of lawyers don't really do very much after getting paid.  I will say that was my experience - our lawyer hasn't done very much for us, and as we learn about the process it's not as difficult as it seems.  We essentially needed to do everything ourselves, and our lawyer only really helped us with a few things - getting our NIFs, getting our Portuguese bank account set up, and performing a document review prior to our VFS appointment.  There is a group on a big social media site (I'm not sure if the rules allow me to say more) that has a bunch of guides and information that was vastly more helpful than our lawyer. 

Our lawyer did say that she or a staff member will accompany us to our AIMA appointments, and if they do then I would consider (part of) the money we paid her to be well spent, but other than that it wasn't really worth what we paid. 

If you do DIY this, I would consider getting help getting your NIF and bank account set up.  There are companies that do things piecemeal rather than asking for big bucks for an end-to-end solution.  I would also make sure you find a good checklist for your VFS appointment.  VFS is clamping down - for instance they used to let you apply if you didn't have your apostilled FBI background check (you just mailed it to them when you received it), but now apparently they are cancelling appointments altogether if you don't have it!  So as long as you're certain that you have all your ducks in a row for VFS, there shouldn't be a need for a lawyer unless you have an unusual application or you don't have time to track down a good list of documents. 

I'd be happy to explain my experience with my lawyer if you want (send me a PM), but it was not the firm you mentioned. 

Hi and thank you so much for all of that information!

Of course, being through this yourself, you realize the whole process can be daunting at first. I am still learning and evaluating. I also appreciate the heads up per the FBI background check and having that apostilled. very good to know.

Thanks again!