What the agreement has to say

Seven clauses

1. Which stages are covered, by number

   The process has six stages and they are set out on the front page. An agreement that speaks of the application without naming stage 1 or stage 6 has left two of them undefined, and those two are the ones that fall outside the middle of the work.

   Ask for the stage numbers in the scope clause, not a description of the work.

2. Who pays the government fees, and for how many people

   Fees are set by the state under Portaria 307/2023 and revised since, and one set is charged per person for the application and the first card3. State whether the quoted price includes them, excludes them, or passes them through at cost, and state the number of people it assumes.

   A quotation for one applicant and a family of four are different documents.

3. The scope of any power of attorney

   A power of attorney is what makes remote steps possible, and its limits decide what still has to be signed personally. Set out which documents the attorney may sign, whether it reaches the investment itself, when it lapses, and how it is revoked. Biometrics cannot be delegated: the applicant has to be in Portugal, lawfully, on the day1.

   Name the acts covered, then the acts excluded.

4. Who obtains translations, apostilles and legalisations

   These are the slow items, and they are obtained in whatever countries the applicant has lived in. Say who orders each, who pays, and what happens when one has to be redone because a certificate of no tax or Social Security debt has passed its 45 days1.

   The clause that matters is the one about the second attempt, not the first.

5. What happens when AIMA asks for more

   AIMA can come back for anything missing or in the wrong form1. Name who receives that request, who answers it, inside what time, and at whose cost. Say how the request reaches the applicant if it arrives at an adviser's address under a power of attorney.

   A request answered late can cost more than a request answered wrongly.

6. Whether renewals are inside the price

   The permit runs two years and is renewed while the investment is held1, so the first renewal falls long after the work being priced. State whether renewals are covered, for how many cycles, and at what price if they are not. Renewals sets out what each cycle involves.

   Renewal is the clause most often absent.

7. Refusal, withdrawal, and what happens to the investment

   Say what is refunded on a refusal, what is not, and who bears the government fees already paid. Then deal with the investment separately: it is subject to a declaration to hold it for at least five years1, it may not be directed at real estate4, and unwinding it is governed by the fund or body that holds it rather than by the engagement letter.

   Two questions, two clauses. They are not the same money.

Two things no agreement can promise

A decision date is the first. Stages 4 and 5 are held by AIMA, which has carried a backlog since 2023; the government undertook in October 2025 to clear pending investment files during 20261. No source publishes a processing time for an individual file. Pace sets out what governs each stage instead.

Personal attendance is the second. Every person on the file gives biometrics in Portugal, and lawful entry and stay are tested on that day1. Family members are added through a reunification request made with the main application and standing or falling with it2, so each of them has the same obligation.