Maybe others like me are at the point of looking for temporary or permanent alternatives to Portugal. I’d love to hear what others have learned and considered.
We’ve decided on France. Their one year visitor visa is very easy to get from the US. It does require actual residency. I don’t know of anywhere in the EU that has a requirement as minimal as the GV. But if there is, please comment.
- About €26,000 in passive income or savings for a couple
- Health insurance that can be had for €150 month to month for a couple. You’ll only need to carry this for 6-9 months until you are on the French public system.
- Proof of residence. 3 months at an Airbnb is enough.
That’s it. It took me an hour to gather the paperwork and file the application. We went in person to the Washington DC consulate and had our visa in a week.
That’s a one year visitor visa that doesn’t allow working domestically or internationally. You can renew this yearly and after 5 years you have long term resident or naturalization options. Most people I read stick with the 10 year resident cards. Citizenship is possible but less sure. There is a requirement of integrating into French life that is at the discretion of the local government where you apply. While the requirements for citizenship are intentionally fuzzy, everything I read is that it is at least a sane process.
There are other visa options if you want to start a business (can be solo).
We’re keeping both French and Portuguese paths open for now. The rise of the right wing in France is concerning. Ironically, a reason we originally chose Portugal is that we thought that once we had the application in place we’d be locked into the rules and insulated from political whims. Joke’s on me.