Is anyone able to help re what the British equivalent of proof of tax status might be? Thanks a lot! Margaret
I went for the printed copy of my NI number from the HMRC website, duly apostilled. This seemed to be accepted for preliminary approval, my biometrics appointment is soon.
Thanks for this Chris. How odd - I didn’t have to show an NI number for my pre-approval. Do you know what we have to show for biometrics? btw, I got pre-approval on 13 October, and am awaiting news of biometrics. I’m told it is “soon!”
I’m taking the same again to biometrics, and my lawyer seems happy with it. My bio is in three weeks… will report back!
The above posters are all correct, it will be your NIN printout letter from your HMRC online portal.
In theory, it needs to be:
a) UK notarized (basically a notary adds his sign/seal just so it could be apostilled)
b) UK apostilled
c) translated to Portuguese
d) translation notarized in PT by a PT-based notary or lawyer
I did all of the above.
In practice though, the following was accepted by SEF at biometrics:
a) certified as ‘true copy’ by my PT lawyer
b) translated to Portuguese by the same lawyer
I am guessing they ‘relax’ a bit on this tax document because it is just an electronic printout with no signature or anything, so not a ‘natural’ type of document for being apostilled, unlike your police record where the apostille at least has some meaning (it confirms the signatory from ACRO is a genuine signatory).
Thank you so much for this. I’m the main applicant, with my husband as spouse applicant. Am I right in thinking that only my NIN is required? Plus marriage certificate and 2 police checks? Is there anything else you think I would need from the UK end? Thanks a lot.
I think that’s all that’s legally required. My lawyer also asked me to bring any expired passports to the bio appointment. And I plan to take along some other docs such as birth certificates, just in case.
(I wonder how many of us Brits there are pursuing GV post-Brexit?)
I was wondering the same thing? How many Brits are trying to get their freedom of movement back?
Yes that’s it. We’re applying from the UK and for the biometrics appointment I’ve been told by our lawyer to provide both passports, both ACRO police certificates, NIN for myself (main applicant), and marriage certificate for spouse. There are additional documents to provide for any dependent children included in your application.
However you also need to provide a Portuguese Tax Authority and Portuguese Social Security declaration of ‘no debt’ or ‘no record’, whether you live in PT or not. In my case my lawyer said they will get that for me so it’s not something I’ve had to organise myself.
I am also awaiting a reply from lawyer as to whether we need updated documents showing that we still hold our GV investment, because I believe (from memory) that another poster over on another thread said that they were asked for that by the SEF clerk.
My lawyer also confirmed that we did not need to present proof of health insurance coverage. Bearing in mind we are not living in PT, I don’t know if that’s different for applicants who are living in PT.
There’s one here - me, my spouse and 2 x kids currently in uni. I’m thinking long term about it partly for the kids. Provided they stay in uni for the 5 years of residence and commit to learning basic Portuguese (A2 level), they will eventually meet the requirements for PT citizenship which they may find useful just as they are leaving uni - they will be able to work across the whole EU. Also for my husband and I we don’t want to be restricted to spending only 90/180 days in the EU. Besides we may decide to work there in the future too, whether in PT or elsewhere, or plain old retire somewhere warm and sunny.
That’s right. I’m applying from the UK. The NI number was not needed for submitting the initial application nor for pre-approval, but our lawyer has requested that I (the main applicant) provide it for the biometrics appointment which we have coming up on 6 March.
Thank you!
Our GV investment is a house in Castro Marim, and our lawyer will just go to the land registry in Portugal to confirm that it is still ours (document downloaded for a handful of euros, I believe).
It’s great to be able to share information, as this process can be so isolating.
Thanks again!
Margaret
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Great to hear from you. We were devastated to lose our freedom of movement. 90/180 days in Schengen is very very restrictive for the kind of things we need/want to do. We are already retired, but need to be resident in the UK for a few more years due to family commitments. A2 isn’t particularly onerous. Portuguese is easier than is generally made out, but there are very few good teachers out there. And almost no decent textbooks.
Oooh – exciting. How much notice did you get? We got pre-approval in October and are currently waiting, and hoping that it won’t be a last-minute thing. How much notice were you given?
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Nice! Although I have yet to visit the Algarve. We will be making a short trip to Faro and then Portimao for biometrics 6 Mar.
We went for the IMGA Portuguese Equity fund instead as we’re not currently in a position to move to PT and we didn’t want all the upkeep of a property.
Anyway good luck with your application and I hope you get your biometrics appointment soon. Things seem to be moving once again. We were pre-approved back in Mar/May '22 (applied Oct/Nov '21) and got lucky with the recent bout of biometrics appointments that were released in December '22.
Yes I was devastated too about loss of freedom of movement, and so happy to find this PT GV option. I could hardly believe it at first. I kept saying to my friend who told me about the PT GV - they care currently living in PT on the D7 visa - I kept saying to them no you are wrong. Residence means you live in the country 6 months per year. Finally after more research I realised it was genuine. Wish I had applied way back when the referendum result came out. But I kept thinking surely this won’t happen. It’s crazy! But here we are. 
Happy to have this option.
We
- applied Oct/Nov '21
- pre-approved Mar/May '22
- the latest batch of appointments were released 16th December '22 with a 10 DAY WINDOW for booking.
I only learnt that appointments had been released some 5 or so days into this 10 day window - from browsing this forum - and with Christmas literally in a few days time.
Thankfully our PT lawyer had scheduled our appointments anyway on 16th Dec, same day they were released, and confirmed this to me after I started sending her panicked emails and messages just before Christmas!
But then our appointments were different days and locations - very inconvenient as we’re travelling over from the UK - but our wonderful lawyer was able to get SEF to re-schedule us so we are all now on the same day and time - 6 Mar in Portimao.
I then frantically went gathering all the documents - Dec, Jan, over New Year - and sorting the notarisations and apostilles, the last of which has now been despatched by the Legalisation Office.
I am only hoping that nothing comes up at the last minute to make a mess of all our plans - like cancelled flights, strike issues and we don’t get to the airport, or we show up at SEF and they tell us we have no appointments in the system. I’ll only be chilled after we’ve had the SEF appointment.