I see a lot of info (and understandable questions, given the GV possibly no longer being offered), but am on a D7 trajectory to get PT residency and possibly citizenship. My partner and I have watched a lot of youtube videos, read several blogs, talked to expat friends in the EU about their emigration experience to the Schengen (but not PT), and hoping this forum might provide a place to gain understanding and recommendations for managing the D& process.
Here’s a couple of early requests: Thoughts on using consultants/lawyers to aid in the process
Any recommendations for whether to use assistance, and if so, specific firms to consider. We have an intro appointment with EI next week, but reading here that (for GV help) many have found smaller firms to be better and more affordable. Would love to hear thoughts and suggestions!
We’re coming to Portugal for a couple weeks or more this August/September to scout a bit. Should we get our NIF ahead of the trip so we can open a bank account while in country? If so, any rec’s as to how to best go about addressing these (NIF + bank account)? Any pitfalls to be aware of?
Best areas to live We I aren’t sure yet where we want to land. Looking for cities more than countryside, good access to transportation, walkable to a reasonable extent, not expat-focused. Any thoughts about where we should look? We’ve booked stays in Taveira and Lisbon, but looking to add a strop or two in between.
We’ll have more questions, but these sems sufficient to hopefully start a conversation, Really appreciate your thoughts; thanks in advance.
I have not used them myself, but bordr comes highly recommended for getting your NIF and bank account remotely. Getting these steps taken care of will greatly smooth/speed up your scouting in Portugal. The NIF itself is fairly straightforward but there are differing interpretations about needing fiscal representation, just one of the many muddy bureaucratic hurdles you will face. Getting a bank account is way more document/time/scrutiny intensive than in the US, so be prepared for that. We got our NIFS and bank account using lawyers in Portugal, using POA, wet-signed forms and video meetings.
In my opinion, many people focus too much on the smaller dollar aspects of moving to Portugal, at the expense of the bigger picture. Bordr costs a few hundred dollars for their services, and you get a fancy bank account and pay for annual fiscal representation, which you could theoretically do yourself. But you would have to come to Portugal, find a NIF sponsor and turn over all of your financial documents to a random bank teller. It could take weeks/months and repeated efforts to find a bank that will take you. Moving to another country is time, resource and attention intensive, so look for ways to minimize each step. (Other NIF services online are available, just can’t remember the names.)
@daniel.v.pike I used https://www.nifonline.pt to obtain my NIF. You can used them for fiscal representation also. I paid EUR 79 last year for the NIF, and EUR99 for fiscal representation for this tax year.
Wrt to opening a bank account, I would ensure you get an appointment before hand to specifically open a bank account at the bank of your choosing. Most banks don’t just entertain walk-ins these days, and at times may not have a slot (for account openings) for days.
Thanks for sharing this. Not opposed to paying to get some of the details of moving/getting our D7 addressed with less stress and time. Thanks again for responding.
This sounds like a pretty good deal for the NIF. Do you know if NIFonline will also handle opening a bank account, too? Trying to figure out options there.
I am sorry, I don’t mean to sound like a shill. There are lots of options to get these tasks taken care of, and sometimes people can get intimidated or worried about expenses and try to find workarounds or discounts but it really is a process that will cost more and take longer than it should.
expats have taken over a lot of the country already. Expats have been there for a long time - Brits have been vacationing and using the south as a summer home for forever. If you want to get away from them, you need to go into the interior. At the very least you’re avoiding the entire Algarve. Even smaller towns like Caldas da Rainha and Nazare have a pretty heavy expat contingent at this point.
Have you spent any real time there yet? I would highly suggest doing so and not relying on videos and the internet. A very glossy picture gets painted because it sells to eyeballs.
I understand that there are a lot of expats already in place. I
understand that it’s been a long-time favorite for Brits to go on
holidays, and have heard that, post-Brexit, there was an increase in
Brits moving to Portugal, especially the Algarve. So not looking to
avoid expats–I’ll be one myself–but want to not find myself in an
enclave that’s dominated by them.
We haven’t been to Portugal yet, but are planning to spend a few weeks
in September on a scouting trip. We’ll spend time in a number of twins
between Lisbon and Vila Real de San Antonio, and hopefully come away
with a better sense of where we want to land. I appreciate your
insights; thanks again for sharing.
I live in the North. I had one firm for NIF then another to complete D7. Unless you are a native speaker your Portuguese is not good enough for SEF or Finanças. Get NIF and bank account when you can. Explore a lot of the country many different parts may meet your needs.