Good evening all. I am looking at moving to Portugal from the UK before Brexit and was wondering how long the residency application process takes, do I have to buy a property in Portugal to qualify or can I rent a place in the interim and then buy at a later stage? Also help with what the exact documents required are would be great.
Thanks
Glenn
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Hi @glennphammet, if you have a UK passport, then it should be pretty straightforward and quick. You don’t need to buy a property - renting is fine. For tax purposes, you might want to apply for the non-habitual residents regime.
Feel free to reach out in case you a+have any specific questions.
Stay well and safe,
Gui
Hi @guifig and @glennphammet
Any idea of the steps and costs involved in applying for the NHR regime? Based on my research so far, I need some kind of accommodation with a 1-year contract, a NIF, and to make a separate application for the NHR.
Do you happen to know of any such NHR application service or anyone who can help me book my NIF appointment?
I ask because I tried getting set up in Porto in Lisbon in early June and took the first step of going to Finanzas (with my mask) but was turned away because of Covid. I didn’t realize about the appointment requirement, not having read the post in May by cliffmorley. I was referred to the website but was asked for my NIF at every turn.
I was told by a lawyer that it was hard to get because of Covid19 and they said I should use them (of course;)) to get my NIF at 200 euros or 350 for their express service! I now know that I just needed to book an appointment of course!
Any pointers would be helpful, thank you 
Rich
Hi @richmng, you may want to try an accountant for example. The whole process is quite simple (and virtually free of costs), you just need to do it right. The tricky part might be the pre-immigration planning that you might need to do in order to fully benefit from the NHR regime. If your move is tax-driven, then planning before moving is fundamental
Hi @guifig
Thanks very much. That’s a very good idea. I can see that going through an accountant would give me access to the info I need for all purposes, avoiding costly lawyer fees
Do you happen to know any accountants familiar with all the issues including NHR & pre-immigration planning?
Thanks again !
Any accountant should be able to help you with the NHR procedure. I may eventually have somone to recommend. As for the pre-immigration planning, you would be better off with a tax professional / tax lawyer. Feel free to PM me if you’d like to discuss in more detail