Tips for moving to Portugal

Your Guide to Portugal Moving to Portugal
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Hello everyone!

I will be moving to Portugal (Coimbra) next month, starting to work there. Does anyone have any recommended tips or comments on what to do when moving there from a different country?

I am moving from the UK, and I haven’t yet thought how to move my stuff from here to there (if you have any experience you would like to share, please do!). I also would like to buy a car in Portugal, but don’t know yet if it might even be easier to buy one in the UK and drive to Portugal or buy one in Coimbra. Do you have any experience in buying a car in Portugal? Any suggestion on what to do?

I am a bit overwhelmed at the thought of finding a flat, getting a NIF, opening a bank account, getting a SIM card, etc… If you have had any experience in any of these and you have any tips (or you wish you would have thought about something sooner) I would be really curious to know about it! Any shared experience would be extremely helpful! :slight_smile:

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Hi there and welcome! You know, Coimbra is probably the only big-ish town in Portugal where summer is actually low season. It’s the definition of a university town and without the students, it’s pretty dead. On the other hand, it’s pretty lively the rest of the year and you’ll be at the epicentre of Portuguese university traditions (both good and bad!).

Anyway, bureaucracy… You’ll hate it. SIM cards are the least of your concerns. You can get prepaid SIM cards for €5 or something, but you can also get a combined TV+Internet+phone monthly subscription (once you have a flat) and get a single bill for everything. Getting a NIF is also surprisingly easy. Here’s our own little guide on that: Applying For A Portuguese NIF Number .

Things start getting more complicated when it comes to your social security number (NISS). If you’ve already secured a job contract, talk to your employer because they should be able to help you through the process/take care of it for you, since they’ll need to inform them of your employment anyway. If you’re actually coming to work as a freelancer, this article has some information to get you started, not only regarding the NISS, but the whole process: How to Become a Freelancer in Portugal and Issue Recibos Verdes. If you’re going to create your own company, your mileage may vary.

I don’t know how the housing market is in Coimbra, for someone looking for a whole flat. For people just looking for a room, it should be fine and very dynamic, since every year there are lots of students coming and going, starting and terminating contracts. I do know that the prices haven’t escalated to the same extent as Lisbon and Porto, which is good for you. This article was written for people looking to buy a home, but even if you’re just renting, there’s also good stuff there (such as all the websites with property listings and our way of describing the size of a house/flat): Buying a Home in Portugal

To open a bank account, this guide from Expatica seems thorough (even for other topics, this is a good website for you to check out as well): Opening a bank account in Portugal . It might sound ridiculous, but my first-hand experience with this is very limited. My own bank account was initially a student account that I didn’t even open at the bank, but at the university (the bank folks came to us and made everything tremendously simple). Even after finishing my studies, there was no added bureaucracy.

Cars are heavily taxed in Portugal, which makes buying a new car here extremely expensive, at least for our low salaries. You surely get better value for money buying it abroad, if you’re willing to drive it all the way here. However, this doesn’t necessarily apply if you’re only buying it just before moving here. That’s because if you’ve owned the car for less than six months before driving it to Portugal, you’ll pay tax on it (ISV) as if it had been imported - and it could cost a few thousands of €. In your situation, it’s only worth bringing a car from abroad if you buy a used one (lower ISV). Even if you buy a car here, don’t go for a brand new one - go for a semi-new car, at the very least. 100% new cars are truly, truly overpriced.

Hope this helps, at least a bit :slight_smile: Again, if you’re employed by a company, don’t hesitate to reach out to them. I’m sure they can help you a lot in all of this.

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Thank you so much! This is so helpful!!

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You should get the NIF as your first priority, because you will need it to do any of the other steps.

For the SIM card, I just went to a Vodafone location and told them which plan I wanted (from looking at the options online). I got a mobile only plan at first (while I was staying in a temporary place) and then switched to a mobile/internet package once I had a lease somewhere. Switching restarted the contract though, which is for 2 years.

I used idealista.pt to look for flats. Calling the real estate agents directly will get you the most responses. A lot of people did not respond when I sent messages through the site. You may want to consider staying in a hotel, AirBnb, or similar for a month or so just to give yourself some time to search and find a place you like.

Are you renting or buying? I know more about the renting process. Most places will require that you have a “fiador”, which is basically a Portuguese resident who acts as a guarantor on the lease. They sign saying that they are financially responsible if you don’t pay your rent. Also, I don’t know what things are like in the UK (I’m from the U.S.), but something that surprised me was that it’s okay to negotiate on the rent here. For example, I didn’t have a fiador and I offered 100 euros less than what was advertised, but to make up for it, I paid 5 months of rent in advance.

Here’s another article you might want to check out on getting residency in Portugal.

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Thanks for the excellent tips! I am going to rent, so that applies to me :slight_smile:

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Hey
I’ve been following this exchange. Great tips. I will be moving to the North Coast of the Country. Any thoughts on an American shipping a car? Any experiences with shipping a pet? I’ve been researching both online, and there is a reason there are services for these transactions. I have a resident visa and do you have any tips for registering with the FEN? I’ve read you can make an appointment. Which cities can I take care of this requirement? Any suggestions or tips would be appreciated.

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Hi, @mcinnamonfitch! Personally, I wish I could help, but I have absolutely no experience with/knowledge of any of that. I don’t even know what FEN is and Google didn’t help. I’m curious, though, what is it?

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@mcinnamonfitch I brought my cat from the U.S. to Portugal. Here’s what you have to do:

  • When you book your flight, immediately let the airline know you’re traveling with a pet. Look up the pet carrier size and weight requirements. For my cat, I brought him in the cabin with me, so he counted as a carry on and had to fit entirely under the seat.
  • Get your pet a microchip
  • Get your pet a rabies vaccine (has to be done AFTER the microchip is implanted and at least 21 days before entering Portugal)
  • Make an appointment with a USDA accredited veterinarian. They have to fill out an EU Health Certificate, which is only valid for 10 days! This was the hardest part to coordinate. Before the 10 days is up, you have to get the certificate endorsed by APHIS (either by overnighting it there and back, or by going to a location in person) AND arrive in Portugal. There are fees involved for this, but I can’t remember the amounts.
  • Email the veterinary office/inspection point at the airport you’ll be arriving at (at least 48 hrs in advance) to let them know when you are arriving. They may ask you to email copies of the rabies, microchip, and health certificate documents. You can find contact info here - just click on the link next to “Traveller’s Point of Entry” and it shows you the emails for each airport.
  • When you arrive at the airport, take your pet to the veterinary office (it’s right by baggage claim in OPO) for them to check all the paper documents and scan the microchip. You pay them a fee of 40 euros.

I would recommend reading this site closely to make sure you meet all the requirements for your specific situation: https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/pet-travel/by-country/eu/pettravel-portugal

Best of luck with the move! :grinning:

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Hi Joseph
Wrong acronym SEF in English: Immigration and Border Services. NEF was wrong name! My mistake.Residents are to register with the SEF. Or at least Americans are required.

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@mcinnamonfitch, oh, I get it now, thanks for clarifying. Well, Molly has already linked to a useful article about that process on her first post: Getting Residency

This is based on information given by SEF itself, which you can and should double check. Here’s a guide on how to make an appointment: https://imigrante.sef.pt/en/deslocacao-sef/

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Ola
I now have another important obstacle to overcome. I am now in Portugal and tried to open a bank account. The bank employee had two problems with me. My paradigm seems outside his onscreen menu, first I am not old enough to receive Social Security(US pension), secondly he told me I need a tax ID number from the US. As far as I know all IRS tax returns are referenced by your social security number. He told me there is some other tax ID. I have no idea what he is talking about. Please keep in mind I have gone to the Tributaria Authoridad and received in FIN. Any other Americans experienced this? And how to I complete the bank account process? Help Practice Portugese Community!

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Hmm, that’s odd. I don’t remember needing anything like that when I opened a bank account. I think I only had to show my NIF, my passport, proof of address in Portugal, and proof of income. (I don’t even think they asked for my U.S. Social Security Number, but I’m not sure.)

Are you sure he wasn’t asking for the NIF? He said it specifically had to be a different U.S. tax number, but not your SSN? I would try going again and talking to a different person… maybe they will tell you something different or will know more about how to figure out what it is that you’re missing.

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Also, re SSN, for businesses, this would be called a TIN (Taxpayer ID Number, IIRC). To individuals, my layman’s understanding is that the SSN is your TIN.
And (conjecture alert) I’m wondering if from the outside, they might be looking for a TIN, not knowing that the TIN and SSN would be the same thing.

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I am hoping for getting involved in these discussions