Aaronlava

Hello everyone.

I'm looking for some solid advice on some things that are causing us some uncertainties surrounding our move.

We were recently given a car for our move to Portugal only to find out if we wanted to import it, it would cost 1,000-2000 Euros. (Honda Jazz 1.4 Limousine) and we would have to own it for at-least 6 months.

We do not fit this criteria, but it's all well as we want to use the car for 3 months here in Portugal, as its much cheaper than other means of transport for all of our possessions (aswell as collecting applicances for our new home when we arrive) and we can pretty much take everything we need, and we know that we can do this without problems until my partner registers as a resident.

Now this was all well and good until we got the news of our pregnancy (!) and realised we would have to register for residency relatively soon if we wanted to get state healthcare, check-ups ect. We had originally planned to register a few days before taking the car back to Switzerland in December.

Now.. Is there a way that we could bring the car to Portugal, potentially pay for our check-ups outside of the local healthcare system ( private health insurance in Portugal or internationally, or just paying the costs outright, any cost knowledge would be welcome.) and then have my partner (our only driver) register for residency in three months, when we take the car back to Switzerland? (Possibly waiting for the car to be in our possession for 12 months)

I also am not sure if this makes a difference, but we could have the car registered over to my partner's father, with him taking out insurance and her being a named driver. I'm not sure if this is something.

If anyone has any advice, potential solutions/health care that we can take out to help us through the process that would be great, as we would prefer to keep the car with us for the first 3 months to make our move as smooth as possible.

Thank you so much in advance!

mfesharne

You can keep a foreign registered car here for a maximum 6 months before beginning the matriculation/registration process or removing it back to the country of registration for a further 6 months.

If you want to matriculate/register it here tax free then you need to have owned it for 12 months not 6 months & you need to begin the process within 6 months of getting your residencia.

Loafing Along

You cannot register for residency until after 90 days, until then you are considered a tourist . Not sure if this helps you but the period does coincide with your original plan. Healthcare can be arranged privately and there are several good providers although I am not sure what sort of charges they will make in view of your condition. You do not specify your nationality but surely you should have an Ehic Card which gives you access to the public health service during the 90 day period.

captainflack

Can't say whether the rules say that or not, but I arrived in Portugal mid sep 2013, and I had my residency docs within a month. And my wife, who's non EU (Brazil), had hers from SEF within 2 months. We were both residents, with papers to prove it, within 2 months of arriving, and so were our two kids.

Nobody at any point raised any objections, and the guy at SEF did scrutinize everything pretty carefully.

My understanding is that you must register as resident to stay more than 90 days, but not sure there is anything that says you cannot register sooner. And if there was, neither the camera in Cascais or the SEF office there raised it as an issue with us.

Naaling

Had a similar experience in 2016, although by then the SEF waiting time had extended considerably.
The OP also needs to know (if they're still around), that, in Portugal, pregnant women and children are entitled to free healthcare regardless of their immigration status.

mfesharne

Assuming a UK or other EU country passport you're supposed to get your residencia not before 90 days & before 120 days but it's not uncommon for them to issue the residencia before that 90 day restriction if you give them good reason......... However, Portugal does sometimes/often suffer from VBS (Variable Bureaucracy Syndrome) where individual civil servants interpret the rules any way they choose to. A good example of that is some Camaras require UK & other EU passport holders to show proof of income or financial security & there's absolutely no requirement for that.

Penela is a prime example.

gedscottish

I'm not getting this part, what would be the objective in getting your father in law to insure it and have it in his name?

coleio

So you are going to have a child and for some reason instead of that as a priority you are trying to be clever with money. Cost - money - cost - money - Ahhh must be Swiss. Instead of trying to be clever just concentrate on the well-being of your, yet to be born child and its mother, as in reality everything else is obfuscation. Do I get this right - the to-be mother is the only driver so will be ferrying both you and your "stuff" then taking you to various offices/shops/suppliers over here and taking herself for hospital/doctors appointments? Easiest to bring your free car over here to PT and when it's time is up have the local scrap dealer deal with it and send your plates back to be de-registered (as I did with my free Swiss car)

GeniB

YEP the mum-to-be seems to have rather a lot on her plate... Don't know how far along she is but i wouldn't be relying on her as the sole driver for much longer.. My ED is five half months pregnant and can barely get behind the wheel of her car !!!

It is good to know that health care for her would be free in any event ,so one less worry...Public transport is pretty good. taxi's are pretty cheap. Maybe need to invest in a man with a van to cart your belongings over from Switzerland though... Indeed ,,time to think about the wellbeing of your partner and baby