dickydog

Hello and thanks for reading this,
My wife and I live in the UK currently.
she is a Portuguese national, she retires in December and we have had a property in Portugal for four years now.
we plan to sell up here in January and live in there full time.
Do I need to obtain a visa whilst I apply for residency or can I get citizenship easier as my wife is a national there, any advice is greatly appreciated as I need to get my head around it.
Are there any companies offering their services to facilitate my residency status, time I worked this out now 😄

many thanks,
Chris

Lou71

You certainly don't have anything to worry about!

You are married to a Portuguese/EU national so you can just move to Portugal when you feel like it and then take residency at the town hall in the good old EU way. Obviously make sure you both have all the relevant documents like passports, NIF certificates, marriage certificate, property deeds etc.

No need for any of the horrendous third country visa stuff!

dickydog

Thanks for the reply Lou.
I really like the idea of going down the citizenship route, need to do a bit of digging!

Lou71

Good idea, that way you will be an EU national again!

Normally you would need to be resident in Portugal for five years before you can apply for citizenship and you would need to have a reasonable command of Portuguese but it might be different in your case because you have a Portuguese spouse.

Mac and Mabel

Definitely different in the OP’s case. If married to a Pt national, he doesn’t need to prove language competence, and can apply for own citizenship so long as marriage is at least 3 years ago.

Rambling archer

The thing is YOU do not need PT citizenship as your wife is already PT citizen, so you just follow her lead - she returns to her own country and takes you with her as family/dependant. No problems.

dickydog

Thanks
10 years married, just looking I can apply for dual citizenship, question is I suppose is citizenship better / worse than residency status which I think I will need to qualify for the NHR scheme, which I was disappointed now taxes at a flat 10% I believe.

Rambling archer

Also, as I understand it, if you both have been resident in the UK for the past 4 years, by the time you move over you may have been NON-habitually Resident in PT for the previous FIVE years, and therefore may be eligible for the NHR taxation regime ... Your wife could investigate this as a returning PT citizen? Also on the subject of retirement, do you, either or both, have UK pensions to consider ? Get in touch with the https://www.gov.uk/international-pension-centre for advice. For yourself there is also https://www.gov.uk/guidance/living-in-portugal

dickydog

Sounds too easy and too dependant on my wife holding my hand to go for an ice cream 🤣🤣
I need legal status, when we sell up here my only home is in Vila nova de poiares 💁‍♂️

dickydog

Thanks RA 😁👍
This looks a good avenue to explore, will explore this.

Yes we both have UK pensions to take with us, will do some more digging as it’s raining here in Stevenage.

chris

dickydog

Thanks,
you were spot on, It would appear I can obtain citizenship relatively easily through marriage, the clearest advice I,ve found is available at eportugal.gov.pt

toots sweet

In similar position but t'other way round. Husband the PT national. He's been away for a long time,but we are considering moving permanently to PT I will hopefully apply fot NHR but he will be unable to (I think,but if anyone knows otherwise pls let me know) as he has paid PT tax in the last 5years on savings and a pension. I have thought of citizenship,but think residency will be just as good. There's enough hassle to get through without adding extra.

Rambling archer

Toots - he may have paid tax in PT but where was he Resident .... it is "non-habitually resident" not not-tax-payer ... so investigate a bit further as even as a returning PT citizen, he should still be eligible for the NHR status? He should be able to find out from Finanças ? Of course his PT savings and pension will not be exempted/reduce for tax under the NHR scheme but most incomes from outside PT should be ...

santaanita

and its raining here in Gois this morning

dickydog

Hi toots,
Obtaining nationality (citizenship) appears quite straightforward, seems I need the form, marriage & birth certificate, passport and €250 euros and to go into Coimbra.
This looks the less fraught path at the minute unless I,m still missing pieces of the jigsaw anybne ??

chris