D7 question
 

Hi all

Hope everyone is doing OK this morning!

I am sure that this question has been asked/answered before, but I couldn't see any relevant posts when I searched.

My partner & I will be applying for the D7 visa later this year, and we will make the move to Portugal. We are both looking to work remotely for our UK employers (we both have remote working employment contracts) when we move. Does anyone have any experience of this situation when doing your application? Do you have to include your UK work contract and/or a letter from your employer?

I can't see the answer anywhere if we need to disclose that we will be working remotely when we do move, and if we can include our UK salary in our 'passive income'; does anyone have experience of this? We will rent out our home in the UK, so I presume that we can include a draft tenancy agreement and include this (and the stated rental income) when we do apply?

And the last question, I have read some posts which people refer to the 'AXA' travel insurance, but I couldn't see the actual name of the policy. Can anyone point me in the right direction of the actual name of the policy to purchase?

Thanks in advance!

A

Re: D7 question
 

Hi Andysan,
We have taken early retirement so cannot help with your work questions.

We bought the Axa "certificate for consulate, low cost travel insurance" policy after following a link from the VFS website which is where your application for the D7 will start. We have also rented our house out and the Portuguese consulate were happy with a copy of the rent agreement even though it would not commence until after we had left for Portugal.

Cheers and good luck with the move

Re: D7 question
 

Hi Andysan
Just in case no-one is able to answer your question on here, I emailed the Portuguese Consulate in both London and Manchester with questions about my situation and they both gave very helpful responses within a couple of days. Essentially they want as much evidence as possible that you have sufficient funds and/or income to support (all of) you in Portugal.

On the insurance front London said they want 1yr but Manchester said 6-12 months. I've looked at the AXA policy and it's a safe option as it's recommended but the level of cover seems pretty poor for the high price compared to a 180 day travel policy from say Allcleartravel. That's not a criticism of those who've used Axa as you certainly don't want to find out that your policy is no good and Axa have been cute linking it to visa applications but nearer the time I might email them the cover summary and see if it's acceptable.

Hope the move goes smooth for you.

Re: D7 question
 

You are certain that your contracts allow remote working in a different country?

Usually they restrict to remote within the same country, for a whole variety of legislative issues

Re: D7 question
 

That’s really useful - thanks! I will check out the travel insurance with AXA.

For your Uk property, did you just include a copy of a draft tenancy?

Re: D7 question
 

Thanks for the insight! I will check out the AXA policy!

Re: D7 question
 

Yes, that is correct

Re: D7 question
 

This is an important point and one that seems to get overlooked a lot with these types of questions. "Remote working" does not mean what a lot of people think it means, in 99% of cases it means working remotely within the country you are employed in, eg in the UK. I work in data analysis / data engineering / BI development, and have for some time been doing research around contract and permanent roles that state remote working. In the vast majority of cases it is either stated in the job description / role specification or an enquiry has led to the response that the role is only remote within the UK. Actual true "digital nomad" style roles are a lot more difficult to come by than a lot of people expect, please bear this in mind if you expect to move on and change company / roles in the future.

Re: D7 question
 

If you are looking to move to Portugal and would also consider working locally, drop me a PM. We have been working in IT here since 2018, so I could maybe give you some hints on companies to try.

There's plenty of IT roles around here where Portuguese is not essential, but you do need to significantly adjust your expectations on salary vs UK (though I've seen it improve even in those few years, there's a lot of competition for good skills)

Re: D7 question
 

Thanks, will definitely bear this in mind, might be a few years away for me yet though!

Re: D7 question
 

thanks!

Re: D7 question
 

Yeah, I know what you mean. I am quite fortunate that I work 100% remote and my employer does not care where I am, so long as I can be online with good internet and do my work. It was a big factor in me joining my employer last year, as this could be a potential blocker.

Re: D7 question
 

Potentially a good situation then, a UK salary will go a long way in Portugal! But do look into legal requirements in Portugal to make sure that you protect yourself

Basically, if you are resident in Portugal and working in Portugal then your employer should be treating you as any other Portuguese worker. If your employer doesn't comply with Portuguese working hours, rest periods, holidays etc, but you are happy enough with the situation, well that's their lookout. But I'd try to get tax and social security right from the start, because that could come back to bite you personally.

I know it might seem like I'm creating extra hurdles here, but the EU is very aware of employers circumventing national employment legislation by exploiting "detached worker" rules and there is active information exchange, so best to check it out now to avoid getting a nasty surprise from financas in a few years time. There are a lot of people not doing things correctly at the moment, especially since remote working increased in the last couple of years, so I would expect a clampdown at some point.

My understanding is that you should not be paying either tax or NI in the UK, you should be paying both in Portugal - really your employer should handle this, but if they are not set up to do this then you could see if they can just pay you gross in the UK (if HMRC agrees) and you can then arrange payments in Portugal - best to check with an accountant in Portugal the specifics of this. Some people prefer to use "Receibo Verdes" - which kind of like a UK "sole trader" invoicing the employer.