Sally1605

Hello, apologies if this is in the wrong place or is not the right way to start, please advise if I need to post this somewhere else!

I am moving to Portugal later this year (my son lives in Lisbon and I’m sick of the UK in every possible way,) and I’m trying to sort out what I need to do and when and apart from being incredibly excited I am also getting very confused.

I am selling a property in the Uk, which will give me enough cash to buy a property in Portugal and to live on until I retire and draw my pension (about 10 years). Looking at the visa process it says you can apply if you can prove you can sustain yourself financially with a min of €705 a month, does anyone know is there a time frame on this? so do I need to prove I have €84600 (€705 x 12 ( months) x 10 ( years))?

Also, I have two cats and eight hens, the process for bringing the cats seems quite straightforward, (rabies, chip and ehc?) but I’m struggling to find any info on moving hens ( please don’t tell me to rehome them and buy new, they are special girls who need to come with me). If anyone can point me in the right direction I would be really grateful.

Thank you!

andywally

Bloody hell Sally...............thats a lot of questions !! the first thing to do is apply at a PT consulate in the UK, Glasgow (I think) also Manchester and London, but you need to go through VFS first, easier in Manchester IMO than the feedback about London consulate (we used Manchester) you can park around the corner from VFS and then when you go into Manchester park around the corner again, you will need a list of paperwork/documents, lots of it (thanks to brexit) somebody may well post those paperwork requirements before I get chance as I have to get off of here pretty soon, my dinner awaits !

The first stamp on ya visa is for an additional 120 days (after your tourist 90 days) this comes with a guaranteed appt with SEF (the border police) within that 120 days, then they assess all of your paperwork, if its all good you get an initial 2 year visa, to be reviewed after 2 years, then if you have been an upstanding citizen you get another 3 years to then be reviewed/updated every 5 years after that...........now I do not know if you need to prove that you have 10 years money (doubtful) but assuming that you are only here for (potentially) the first 2 year visa then 2 years should do, but as far as I understand it you will need to prove a years worth of the minimum wage here in PT to tick the box with SEF at your interview, passive income is good, and rental income in the UK would tick that box................as for the chickens................gord knows :-)

Originally from Nottinghamshire here as well BTW (as an aside) and we fully understand your frustration with the UK, but please do not expect it to be all sweetness and roses here, but it doesnt p**s it down every day.............so we can cope with the added levels of bureaucracy as a trade-off, I would not change a thing TBH it is beautiful to live here.

Now if your son has residency/nationality/half portuguese etc then that puts another slant on it.................................and some of the guys/girls on here would be better qualified to give ya a pointer in the right direction, but between us (on here) we are all happy to help ya (apart from the odd grumpy sod that is, that will just want to give ya kicking due to brexit, very very few and far between tho those are) .........still not sure about those chickens though :-)

NSG666

Hi Sally and welcome to the forum.

I think you need to do a but of research yourself first then maybe come back and ask questions / for clarification once you have a better understanding of what's required.
For info I'm in a similar(ish) situation - retired early and living off savings and ad-hoc pension sums rather than a regular income. I asked the Portuguese Consulate whether proof of my existing savings and investments plus future pension entitlements would suffice and they said yes subject to satisfactory evidence being provided.
Have a look at the following links:

Residency - Necessary Documentation - National Visas - Visa (mne.gov.pt)

Portugal’s D7: A Visa for Retirees, Remote Workers, and the Financially Self-Sufficient – Portugalist

VFS D7 Visa Application Process - British Expats

Export or move livestock and poultry - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Loafing Along

Fascinating question so could resist a bit of research - Start here : https://ec.europa.eu/food/animals/li...ptive-birds_en

Personally know nothing about shipping chickens but this seems a good start

Alan PT

Since you need to talk with the vet about your cats anyway, why not ask them about the hens as well?

Unless they are a purely domestic veterinary practice, they should know about the procedures and certificates for export

Sally1605

Thank you all so much.

This may cause a riot, but just to say, I was totally against brexit and have got increasingly frustrated with people who thought it was a good idea before it happened, who are now moaning like hell about all the problems it’s caused.

Good advice on talking to the vet, the .gov and defra stuff seems to focus on businesses moving poultry, and as my son pointed out the uk won’t be as bothered as the hens are leaving, it’s what the PT immigration require that I need to worry about.

in terms of relocating, I am beginning to wonder if I should rent first, the whole process of selling here in the uk, moving everything and everyone and buying a property in PT all at the same time may just give me a nervous breakdown, plus I really want to find the right place and I’m not sure I can do that from the UK ( travelling to view properties is a logistical nightmare as pet sitters for my menagerie are expensive), so next question, is rental property easily available ?

I have spoken to my son and he seems to think if he has citizenship (which he is currently applying for) I don’t need a visa…. So that may solve one problem.

boa noite 😊

Alan PT

No rioting from this direction - campaigned against it, voted against it, left the country because of it

Portugal is a good choice of post-brexit therapy though, I love the country and the people especially.

Renting is a pretty good idea. You are right, there's a lot to be thinking about and doing! There's plenty of rental property in Portugal, depending on your budget (Lisbon unfortunately can be quite expensive) - have a look on https://www.idealista.pt/en/ to get an idea. Stick to estate agents, not private ads and phone don't email (very few people respond to emails)

If you are looking in Lisbon then just be aware that properties (especially at the cheaper end) can move very fast. Your son can perhaps give you some ideas on areas, but you can also look on here to get a rough idea: https://www.hoodpicker.com/

Red Eric

Hi, and welcome to the forum from me

I'd be very happy to be corrected on this if your son or anybody on here knows otherwise and can provide a link to an official source to back it up.

However, to the best of my knowledge, residence rights for non EU citizens who are family members of Portuguese citizens run along the same lines as the provisions for 3rd country family of EU citizens resident in PT.

Those are limited to spouse, children up to age 21 (or over if under the custody of their parents) and ascendant relatives if they are financially dependent on the rights holder.

I would say that without that special consideration on family grounds, you would definitely need the right visa prior to entering the country with the intent of applying for residency.

Sally1605

Thanks Alan, my son lives in Lisbon, but I’m looking to move more north (well somewhere between Lisbon and Porto), I want to be somewhere fairly rural but not in the mountains, I want somewhere where I can potentially get a small additional income from the land/ a holiday let, so I am thinking I would want rent outside the cities ( plus hens in a city is not ideal!) and also so I can travel to view properties fairly easily.

So, next question, in terms of where to look to buy, I am looking at Coimbra, Leiria and Aveiro, about an hourish from the coast, in the hope it won’t be too arid, but not too wet either. Any thoughts or suggestions please? I’m popping over at the end of March for a few days to stay with my son and to do a bit of a reccy, but I’m very aware it’s a massive area so could do with some help!

and yes, I’m beginning to realise the estate agents are a bit hit and miss, and listings are not very descriptive, lots of random photos, but no floor plans or clear details on where the property is, and an awful lot of listings of beautiful but completely uninhabitable buildings, I’m used to doing houses up and living in chaos whilst it’s done, but this time I think I need running water and a roof!

andywally

Renting a property first would maybe be a good idea too, we have been here quite a while now and visited several areas ( travelling and spending weeks at a time there, sometimes longer) some areas dependant upon budget, some on the location being beautiful, and even now after the time we have been here we are only just settling on an area, and now looking for the property (closing in on one right at the moment actually) where we thought we wanted to end up initially we are nowhere near now.................. so maybe renting to start with is a good idea, the chickens might be an issue for the landlord still though, (especially in an appartment )

Sally1605

hi, thanks, yes sorry I think I will be able to come on a Family visa rather than a D7?

Red Eric

Family reunification - General Information - National Visas - Visa (mne.gov.pt)

Sally1605

Oh, so I had read that as he will be a Portuguese citizen he can apply for me to join him on a family visa as long as he can prove he has funds to support me, ( ie this €705 euros for him plus 50% for me, so around €1000 a month income, which he has), is that not the case?

Red Eric

I'm not 100% certain but my guess is no. I think in the case of parents, you'd have to establish that there is a financial dependency, even in the case of his being a PT citizen.

I could be wrong, though.

Alan PT

Hmmm... yes, that is a big area. Maybe try to narrow down what you are looking for a bit more (eg how important is the weather, definitely gets wetter as you go further N in that area, coast can be more windy, inland can have more temperature extremes), consider if you want to be close to a community of British or other non-Portuguese (or as far away as possible), check out the driving times and other transport options, how much land do you want and does the land need to be attached to the property?

Where, realistically, does your desired budget and size of property match up? I often (only half-jokingly) describe our house search as taking out budget and the house we wanted and moving North from Lisbon until the two matched up You might find this useful: https://www.theportugalnews.com/news...portugal/65385

Tomar has long been a magnet for Brits in Central Portugal, Caldas da Rainha is also becoming a big hit with various nationalities. Even if you are looking for more "real Portugal" It can be useful to be close to an area that has more foreigners in terms of services (for instance, this place in Caldas https://backtb.pt/en/)

You'll find a few people on YouTube who have vlogged about their searches for rural properties, they are worth a look. Try starting here and YouTube algorithms should find you more!
I'm not sure you'll get much income from the land TBH, in rural areas it's hard to give away produce when in season. Better to think in terms of growing more of your own produce, that's much more viable (and yes, the kind of areas you are looking at are not normally too arid). Holiday let maybe, but you'll need to think carefully about target market and consider that in your location choice if you really want it to be viable.

Do also consider fire risk if you choose somewhere more rural, unfortunately it is something which does need some consideration. It's not something to panic about, but just have it in mind.