bons

I have been trying to get to Portugal for a couple of years now and have been stopped by various things. With the December deadline looming, it's become crucial. I'm hoping someone can answer my questions.

Firstly, I have contacted a few immigration lawyers in Portugal, but I haven't had a reply from any. I am in contact with another by email but she never directly answers my questions. If you know of someone I can contact who will answer me, please let me know.

What I need to know. We cannot leave the UK until the end of October due to my husband's work. Could we rent a property and get residency? Could we buy a building plot and get residency? Could we buy a piece of rustic land and get residency?

I know of someone who said she has residency, has bought a house, but can't move to Portugal for 3 years when she retires. Could we go to Portugal in September - Covid-19 apart - rent/buy something, come back, and my husband work out his contract to the end of October? There is the added complication that we have a house to sell so being able to come back for a short period of time to sell it would be great. That is if we don't sell before we leave.

If anyone can help me out I would be most grateful. Thank you

Red Eric

If you arrive in the country intending to set up home here, then you register as resident and comply with everything that implies. You don't need an immigration lawyer to sort that out for you.

You do not need a property of your own to register or to remain resident - your presence is sufficient. You just need an address. Rent accommodation for the rest of your lives if you want - it makes no difference.

I know there are those who think they have "bagged" their place by obtaining a residency registration certificate prior to Brexit but continue to (and want to) reside in the UK, for the time being at least. However, there are specific definitions about what constitutes maintaining continuous residence and what are allowable periods of absence, which is what you need to affirm you have done if you subsequently request permanent resident status on the expiry of the initial residency certificate (which is valid for 5 years).

There is a slight lack of clarity about the wording of the requirement to register, which apparently leads to variation in interpretation by some local authorities. There is nothing in the law to prevent you registering as soon as you wish but if your stay exceeds 90 days you must register within the following 30 days. Some authorities regard this as meaning you must be here 90 days before you register and won't issue a certificate prior to that 90 day period. It is your date of arrival that counts, by the way and there is provision for people to obtain a registration certificate up until June 2021 provided they are in the country before the transition period expires. Under normal circumstances that obviously isn't too much of an issue but with the situation as it is now, I'd push to get one issued ASAP, and in your shoes, if you're arriving in October, I'd want it in my hand before December as opposed to issued subsequently, just to make sure I wasn't going to be refused the issuance of it. There are bodies which can be contacted in case of a refusal.

All that said, I wouldn't enter into this expecting trouble - there are many, many confirmations on here that it's generally absolutely no problem for people to get the certificate issued pronto.

Nand

Its quite easy ro get residence certified in Portugal.

Moses2013

I wouldn't worry and there is no rush. The biggest mistake would be to buy property or land without knowing the legal side of it and ending up with outstanding charges attached to the land.
First of all you are resident when you become resident, so renting or buying something quickly now will do nothing and there's no point wasting money on an immigration lawyer.
After Covid, Portugal will be desperate for more Tax payers and property prices will only fall, so there will be some sort of agreement to attract retired people (be it British or Russian etc.).

vorsman

Sounds good but how would medical work - we are 74 and 76 respectively.

bons

I would use a lawyer, I know someone who has bought a couple of properties and has recommended the lawyer. I wouldn't buy or rent until the end of September, but we would probbly rent to start with as long as we can get residency, which it seems we can.

Thanks for your replies.

Pulaski

A lawyer would be strongly advised for property purchase, but is not necessary for immigration matters.

bons

I was really asking for advice from an immigration lawyer not to use them to get residency. Brexit deadline is getting close and we are not in a position to move there until 1st November. If we don't sell our house, we may have to return for a short time or on and off. We literally have two months to get to Portugal and start temporary residency.

Pulaski

What do you think is the distinction between what you want an immigration lawyer for and "residency"?

bons

Just trying to find the correct path, information because we'll only have one shot at it. To me, it's not very clear on some online documents and I don't want to miss the deadline. The first reply to my post suggests that there are anomalies in the process. The person I know who will move there in 3 years is sure that they have residency, it seems too good to be true, so I don't want to fall into the trap of thinking I have residency then finding out that I don't.

Red Eric

A slight diversion by way of some background info here.

Although it is commonly stated that Portugal (and Spain, amongst others) are desperate to attract foreign pensioners because they "need their money", it isn't exclusively pensioners that Portugal wishes to attract. It has long-standing problems keeping inhabitants, already has an ageing population, suffers from depopulation of rural areas, has various problems with productivity, sustainability of the social security fund etc. What it would actually like over the long term is to attract more working age people (and as much has been explicitly stated by the government).

It already has "some sort of agreement" to attract wealthy pensioners : those who are from non EU countries can facilitate their entry via an application under the Golden Visa scheme, and EU and non EU citizens alike can benefit from a very favourable tax regime for which new residents only are eligible and which could exempt them from paying tax at all on many forms of foreign-sourced income and (now) a mere 10% on foreign pension income for a period of a full 10 years. And for residency, aside from the Golden Visa, there is already a standard procedure which allows for residency applications for various purposes, including retirement, for which the requirements are not outlandishly onerous as far as can be divined from the information I've been able to find, although obviously a little more demanding in some aspects than entering and remaining in the country as an EU citizen.

bons

We're not pensioners. That's why I'm trying to find out what we need to do as time is of the essence here.

Red Eric

That person has a registration certificate which they obtained while on a visit. They actually reside in the UK, of course.

It may be that the authorities either don't know or don't care whether such people have resided here in the period between obtaining the certificate and actually moving here to live, assuming they do, and that they'll be happy to provide a permanent resident certificate after 5 years have elapsed. On the other hand, they will (I assume) henceforth be recording the comings and goings of all visitors from outside the Schengen area, so all the info regarding periods of absence etc will be at their fingertips should they wish to avail themselves of it.

Red Eric

Sorry - I wasn't referring to you, specifically. It was the quite common and confident assertion of "don't worry, they need pensioners for their money so they'll make it easy for them" I was responding to. I did say it was a diversion (meaning from being of particular relevance to your questions).

I hadn't made any assumptions about your situation but if you want information or advice specific to it, you may need to elaborate a little.

RichardHenshall

Temporary residency is not a status that applies for citizens of another EU country. You're either resident or you're not.