NSG666

For info below is a response I received from the Manchester consulate in reply to my query regarding travel insurance and proof of living (as I won't be drawing any pension income but living on savings for a few years). Note in particular the answers regarding insurance and criminal record checks. I asked the question by email on Friday and they replied on Monday apologising for the delay as work is hectic.

Bellow we will leave you with a list of documents needed, in order to apply for a D7 residence visa:

- Form filled and signed;

- Declaration filled and signed;

- UK criminal record (ACRO, DBS or Subject Access Request);

- ACRO - https://www.acro.police.uk/police_certificates.aspx

- DBS - https://www.gov.uk/request-copy-criminal-record

- Subject Access Requests (Scotland) - https://www.scotland.police.uk/acces...cess-requests/

- Purchase and sale agreement of property in Portugal (if applicable);

- Rental agreement of property in Portugal [12-month rental] (if applicable);

- Signed personal statement must explain the reason(s) to wanting to apply for permanent residency in Portugal, and mention the full address including postcode of the property you will be living at in Portugal upon arrival;

- Marriage certificate (if applicable);

- Children birth certificate (if applicable);

- Enrolment of children in PT school (if applicable);

- Travel insurance (6-12 months);

- Pension statement (if applicable);

- Work contract with possibility to work remotely (if applicable);

- NIF;

- Bank statement from Portuguese bank account (€705 x 12 per first applicant, 50% for subsequent applicants, in case of family)

- UK Bank statements, last 3 months.

andywally

Hiya NSG

Useful info there, the living on savings for a few years is what I have been informed (by Manchester) could be a stumbling block apparently as ' my case handlers' words here 'SEF have been turning down people who are living on just savings and not either a passive income or 'digital nomad existance' ................I would be curious to hear what they had to say to you re; this and how this outcome turns out for you as we are in a similar position.
Andy.

NSG666

Hi Andy

In my emails to both the Manchester and London consulates I did give them brief details/figures of our savings, personal and company pensions and asked whether in principal subject to me providing hard evidence would this be acceptable. Manchester didn't address that specifically as per above but London said the following (below). Note that Manchester said 6-12 months insurance but London said 12! I'm a cautious planner so gathering all of the info before making any commitments whereas you seem to have winged it a bit travelling to Portugal before you've had the visa application accepted and that would absolutely blow my mind! I think you'll be sorted one way or another before I've even had an appointment.

As a standard rule we request the insurance to be valid for 1 year (AXA can be accepted).

Regarding income, if you will not be developing any remote activity while in Portugal and do not yet have access to your pensions or any other source of income, we can accept the evidence of pension savings and forecasts (in complement with remaining savings/ bank statements), though this is subject to analysis of the actual application.

· Regarding proof of funds for National Visa, you can find more information in the link here, but as a general rule the applicant must have access to a minimum of 665 Euros (Portuguese Minimum Wage) multiplied by the number of months the applicant will be staying up to 12 months. For Residence Visa (in particular the D7) they should provide funds for a minimum of 12 months in a Portuguese Bank Account.

PJC61

The travel insurance requirement has increased from a minimum of four months to six otherwise the above is exactly the same as when I went through my application at the start of 2021, also from Manchester and also living on savings as I retired early.

andywally

Hiya NSG

Trust me I am not normally a 'wingin it' kind of person :-) but I was advised by the case handler thet it was ok to go and that once we had got to PT created a NIF and opened a bank account I could send our passports back to Manchester for him to stamp (not that I would trust CTT with them in any case, but thats another thread altogether ) I will fly back with both passports and get them stamped in person, we will have bought a property by the end of next week hopefully, then that is the last hurdle, then its create an income remotely until the pension kicks in...............all being well ! the requirement for a property or a rental agreement was put in place during our application by the authorities, according to the case handler (or the case handler missed it off of the list) if he missed it off or if they added it, it does not matter either way we have to overcome it so it is what it is, I aint knocking him for that, it just needs to be dealt with.............and I am actually kinda getting used to 'winging it' to be honest, its been relaxing and refreshing......and when you speak to people here and how they deal with ( or just ignore ) the rules and regulations its a bit of a reality check to be honest.......so 'wing it away my friend'

Hopefully it will get sorted soon fingers crossed.
Cheers
Andy.

charleyfarley

Hi andywally! It's beginning to look as though the two VFS offices - London and Manchester - are perhaps interpreting and handling things differently, or perhaps I have misunderstood something.

My interview was at VFS London just a fortnight ago. I presented them with all the correct documentation, details of which I had gleaned from this and other forums, and as has been discussed above, it's possible that I overdid what was required by securing and providing "best in class" documents e.g., an annual travel/health insurance policy rather than a 180-day one, and an ACRO check rather than a cheaper DBS one etc. I also already had a NIF, a Portuguese bank account with more than the required balance in it, full details of my accommodation in Portugal, and all the other evidential documentation of that and of sufficient pension income in the UK by way of bank statements, HMRC documentation etc., and provided copies of this too as well as copies of my EHIC, GHIC, and UK driving licence. etc., etc. The case-handler appeared satisfied with everything, and the final thing she did was to take my fingerprints (electronically) and a "passport type" photograph (to add to the two I had provided as required from the Visa Application form), as well as my passport. Having done that, she told me that the documentation I had submitted would be scanned and, together with my passport would be sent to the Portuguese Embassy for them to process (and stamp the passport appropriately), and that the passport would then be returned by courier (I paid a little extra for that) in "between 30 and 60 days".

Hopefully, when you have secured your accommodation etc., you'll be able to nip back to Blighty and get your passports stamped by VFS Manchester so that you can pursue the next stage with SEF in Portugal. As I had all the correct documentation when I went through the VFS process, I wish that had been the procedure in London. So I'm just wondering; are you sure that when you have secured your accommodation contract etc., it is just a case of nipping back to see your case-handler in Manchester and getting your passport stamped there?

Andyj100

Thanks for this information, I've been wondering about this a lot. It does seem quite vague on the websites.

Hopefully I will be in a position to have savings/investments well in excess of the minimum monthly wage x months until US Social Security and the UK State pension kick in. I do need to get professional advice about structuring the investments as a lot is currently offshore...and later this year I need to know whether to offshore more when my "pension freedoms" appear when I'm 55.

andywally

Hiya Charleyfarley

I am not sure of anything to be honest mate, this should have been all sorted by now, the case handler said to post the passports back to him for the 120 day extension to be granted then the appt with SEF lodged........this may or may not happen as simply as that, but I will keep ya posted :-) but yeah the last thing we need from that list is some accommodation and we have it all sorted.....apparently.........?

NSG666

One key difference between London and Manchester is that in the former you only deal with VFS for everything whereas with Manchester, you go to VFS only for your photos and fingerprints taking and maybe a cursory check of your documentation then trot off down the road to the Portuguese consulate for them to go through your application in more detail. If everything goes smoothly then I guess both systems are good but if there are any issues or queries then Manchester might be slightly better as you are dealing with the consulate direct rather that having VFS acting as a go-between. Just to be clear, I contacted and received replies direct from both consulates not VFS.

charleyfarley

NSG666, Ah, that explains the different experiences between mine and andywally's. So it looks as though this is one area where the northerners are privileged in comparison with we southerners! A pity one can't choose to go to either London or Manchester since your sole available "application centre" is determined by your UK address. If I had known about the difference, I might have found myself a kind "uncle" with an address somewhere up north! Although perhaps the address on documents you have to submit like bank statements might have given that particular game away!

charleyfarley

An update on my experience of the D7 visa application process having used (as required because of where I live in the UK) the London VFS centre. My passport was returned to me by courier today (a service which was an optional one but which I thought prudent) just 37 days after my interview and presentation of all the necessary documentation. As a reminder, I was told that it would take "between 30 and 60 days" for the return of the passport, so well inside that time. And I'm pleased to report that not only does it have a shiny new visa on one of the pages, but also - and I didn't expect this - a date, time, and place very close to my accommodation where and when a confirmed appointment has been booked with the SEF for the next stage of the D7 residency application process. The fact that this SEF interview is 5 months away is academic as far as the "90 in 180 day" rule is concerned since I understand that as long as one has a confirmed appointment with SEF, that rule will be disregarded. However, although I shall have to make a quick trip back to the UK before the SEF appointment to comply with the "trips no longer than 90 days" rule in relation to the AXA annual Schengen health insurance policy I was recommended to purchase, I'm glad I did that rather than the cheaper six-month one (which some people suggested was adequate) since if I had done that, in order for the policy to have been valid at my VFS interview, it would have expired before my SEF interview. Now all I need is to get my Covid booster, not due for a while, and I'll be all set to go.

EU.flag

As you have discovered, visa (sticker) is something that issued at embassy/consulate.
Passport stamping is only done at border crossings. Just to clarify above posts.

There is nothing "academic" about 90 in 180 day rule. It applies to all tourist visitors.
As you posses national Visa, you're not a tourist. However, until you go to your appointment with SEF, you have to be careful with any absences from PT.
There is limit on how many times and what length. Too many times or too long out, and you will not be seen as resident.

Also once you get 2y permit from SEF, learn rules on now many days you're allowed out of country.
https://www.sef.pt/en/pages/conteudo...he.aspx?nID=39

appman999

Very helpful please update with your SEF experience when it happens.

Q27 on the application form asks for the arrival and departure date for the first intended stay in Portugal. How far apart did you have these, and was your confirmed SEF appointment within that period?

charleyfarley

A good question appman. I thought long and hard about what dates to put into the reply to Q27. My logic was that since I had previously established that the process would take "between 30 and 60 days" post-interview before my passport with the necessary D7 visa would be returned, I needed to take that into account. So since my VFS interview was in early January, I elected to put 7th March for the first entry date, thus allowing for the "60 days" if necessary so as not to be presumptive. For the second date - i.e., the first departure, I had to do another calculation. To be sure of having the necessary correct documentation at my VFS interview, I elected to buy my annual AXA Schengen travel/health insurance policy to commence on 1st February, figuring that this would satisfy the requirement for me to have a valid and existing policy in force should the passport with D7 visa be returned to me within "30 days". However, in the knowledge that the AXA annual policy allows for stays in the Schengen area of 90 days only at a time, requiring at the least a quick "pop-back" to the UK in order to maintain validity - although you can of course return to the Schengen area the next day, and thus begin a fresh 90-day insured period - I selected 90 days from 7th March, and put 5th June for the "first departure date". So no, the appointment date I have been allocated from the SEF meeting is a month or so beyond the first departure date I put on the form. As it happens, all these dates have, probably more by luck than judgement, worked out well (give or take a day or two) so I've now been able to book the three flights back and forth, albeit that the flight back to UK in June has cost considerably more than than the other two flights together because it happens, for some reason, to be an extremely popular travel time. However, I love it when a plan comes together! Sorry for the long explanations but I hope this information has been helpful. As requested, I'll try to remember to update this thread after my SEF interview in July.

appman999

Long is better otherwise important detail may be missed.

Are you saying you didn't need to show flight tickets with your visa application?

I've already bought mine in anticipation of applying in May/June assuming they would want to see them?

I'd also appreciate an indication of what you wrote to support your application (DM if you prefer and generality fine)