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Hello All,
I confess, I've been a lurker for months and enjoying the videos on YouTube, the time changes make participation from San Diego tricky. We fly on January 10th and will stay with our daughter in Lagos, who moved there March 1. We can't wait to join you in country with a glass in hand. I loved the last wine tasting and look forward to many many many more.
TinaD and Adventure Bob
Hello @tinad and many congratulations to you and Bob.
We look forward to welcoming you in January and now that you have broken the ice, please don't be a lurker any longer. We truly value all our members and your comments, suggestions, questions will always be welcome. 😊
Best of luck with the trip.
Gerry
Best of luck! we are just starting the D7 process so you probably a Pro by now...All the best!
It was surprisingly easy. We made our appointment at the San Francisco VFS office, went through our paperwork (we were very careful to have everything), paid the fees, relinquished our passports and waited. No questions from the consulate at all.
Good Luck to you!!
this is encouraging..where do you get the required paperwork? at the consulate? or is it available on line? You mentioned you are joining your daughter in Portugal...is it possible to prepare here all required paperwork if we do not have anyone in Portugal? All the best in your new chapter!!
I'm a follower of Expats Everywhere vlog. They have lots of information for Americans emigrating to Portugal. There are also other groups you can join, some with fees and some without, with very good up to date information. The Consulate website and VFS sites don't seem to be perfectly complete and change often, the up to the minute blogs can be really helpful.
Good luck!
Thank you very much...will follow this vlog...among other groups which one you recommend the most? Best regards
@ensuAmericans and Friends PT on FB has very good up to date information in their files!
@tinad Congratulations Tina! We are San diegans as well. How exciting it must be for you, it’s just a few days left before your flight. If you have a minute, and if you applied for d7, would you know which visa fee would be correct, national for under a year or national visa for over a year? It is been a little confusing on vsf site. No worries, if you are packing and have no time. Thanks,
tatiana
I'm pretty sure we paid the full boat, over a year fee. Our appointment at the SF VFS office was on the 2nd of Nov., a Monday, we were concerned the correct fee for November wouldn't be published in time for us to get the correct amount. It turned out fine, but it was a little confusing.
Good Luck
@tinad thanks Tina for taking time to answering and a reminder that they Do change the fees on the first day of each month. I totally forgot! Something to keep an eye out for.
Hi
I am in North San Diego County in Vista. I have my VFS appointment 29 January. I am so excited.
Ei! Emigrante helped me. You get a discount with your ExPats membership and they are wonderful. Fees are reasonable.
hi Paula, dear San Diegan, it is heartwarming to know there will be someone in Portugal who is from the same country/city, as you are.
good luck with your appointment!
we also recently had an initial meeting with Gilda, as well as Pieter (for properties). And we feel we will be in good hands with them. We are 1/3 way through collecting all the paperworks.
I look forward to seeing more of your experience input on EP regarding D7.
best wishes for SF!
@tinad hello. I live in San Francisco too and was wondering if the Portuguese consulate was still processing D7s during COVID. I thought the travel restrictions might have caused them to stop or slow down. Very glad to hear about how easy it was for you. Congratulations.
Forgive me, but what is a D7? Is it a visa?
I'm moving to Portugal in January and am a British national, haven't come across a D7, hopefully it's not something I'll need. I believe I don't need anything for the first 90 days?
You must have a D7 Visa to stay longer than a tourist 90 days. When you come through passport control in January you will be asked about a return ticket or Visa.
It's a visa that eventually moves us toward full time residency. We are retired, so will not be looking for work in Portugal. The VFS website gives good descriptions of each visa type and duration.
Good Luck
@faj it’s been all over the news prior to 2020 end that after Brexit all British citizens who want to relocate to Portugal would be required to apply for visa, and as Peggy mentioned. Perhaps, the rules are postponed, but you better check with a Portuguese embassy or a consulate closest to you, if vsf does not have a definite answer.
A D7 VISA is the same as the VISA issued for anticipation of residency. It is the same VISA if you are coming just to retire and spend all your money here or if you plan to start a business or get a job. The visa will be glued into your passport. For Brits post BREXIT there is a link on the www.SEF.pt web site for a quick and easy application for your residency. Also lots of info on that site. For Folks in the US, you still need to go through your nearest Embassy or consulate. Check the Portuguese Embassy web site in Washington DC to find out where you are required to apply based on where you live.
Yes, getting ready to apply.
I regards to SEF, For some reasons, I wasn’t very successful to find some information on its website, such as what documents we should bring with us from the US to apply for a residency permit.
Am I missing anything in navigating the site?
I heard, Portuguese are masters in hiding information, addresses, etc. 😉
or perhaps, I just need to start learning the language ASAP.
When you go to the SEF office for your appointment, even if you apply on line and you are just going for your interview, take these things.
(1) passport (2) proof of income or assets that you will use to support yourself such as a bank statement. If your spouse is also applying, their name must also be on the joint account paperwork (3) proof of medical insurance (4) Valid travel documents showing the date you entered the country (5) Atestado of residency from the Junta in your municipality. This is a statement that you DO live at the address you are giving and that you HAVE lived there since _____. You can walk in to your Junta with mail that shows your address OR 2 Portuguese citizens who can attest to your address and how long you have lived there. There is a short form to fill out and usually you have to go back another day to pick up the signed & sealed Atestado of Residency so don’t wait until the day before your SEF appointment to do this. (6) FBI criminal record check done in the US and sent to the Portuguese Embassy for translation & validation. The sites below may add something that I forgot. You do not need to take passport photos to SEF, they take their own pictures and take your fingerprints.
Good Luck @peggyL
more info at these sites:
https://www.portugalist.com/d7-visa-residency/
https://beportugal.com/portuguese-residency/
https://imigrante.sef.pt/en/solicitar/
@faj That's correct and that applies to all EU countries However if it is your intention to stay longer than 90 days then you need a visa .In the Uk you will have to contact the Portugal embassy , again depending in what part of the UK YOU LIVE You must use the PT Embassy that can grant you a visa. There is list this on their website what counties they cover Get the wrong embassy and it will not happen! London Manchester and one in Scotland. There are different types of visa's depending on your circumstances. Again contact the PT embassy inform them of what you want to do in PT and they will advice you on what D7 to go for. I have found that all PT embassy very helpful.
@tinad Hi Tina and a BIG congrats to you for getting to PT! We are in the SF bay area and have one question: from the date of your consulate appt, how long after did you get word that you were getting the visa? Thank you!
Hi from Lagos, PT. We received our visas 7 weeks after our appointment in SF. We did not receive and communication from VFS or the consulate during the process whatsoever and the process tracking on the website was never updated after confirming receipt of the package from VFS the same day as our appointment. We think it helped that our travel date was just 9 weeks after the appointment. At the time of our appointment there was no requirement for a bank account and NIF #. We are working on that now that we are 'in country'. Lockdown has moved the NIF to an all online service, it helps our kids have been here since March and have a pretty good working knowledge of the language. I'll post more as we go through the process.
Tina and Bob
I encourage ALL of you to go to the immigration & customs web site and check the latest rules on coming into Portugal.
I believe CURRENTLY you must be 1. Portuguese citizen OR 2. Permanent resident 3. D7 Visa or 4. EU member citizen (NO LONGER UK citizen) 5.Have written proof of scheduled medical care.
go to www.sef.pt and read the updated restrictions on entering the country.
Thanks. Have been going through the website for a while. Not finding all the answers, will try and call the consulate for more information.
This Covid thing is a nightmare!
Yes I did, thank you very much.
Sorry I didn't reply, it's been manic here trying to pack up the house!
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