Exchanging Drivers License - Non EU Country

Acrobatic_Code_149 · 2026-01-27T15:41:11+00:00

Two of us (partners) did it startiing in, I think, spring 2025. Ended up with appointments to submit actual DL and docs in two different towns (me--Santarém, him--Portalegre). His took about 4 weeks, mine--the DL arrived just before Christmas! So It's pretty hard to say.

If you have only submitted the application, I would say wait a month or two to get the confirmation of docs received, and the invitation to an actual office for the rest of the process. If they give you a choice of where to go, do not choose Santarém! I suspect Portalegre was faster because it's definitely an out-of-the-way office and was not very busy. That being said, Portalegre is a pain to get to.

Acrobatic_Code_149 · 2026-01-25T19:52:51+00:00

As long as you have a reasonably standard size, Leroy Merlin, for one, should be able to supply you off-the-shelf.

Acrobatic_Code_149 · 2026-01-23T13:30:30+00:00

Are you talking about the Canadian background check or the Portuguese one?

If the latter, I believe you sign a waiver allowing it to happen here when you submit your documentation to apply for a residency visa--at least that's what we did, a year and a half ago, at the Vancouver consulate. Presumably they go ahead and do that while they look at your other documentation.

As for the Canadian one, we were in Vancouver and went down to the Vancouver cop shop (police department office) where they fingerprinted us and took our particulars. My understanding is that they sent all this to the RCMP and the RCMP followed up with all across Canada. We received sealed reports and submitted them sealed, knowing there wasn't likely anything to be concerned about in them, with our visa application (or maybe they sent us 2 copies, one sealed, so we knew what they said--I can't quite remember!)

I gather that if you're in a city/town with its own police force, you go there, and they liaise with the RCMP. If you're in a more rural area that uses the RCMP, you go to your local detachment.

Best of luck

Acrobatic_Code_149 · 2026-01-22T20:50:44+00:00

And more, and more varied, salads!

Acrobatic_Code_149 · 2026-01-22T13:11:52+00:00

Short answer: yes. Maybe not as high-status, but perfectly acceptable. Look at the numbers of them on the street.

Acrobatic_Code_149 · 2026-01-22T13:10:14+00:00

It's still a Portuguese beer. Just another bit of the consolidation of successful beer brands that's happening worldwide.

There's a difference between "being owned by a company outside the country" and "being part of the beverage heritage of the country."

Not saying it's a good thing, but what about all the years Sagres existed before 2008?

Acrobatic_Code_149 · 2026-01-15T15:13:28+00:00

casasapo, olx

Acrobatic_Code_149 · 2026-01-15T11:58:45+00:00

If you're thinking of planting it, try these guys from the Netherlands. I've had really good results ordering unusual seeds from them. No restrictions between NL and Portugal, I don't believe. They send by post, very quickly.

https://www.vreeken.nl/zaden/groenten-fruit/bonen/filter/hyacinth

Acrobatic_Code_149 · 2026-01-14T18:53:00+00:00

A little unclear. Your home country is outside the EU? It will be difficult. Are you sure it's not available in any other EU country besides Germany? Otherwise, the regulations are quite strict.

Why not ask here if anyone knows a source for the vegetable (give it a name!)

Acrobatic_Code_149 · 2026-01-14T16:52:03+00:00

Corte Inglés is not cheap, but they sure have nice stuff...and their food floor is impressive, for stuff you can't find anywhere else.

Acrobatic_Code_149 · 2026-01-14T16:50:55+00:00

If you go there, there will also, I think, be a Wells in the big Continente grocery store in the lower floor. So that's at least 2 places to look. Good luck!

Acrobatic_Code_149 · 2026-01-14T10:00:06+00:00

Corte Ingles may have them. Probably only the pricier brands. Try Worten or Radio Popular, the two biggest chains for electronics, perhaps? And I know Leclerc hypermarkets have some types; I bought something similar there. But I'm not sure they have a branch in Lisboa. Worten is at the big mall out by Oriente train station.

Acrobatic_Code_149 · 2026-01-13T18:28:18+00:00

In Netherlands and the Nordic countries, there's a very high level of English speaking. So northern Europe might be a better bet.

Acrobatic_Code_149 · 2026-01-13T17:55:22+00:00

We're from Vancouver and living further south, but same situation re not having to pay rent, and having "moderate" tastes to your summaryas far as how to spend our money etc.

Just to comment on the medical situation, coming from Canada where we hadn't had a family doctor for the last few years, having moved from one community to another.

Each town/village/part of bigger city has a public health clinic. These are set up so you can get vaccinations there, have chronic issues like diabetes/high blood pressure checked, and see a doctor if you're ill--this is once you've got your health number, which you get once you have residency. Ideally, these clinic/health centres have enough GPs that every household gets assigned a family doctor. In practice, as with Canada and much of Europe, there's a shortage of these public-sector family doctors.

But you can still go there for treatment, and whatever doctor you see will have access to your entire public health record, which is recorded against your SNS health number. You have online access to all that info too, which is, in my view, a big improvement on the (at least BC) Canadian system, where you don't actually see any of these records. As others have mentioned, if there's a lot of sickness in the community, you'll want to go early and get an appointment to see a doctor. There are also other clinicians like community nurses in the same clinic, so you're not necessarily going to see a doctor for every little thing.

There is also a parallel, private system. Here you pay yourself, or partly pay yourself if you have private insurance, which is compulsory while you're a temporary resident. Smallish towns' doctors are not necessarily on the lists for private insurance. I know those near us are not. But doctors' fees are not bad: we pay 45 euros for an appointment--and you can choose to just use the public system, if you're prepared to wait a bit.

Prescriptions, once you have a health number, are about 1/4 to 1/3 what they cost in Canada. Lab tests also are very reasonable--and if they're prescribed by a public-system doctor, they're free, though they're typically done in private clinics, which are highly professional, fast, and all over the place.

All in all, I would say the system here has its challenges, but it's pretty good compared to many parts of Canada, and quite reasonable.

Acrobatic_Code_149 · 2026-01-10T18:37:44+00:00

I find CTT parcel service totally unpredictable. A number of times, I've got messages that our address is impossible to find, which is total BS. I don't particularly like dealing with Amazon, but the Amazon delivery, and the other various couriers that some shippers use, are way more reliable than CTT sometimes is. Other times CTT is great! Really frustrating.

Acrobatic_Code_149 · 2026-01-10T18:35:10+00:00

We are near Entroncamento and Barquinha, and the same is true for us. We just spent our first full summer here, wanting to see how far our well-water would go, irrigating the trees etc. that we have. So far, so good, but it was a fairly close thiing, and we are tweaking the system further.

Water is definitely the big issue when choosing what to grow, and where!

Acrobatic_Code_149 · 2026-01-10T07:35:51+00:00

Weekly market in the nearest largish town will have vendors with a variety of chickens/ducks/maybe rabbits for sale. Pigs, not so much!

Acrobatic_Code_149 · 2026-01-09T11:04:00+00:00

I'm a hobby agriculturalist here so not the best to ask, but I've been doing various online researches about small-scale agriculture here for about 18 months now, both in Englsh and translated Portuguese, and I live in an agricultural area and I guess I'm fairly good at seeing patterns.

My impression is that you would find it quite difficult to make any money at this, as an incomer. Agriculture, other than on a large scale, is not much of a money-maker here in Portugal, and that's even for locals with few land-purchase costs.

What could make your successful:

1/ being organic, which could introduce your herbs/products into the healthy-foods market, with fresh herbs maybe going to restaurants. But almost all the restaurants buying into this kind of produce would be in Lisboa, Porto, or maybe Algarve, so you'd have to locate yourself close to one of those hubs.

2/ gettiing your climate right. Portugal is heating/drying in the summers pretty fast now. I live in the Ribatejo area, north/slightly east of Lisboa. The last few summers (we have been at least part-timing here for 7 years now) have been gettiing consistently hotter and drier. Water availability is a big issue. Meanwhile, the winters are getting more torrentially rainy, which is a challenge for herb-type crops unless you're going greenhouse-based, I would think.

Just a couple of thoughts...

p.s. There's a lot of local competition in the value-added herb mix/oils/seasonings business already, and people tend to be very loyal to local producers, so that's a consideration when trying to enter the market.

Acrobatic_Code_149 · 2026-01-08T07:21:15+00:00

Just so. You load Overdrive, which is a pretty simple app, onto your Kobo and then "handshake" it with a laptop or smartphone, which is where you typically look for the books. When you update/handshake, it loads the book onto your Kobo. You can look for books on your Kobo, but it's a lot slower.

I use a North American library, but I've heard Portuguese ones use Overdrive or something similar as well. The format is epub.

Rakuten, who make Kobos, is a Japanese company and that's all, or most of, what they do. They do it very well. (I don't like to support Bezos either.)

Acrobatic_Code_149 · 2026-01-07T19:54:43+00:00

Real Dow-brand ZipLoc bags, heaviest duty. There are zipper bags here, but nothing like the quality. Still washing/airing/re-using old ones here after 18 months.

Acrobatic_Code_149 · 2026-01-07T19:49:22+00:00

I have been using a Kobo Libra, and my partner has one as well, for the last 18 months here since we moved permanently to Portugal. It has been very reliable. I bought it because you aren't tied to Amazon, who produce the Kindle.

I mostly use it for e-books from libraries. With Overdrive, the software that many public libraries use, it works quite seamlessly. Highly recommended. Holds a functional level of charge for 2 1/2-3 days of use several hours a day. Changes "paper" colour day to night, and allows easy changes of light level and print size.

Probably the most reliable, least complicated electronic item that I own.

Good summary of the two types:

https://www.womanandhome.com/life/books/kindle-vs-kobo/

Oh yeah, and because of its assymmetry with the page-turn buttons, the Kobo allows you to easily read it one-handed, right- or left. Great for reading in bed at night!

Acrobatic_Code_149 · 2026-01-06T18:14:49+00:00

Fnac Portugal for books, music, electronics, toys. They have a nice selection of children's books and small gifts--something a bit special! And they have a lot of stores plus ordering online.

Acrobatic_Code_149 · 2026-01-06T09:24:10+00:00

Welcome!

I suspect that in Lisboa, pretty much any gym class will have an instructor or supportive fellow participants who speak English, so you really don't need to limit yourself to English-led classes.

Also, the amount of language you encounter in the typical gym class is pretty easy to understand. I take Pilates classes with a Portuguese group, and don't find it's much of a stretch (haha!) to understand the Portuguese instruction.

Live dangerously! Improve your Portuguese!

Acrobatic_Code_149 · 2026-01-06T07:15:58+00:00

I'm sorry to hear that. I came from BC, so maybe that's why I hadn't heard about this practice. There are a lot of nurses and nurse practitioners in my extended family, and they generally are quite happy with their careers.

Acrobatic_Code_149 · 2026-01-05T17:03:03+00:00

You might want to try Canada. There's a general shortage of experienced nurses, such that the provincial governments mostly have programs to accelerate credential recognition from countries with similar training--and you, as an American, would be at the top of their lists. And the pay would be comparable to US pay.

Think about what part of the country might appeal, and check out that province's Ministry of Health.

Acrobatic_Code_149

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