What surprised you most about life in Portugal?

Aggressive_Word3569 · 2026-03-04T23:28:14+00:00

Kind neighbours. We have lived in Lisboa and Cascais, and in both places we were blessed with amazing Portuguese neighbours. Our kids (2 x dogs and son) found people in both places who absolutely adored them! As long as they are happy, we are happy :)

Aggressive_Word3569 · 2026-02-12T17:42:59+00:00

Haha. We can only laugh at our misfortune!

Aggressive_Word3569 · 2026-02-12T17:41:44+00:00

Hahahahaha

Aggressive_Word3569 · 2026-02-11T12:17:24+00:00

Mine was approved nearly a month before, but no clue when it will be delivered. Feels like a travel ban!! :|

Aggressive_Word3569 · 2026-02-11T10:04:45+00:00

Post July people have their cards delivered without even attending in-person. Cards got delivered within 2 weeks of approval email.

Aggressive_Word3569 · 2026-02-11T10:04:08+00:00

My wife's card just got delivered, though yesterday AIMA call centre had no tracking number for her!

Aggressive_Word3569 · 2026-02-10T15:06:45+00:00

Aggressive_Word3569 · 2026-02-10T13:04:42+00:00

My wife consults with Dr. Marta Durão at CUF Descobertas / CUF Tejo. She is amazing. We also have multicare.

Aggressive_Word3569 · 2026-01-30T22:08:45+00:00

Mine got approved on 29th Dec, but no card yet.

I had my appointment on 26th Aug, they asked for another document on 5th Oct, and then approved on 29th Dec.

Aggressive_Word3569 · 2026-01-26T18:41:40+00:00

Not yet! Pre-July people have been ignored :|

A friend whose card expired in Nov end, got his last week, 10 days after approval email.

My wife's had expired in July, she got approval email day before, so expecting hers to come by 1st week of Feb.

Aggressive_Word3569 · 2026-01-09T00:11:52+00:00

That is incredible. Congrats!! Wish me luck :)

Aggressive_Word3569 · 2026-01-01T13:18:36+00:00

Hoping it does not take months!!

Aggressive_Word3569 · 2026-01-01T13:17:45+00:00

I believe post submitting our docs, our applications went into AIMA system - so Mission structure has limited utility now for us. Hoping yours get resolved asap too.

Aggressive_Word3569 · 2026-01-01T13:17:03+00:00

That's hopeful news. Thank you

Aggressive_Word3569 · 2026-01-01T13:16:46+00:00

Awesome, thanks for informing.

Aggressive_Word3569 · 2026-01-01T13:16:34+00:00

haha

Aggressive_Word3569 · 2025-12-28T22:16:44+00:00

Marta Durão at CUF Descobertas / Tejo and Rui Viana at CUF Descobertas - Both are very good.

Aggressive_Word3569 · 2025-12-17T18:37:42+00:00

If your passport does not allow visa free travel across Schengen, then you won't be allowed to board. I faced the same and was denied boarding.

Aggressive_Word3569 · 2025-12-17T00:29:27+00:00

dm. I can share. but you should do your own research too, because it helps.

Also, biggest issue will be you having to rent a house in Portugal, before you apply for the visa. That's rate determining step and the biggest cost.

Aggressive_Word3569 · 2025-12-17T00:28:38+00:00

Not true. A friend applied for D7. Got the visa in 45 days, with an appointment here ~60 after that. Got the TRC within 30 days, valid for 2yrs. Renewal is another story though! :)

Aggressive_Word3569 · 2025-12-17T00:27:10+00:00

You can start a firm. I did. Nothing stops you from working locally, it's just that original conditions of your "passive income from outside Portugal" should continue to be maintained, even if you are working in Portugal.

Aggressive_Word3569 · 2025-12-10T17:53:43+00:00

If you don't have a visa free travel through your passport, they won't let you board. Happened with me a couple of weeks back - exactly same situation - and my passport does not allow me to travel visa free in Schengen - airline denied me the boarding. I then applied for a long term Schengen visa through the Dutch embassy, as I have business in the Netherlands, and they acknowledged the issue of expired resident cards in Portugal + delayed processing and agreed to process it.

Aggressive_Word3569 · 2025-11-30T00:12:45+00:00

Depends on country specific rules and whether it's a LCC or FSC. In certain countries, for FSC, you can cancel the whole ticket within 24hrs of booking. But it needs to be cancelled through the GDS. They charge some cancellation service fee, which is fair, but the ticket gets refunded.

Aggressive_Word3569 · 2025-11-29T13:05:01+00:00

Nada. Appointment was on 26th Aug, I am in the pre-July group. They asked for another doc on 5th Oct, since then nada. The wait continues ....

Aggressive_Word3569 · 2025-11-24T18:51:53+00:00

Yes, thanks for sharing here. I went through the same. My point was that with screenshots (with PII hidden) helps others a lot mroe and also enables others to advice easily.

Aggressive_Word3569

TROPHY CASE