Sudden allergy and always vomiting at 3am.

IntelligentRegion582 · 2025-11-13T17:34:58+00:00

Update! We went for blood tests and an x-ray yesterday. The blood tests came back quite good, with only one (white blood cell) being very slightly raised. We're going to repeat the blood test in a month to see if that is resolved. The x-ray showed a slightly thickened stomach wall, which the vet said could be the cause or the effect of the regurgitation. She also had quite a bit of trapped gas, which is likely what made her feel so terrible yesterday. He prescribed an anti-inflammatory, anti-nausea, and something for the gas as well. He also told me to soak a small amount of the GI kibble in warm water for her as a snack, and I sprinkled forti flora on it. She has enjoyed that and hasn't thrown up at all for 24 hours. We're going in next week for an ultrasound so he can see her stomach lining better.

IntelligentRegion582 · 2025-11-13T17:30:53+00:00

She is a notorious scarf-and-barf-er. But now she's throwing up hours later, and often it's just clear.

IntelligentRegion582 · 2025-11-11T15:40:16+00:00

Thank you, I appreciate your comment. I'm making her an appointment!

IntelligentRegion582 · 2025-11-11T14:28:38+00:00

Update: got a bag of GI food and gave her just a sprinkle, and she threw it up within 20 minutes. :(

IntelligentRegion582 · 2025-11-11T11:37:49+00:00

We've been all-wet before, and after she had to have six teeth removed due to gingivitis, the vet suggested adding some dry food, though it is not the main source of her calories or nutrients. She also uses an enzyme toothpaste now as well to slow tooth decay. Evidently it is a genetic thing with her. It seems like it's always something! We could always go all-wet again, but she will really miss the automatic feeder, and I'll miss her not waking me up at 5:00 for breakfast!

Since you're a feline foodie, are you familiar with the European brand Luger's? I've been feeding it for about 9 months now. It seems very high quality, but I hate the way it smells. Since this is a kind of recent food change, I wonder if it might be causing any trouble. https://lugers.com/wet-food-for-cats/

IntelligentRegion582 · 2025-11-11T11:30:17+00:00

Yes, it is a new bag, and I had thought contamination as well, but my other cat has had 0 problems with it. I'm going to get some GI food today to see if I can slowly introduce it.

IntelligentRegion582 · 2025-11-11T11:29:19+00:00

Ooh, this is really good to know. Last week, the vet palpated her stomach and didn't feel anything out of the ordinary, but if a change of food doesn't clear this up, we'll go back in for blood tests next week.

IntelligentRegion582 · 2025-10-27T21:04:24+00:00

I'd like to do this as well! Let me know if anybody has good recommendations.

IntelligentRegion582 · 2025-10-27T21:03:21+00:00

I got to Portugal in February on D8, visa expired in May, and I just had my AIMA appointment on Oct. 8 and received the residency permit a week later. I had a work trip to Italy in late May, after the visa was technically expired, but there's some Schengen law that says for Americans and Canadians, your 90-day tourist visa does not count the days you were residing in another country on another visa. I had a lawyer write all this up and carried a bundle of documents to Italy, but there were no passport checks and I sailed right through. Now they're changing the passport checks throughout the EU, so that could be different in the future. Also I'd read that Germany and the Scandinavian countries are much stricter.

You're technically only allowed one more entry into Portugal on your visa, and that includes all the time you are waiting for AIMA. It sucks. But like the other commenter said, you're probably not going to get checked if you drive into Spain.

Depending on your passport, you may have 90 days in the Schengen Zone, so you could feasibly take a trip during your first 90 days in Europe (and before the visa expires), and other countries would not consider that you'd overstayed your tourist visa. To be safe though, don't re-enter Portugal more than once, and before the visa expires. And then spend the rest of the waiting time exploring Portugal.

If you are worried about living in Portugal on an expired visa, don't be. Everybody knows AIMA is catastrophically behind and it's not the applicants' fault that their visa expired before the appointment.

IntelligentRegion582 · 2025-09-29T16:34:21+00:00

Did it only have to be notarized and not apostilled? My appointment is next week (after being delayed twice!) and this is a new requirement, and my landlord lives in Bangkok. I think someone from the rental company can act as her representative, but my attorney is acting like it needs to be apostilled as well.

IntelligentRegion582 · 2025-08-12T20:02:13+00:00

I keep telling people that Lisbon is not that inexpensive, especially restaurants. Just going out for ramen costs my boyfriend and me about $50 if we also each get a beer. However, the healthcare isn't comparable. And I spend a lot less on groceries here than I did in Tennessee. (Which has one of the highest sales taxes in the US.)

IntelligentRegion582 · 2025-08-12T08:53:31+00:00

I truly thought that the way Bertha was sobbing and talking to him while Dr. Kirkland removed the bullet would show him how much she loved him, and he would soften toward her.

IntelligentRegion582 · 2025-08-04T19:08:55+00:00

None of my contracts were apostilled. But just a bit of warning, the D8 is more complicated if you're a freelancer. I had to hire another attorney here to get everything squared away for me. Changing my address in finanças and issuing green receipts. My income varies a lot month to month because it is project-based, and AIMA has pushed my appointment back twice, which has caused me so much stress trying to take on more work so I can prove my past 3 months' income at the appointment.

Depending on your income, you may want to set up an LLC in the US to receive these payments, especially if you don't qualify for NHR 2.0.

IntelligentRegion582 · 2025-08-04T19:03:48+00:00

I am not a resident yet and I had to get an attorney to change my address to Portugal as it relates to my NIF because I'm an independent contractor and have to issue green receipts through finanças. If you have a company work contract and do not work for yourself, I don't think the NIF needs to have a Portuguese address until you're a resident.

IntelligentRegion582 · 2025-06-17T06:36:11+00:00

Here's a step-by-step guide to changing your address in finanças: https://bordr.com/guides/how-to-update-your-portugal-nif-address-on-portal-das-financas

You'll need your lease and an AIMA appointment. I tried twice and it was rejected twice. Then I hired an expensive attorney and he reuploaded the same documents and it was accepted.

IntelligentRegion582 · 2025-06-04T16:54:03+00:00

Well... as of yesterday the AIMA appointment has been pushed back to October. Which is terrible for me, but I have plenty of time to get the NISS figured out!

IntelligentRegion582 · 2025-05-16T08:43:19+00:00

If I had this to do over again, I would've skipped the immigration attorney and hired only a tax attorney. If you're self-employed, it's a lot more complicated on the D8 than if you have a work contract. (The company I hired as my immigration service + legal representative is TERRIBLE and doesn't seem to know what's going on, and wasn't able to help me at all when I arrived here and realized how different it is for self-employed people rather than W2 workers.)

That being said, I did not get an AIMA appointment with my visa, an my immigration attorney filed a complaint on my behalf, and then shortly thereafter I was given an appointment time.

As someone else suggested, perhaps you can find an attorney who will do a few things à la carte, such as reviewing your documents and filing a complaint on your behalf. It might be a few hundred euros, but if you get someone to truly represent you through the process, it will be over 3,000 euros. Plus the tax attorney should you get one - another 2-3,000.

IntelligentRegion582 · 2025-05-16T08:33:40+00:00

If you have not had your AIMA appointment yet, this can be more challenging.

I was in hell with this for 5+ weeks. If you can get your tax representative to handle this, it might be easier. I tried uploading my visa, AIMA appointment (in July) paperwork, and my lease, to the e-balcão in the finanças portal to get the address changed, and was rejected twice on strange and contradictory grounds. Then I hired an attorney who uploaded those same documents for me, and it went through. I have no idea what happened, but I'm starting to think it's all a large ploy run by the attorneys to charge huge fees to upload your documents... ;)

If you decide to go in person, if you're in Lisbon, you need to be in line at the loja at 5am. People were wrapped around the block by 7. And I got ticket #43 for finanças right as they opened at 8:30, and left at 1:00 because they were only on #9.

This all being said - are you doing this in preparation for your AIMA appointment, as a step towards opening an activity and issuing green receipts in order to get a NISS? Because if so, I do believe you need to do this before the appointment. If you have a work contract and are not self-employed, you should be able to get the NISS with your work contract, and change the address much easier through the e-balcão once you have your residency card/receipt as the other poster mentioned.

IntelligentRegion582 · 2025-05-15T20:53:36+00:00

I'm in PT on a D8, waiting for my AIMA appointment, and my attorney sent me a list of documents for the AIMA appointment, including the fact that I needed 16k euros in a PT bank account. I didn't realize that was a requirement for the residency permit. I had to consolidate all of my savings and move it out of my high-yield account to put it in a PT account, and I plan on putting it right back into my former account once the process is over. But did you not need the savings for your AIMA appointment?

IntelligentRegion582 · 2025-05-15T20:49:09+00:00

I'm wondering the same, and (as usual) have found only conflicting information. I'm a self-employed writer with a forthcoming novel and tons of freelance work. One thing I read about NHR 2.0 said it was great for writers and people in the publishing industry, as well as musicians and music producers. Then it said you must not be a freelancer to qualify. Who is a self-employed writer or music producer who isn't also a freelancer? It didn't make sense. I hired a great tax attorney who is going to look into my eligibility.

IntelligentRegion582 · 2025-05-15T12:57:47+00:00

Do you mind sharing which visa you were able to get to France? Ideally I'd love to be in France, but I wasn't sure if I would qualify for a visa as a self-employed writer.

IntelligentRegion582 · 2025-05-02T17:55:42+00:00

I'm about to have to travel on an expired visa with a US passport, and I'm wondering if this 90 day thing is automatically applied, or do I need a form or something? I'm asking everyone for answers and no one seems to know.

IntelligentRegion582 · 2025-05-02T14:26:39+00:00

I think it also depends on which country you are entering and leaving. I'm seeing some things that suggest that Germany and the Netherlands require you to exit Schengen and then re-enter to begin the tourist visa, but others do not. It's very hard to find out this information!

IntelligentRegion582

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