Attorney Resource For Residency In Portugal
“Kathleen, first, I would like to thank you for all the wonderful advice we have received from you about moving abroad. Our lives are so rich now, with every day filled with good friends and wonderment.
“If I may, I would like to tell you a success story.
“Four years ago, my wife and I met you at your Live and Invest Overseas conference in Scottsdale, Arizona. We were interested in moving to Ireland and wanted advice. With your wonderful information, we moved to Ireland and settled in quickly. The transition was fairly smooth because you trained us on how to ask the right questions. Were there bumps in the road? Absolutely. Did we ever panic? My wife never did, but I sure did! I knew it would pass, and sure enough, it did. After that, life was good.
“Our long-term plans were to keep living in Ireland. Unfortunately, last January, the Irish government changed the residency rules and we no longer met the requirements to stay long-term in Ireland. We had to leave.
“From reading your newsletter, we knew about Portugal and decided to investigate this fascinating country. We were so impressed by what we found, we moved to Portugal in May of this year.
“We began preparing for our move in late January of this year. We learned that your Portugal expert was Lugna of Lisbon, so we hired them to guide us through the visa process. We cannot say enough good things about João Figueira and Duarte Monteiro of Lugna, who expertly and swiftly guided us through what would otherwise have been a long and drawn-out application process.
“Here are a few of the things they did for us:
“Because of their guidance, we spent only a couple of weeks gathering our documents for the visa application process. (Read any online forum on this topic, and you’ll see that without guidance this can be a long and frustrating process!) Three weeks after turning in our application to the Portuguese Embassy in Dublin, we had our entry visas.
“Lugna reviewed our rental agreement for our apartment in Cascais and made sure we were not being taken advantage of. There was actually a clause in the agreement that would have harmed us, and Duarte made the landlord remove it.
“We were able to get a checking account and credit cards from a local bank with Lugna’s help and guidance. Duarte personally spent three hours with us at the bank, making sure everything went smoothly.
“With Lugna’s help, we were able to find the perfect health insurance plan for us. Again, Duarte spent a long time with us explaining what our options were.
“In August, we will apply for our long-term residency. Again, we will be accompanied by either Duarte or João on that visit. We are confident we will have no trouble because of the guidance from Lugna.
“Finally, our taxes will be in good hands with Lugna, who will file the Portugal taxes (we won’t owe income taxes to Portugal, but we must file, nevertheless). Lugna has also arranged for their associate in New York City to file our U.S. taxes.
“We are now settled in the lovely town of Cascais, just west of Lisbon. With the excellent public transportation system, we haven’t felt the need to buy a car; we go everywhere by foot, bus, train, and metro with ease, including back and forth between Cascais and Lisbon (20 miles apart) by train for just 4 euros per person, round-trip. For longer trips, such as our upcoming visit to the Peneda-Gerês National Park near the northern border with Spain, we’ll take the train, which is always enjoyable.
“So, that is our success story. Our new life in Portugal is shaping up to be amazing, and we couldn’t be happier! To the two of you, as well as Duarte and João, we would like to say, ‘Obrigado!’”
–Graham S., Portugal
Thank you for taking time to write to share your story. We’re very impressed by your flexible, just-go-with-it perspective that allowed you to reposition from Ireland to Portugal so successfully.
And we agree. João and Duarte are invaluable resources. Both are key experts presenting during this week’s Live and Invest in Portugal Conference.
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“Kathleen, sounds like you guys had a great time in Portugal. OK… now I need the deep down details. You have my wife very curious on the Algarve. My first and probably most needed question is what kind of visa can you get for retirement or investment there? What are the requirements?
“Also, where did you and Lief buy if you don’t mind me asking? We are planning an exploratory trip for September.”
–Mike S., Ecuador
You can qualify for residency in Portugal if you have a government pension… so Social Security works. The requirement is only 500 euros per person, meaning that one spouse receiving Social Security of US$1,200 a month would suffice right now.
We bought in Lagos.
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“Kathleen, I just finished watching many of the presentations from the recently produced 2015 Live And Invest Overseas Home Conference Kit. They were very enlightening. Thank you for producing it.
“I do have a couple of questions regarding the Live and Invest In Portugal—Taxes, Real Estate, And Immigration presentation by Joao Gil Figueira. On slide 21, it indicates Temporary Residency Visas are available to ‘Retired individuals with occupational pensions.’ Here are my questions:
“What about people with rental income? Does rental income qualify one to get the Temporary Residency Visa, or does only pension income qualify?
“If the answer to that question is yes, rental income qualifies, what is the required income per month for a married couple?
“Finally, generally speaking, for countries that do count rental income as qualifying one to get a residency visa, what type of documentation is typically required to prove the rental income?”
–Tracy H., United States
Joao Gil Figueira, our preferred attorney in Portugal, responds:
It is possible to qualify for residency if one can produce proof of monthly income (any kind from any source) in excess of 1,010 euros per applicant.
In addition, a mandatory interview is conducted by the Portuguese Customs and Borders Authority to ascertain the reason behind the relocation to Portugal.
