Moving to Portugal from the UK

Hi all,


I'm sure this has been posted a thousand times here, so forgive me for posting again. We're entirely new to this forum.


I am English. My partner is Dutch. We are not married. She moved to the UK around 8 years ago. During Brexit, she applied for (and successfully received) British citizenship. We are both currently in full-time employment.


We would like to move to Portugal, with the goal of renovating an old property, with some land to live a more self-sufficient life.


Our plan is to rent out our property for ~£1,200/month. This would equate to ~£400/month as disposable income, after the monthly £800 mortgage bill.


I am planning to transition to self-employment (though, this won't garner much income, as I will need to re-build my client base – say, £300/month).


As far as I am aware, our best bet is the D7 Visa. This requires the first adult to have a passive income of €7,200/year and the second adult to have a passive income of €3,600/year. A total of €10,800/year. Or, €900/month.


Now, is this €900/month passive income requirement based on disposable income (e.g. post monthly mortgage bill), or entire income (e.g. pre monthly mortgage bill)? Hopefully the latter.


How many months proof of financials do we need to show? I have read both 3 months and 6 months. My concern is that while we're renting our property out, we'll need to live elsewhere for this 3 or 6 month period, before we can even begin the D7 Visa application process… in order to get the proof of financials.


And, how exactly can proof of accommodation work? I've read the authorities require you to show 12 months proof of accommodation prior to processing your D7 Visa. How can this be possible? How can one potentially live in Portugal prior to obtaining the Visa? Perhaps I'm reading into this portion of the Visa incorrectly.


I'm sure there'll be many more questions!


Thank you in advance.

Hi @paperclap, Welcome.


As your partner is an EU citizen, perhaps your process will be easier:


Registration Certificate for Citizens of the EU/EEA/Switzerland

https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.p … 33#5088039

(Post #7)



Residence Card for third-country nationals who are family members of EU/EEA/Switzerland nationals

https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.p … 33#5104571

(Post #9)


...

If they are in a non-marital partnership:

7. Birth certificates of both and document proving the common life for at least 2 years;


____


Regarding the D7 visa, what is required is a rental contract of 1 year, +/- from the submission of the visa process


Evidence that the applicant has adequate accommodation

https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.p … 42#5123520

(Post #8)



Best Regards

As usual this is excellent information from JohnnyPT.


I would have a very hard and critical look into whether your income base is sufficient for a life in Portugal. The country has morphed from being really cheap to a place that isn't that cheap at all. I am aware that all depends upon the standard of living one wants to maintain, but a good start might be looking at Numbeo to compare the cost of living in a town in Portugal to that of your town in the UK. Numbeo can actually be configured such that you really compare apples with apples (so to speak).