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engsultan93

Dear All,

Greetings, I trsut this finds you all well. I have a unique question but just checking if someone has had a similar experience or has the knowledge to advise.


I got my D8 visa a few months ago and went to my AIMA appointment and the application was accepted and I'm currently waiting for the residence cards to be issued.


My mid-term plan is to get Portuguese citizenship (fingers crossed), so I'm working for an international organization where I'm exempted from paying taxes and social security on my salary which I got confirmed from the tax authorities here in Portugal as well.


So was wondering since I'm exempted from paying taxes and social security if that will be a problem down the road when I apply for my residence renewal and/or Portuguese citizenship.


Any advice is very much appreciated.

Thanks a lot in advance and please feel free to ask me any question more clarity is needed.

Best regard,

Mohammed

bobinportugal22

Mohammed,

     Kind of unrelated but if you're not paying into social security you need to make smart investment decisions for when you reach retirement age. There will be no government funds to fall back on when you're no longer working or earning.

JohnnyPT

The question raised by @bobinportugal22 is very pertinent. Don't expect the Portuguese state to guarantee your livelihood if you don't pay any taxes or contribute to social security. How do you support yourself in this country? Do you speak Portuguese correctly? All these questions will be certainly analysed in a possible application. What's more, the rules on nationality are being tightened more and more, precisely because of abuses like this...

TGCampo

@JohnnyPT I assume (!) that there is a minimum financial support for any penniless Portuguese citizen, completely independent of how much they paid into the system.

JohnnyPT

@TGCampo,


No, there isn't. There is no guaranteed minimum income. I know it exists in other countries, but it doesn't exist in Portugal. There are countries that have had this experience and have abandoned it, given the degree of abuse by opportunists.


In Portugal, income, especially for retirement, comes from one's own resources or from social security pensions, after contributing a lifetime of work to social security.

engsultan93

@JohnnyPT Thanks for the response but i see the discussion here took a complete different direction. I'm not asking here how I will take care of myself when I get retired 35 years from now because I have my pension from employer and because of many other things.


The question was if I'm according to the Portuguese law exempted from paying taxes and social security; just to make it clear I'm not running away from paying I'm just following the Portuguese law here. Will that by any change be an issue tomorrow when I renew my residence permit and/or apply for citizenship after 5 years of legal residence?


Hope this is clear.

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