Elizabeth
@elizabethtPT
American and English expat in Portugal
Forum posts
44
Contacts
6
About me
American and English
Speaks English, Portuguese, Spanish
Registration: 17 January 2023
About
Occupation
I am Self-employed. I am Renovating and renting full-service properties with relocation support for Estremoz Rentals
Education
King's College London
Master of Science (MSc), Hydrology & Economics
2010
My expat journey
Portugal
USA
Activity
Good news: Europe's first elephant sanctuary has opened by JohnnyPT
Europe’s first elephant sanctuary has opened in the Alentejo, PortugalBuilt from scratch on a 405-hectare site in the Alentejo, the sanctuary was designed to give these highly intelligent and social animals what a circus or a small zoo could ...
Isn't that fantastic! Here in the Alentejo! We were amazed and supportive when we first heard of it, and but only when we started seeing it in international news we realised how rare and special it was. Read More
Considering moving to Portugal by jeffcontreras
Hello everyone! I have recently gone through some life changes and will be selling my home in NC, USA. After that I am considering moving to Portugal in the Algarve region. It seems the best from my research due to its lower cost and number of ...
Hi Jeff, as others have said a 12 month lease is the most common way to go as not everyone is 100% on the exact property or town or even region to purchase before living here full time. I just wrote a response on another thread about what items to ... Read More
Navigating friendships as an expat in Portugal by Cheryl
Hello everyone, Moving to Portugal reshapes many aspects of life, and friendships are often one of the biggest changes. Whether you're maintaining lifelong bonds back home, building new local relationships, or forming connections with fellow ...
To focus on the "building new local relationships" line from OP's opening post -- we find that international communities are welcoming wherever we visit in Portugal, and naturally that is because it's like the first day of class at school, everyone ... Read More
Avoiding written communication by TGCampo
Over the past few years I noticed (not only, but mainly, in Portugal) that companies and people in general don't reply to emails in writing, but by phone (if at all). In Portugal one often gets no reply at all. Is this just something that I notice ...
As I just mentioned on a post about banking, it's an in person or phone culture we find too, like you say. Every country is different, and so if one adapts to that then things go much smoother. The other option which works well is simply to keep ... Read More
Personal bank recommendations (from own experience)? by Hannahmazing
There's an extremely helpful post here about opening a Portuguese bank for non residents, here: https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=933658 But I'm wondering if anybody here has any positive reviews to share or personal recommendations for ...
Our information may be a bit out of date but we have had a good experience with Novobanco andalso Millenium, both in the Alentejo. Novobanco we opened in 2020 before we had residency. It's more of a phone or in person culture than others, so that is ... Read More
Planning to move to Portugal by Marwa Hamdy
Hi everyone, I'm Marwa from Egypt. I'm planning to move to Portugal soon on a D7 visa, and I'd love to ask about the long-term lease agreement (NIF & Rental contract). Is it better to secure an apartment in Lisbon/Porto before applying, or are ...
Hi Marwa! We just wrote a response to some tenancy related questions on the forum here:https://www.expat.com/en/forum/europe/portugal/1118328-rental-nightmares-in-portugal.htmlMay be useful as we're coming from it from a landlord perspective here in ... Read More
Rental nightmares in Portugal by Cheryl
Hello everyone, Finding a place to live in Portugal can be exciting, but it doesn’t always go as planned. From misleading listings and apartments that look nothing like the photos to strange landlords, hidden rules, unexpected roommates, or ...
Olá all, from our first move to Portugal where we rented ourselves in 2020, and from our experience as landlords providing turn-key rentals in the Alentejo - below are a few key points. Every country is unique and so it was just up to us to ... Read More
Most common payment methods in Portugal by Cheryl
Hello everyone, Moving to Portugal, even simple things like paying for groceries or a coffee can feel different. In order to help fellow expats and soon-to-be expats better prepare for their daily transactions, we invite you to share your ...
Olá, just to add that we find in both cities and countryside (we live in the Alentejo), we find contactless payments via the phone widely accepted, just maybe the taverns in villages are not so likely. Also, that the Lisbon metro accepts ... Read More
Visiting in January by MateoT7
Hello All,I will be visiting in later January for about 14 days. I will be basing out of Coimbra and will be looking for 1, 2, and possibly 3 day trips from there (don't want to lug all of my luggage everywhere). I've been lucky enough to meet a ...
If you're interested in looking south, be sure to check out the Alentejo! It's stunning. We're based in Estremoz, the white city (covered in marble!)EDIT oops didn't see when this was posted! Ah well Read More
Relocating to Portugal – need moving company recommendations by LuisCavalho
Hey everyone — I’ll be relocating to Portugal in a few weeks and I’m currently looking into moving companies that are reliable, careful with belongings, and fairly priced.I’ve seen ThreeMovers mentioned a few times, but ...
We had a recent positive recommendation for UPackWeShip (we rent furnished pet-friendly properties with relocation support in Estremoz, Alentejo, so hear from first-hand experience in terms of moving services from our tenants and wider ... Read More
AIMA Proof of accommodation by engsultan93
Hi everyone,I’m preparing for my upcoming AIMA renewal and wanted to sanity-check the proof of address documents I understand are required, and clarify one point that seems a bit confusing from past discussions.From what I’ve gathered so ...
@JohnnyPT Very helpful to have the direct AIMA links, we have started to do documents for our last sets of tenants in Portugal (since last year) on advice of various immigration lawyers (ours and theirs). Read More
Cheap 12-month rental agreement as proof of accommodation by Charlie Simpson
Hey everyone - hoping someone can point me in the right direction. Family of 5, we're mid-D7 application through the London consulate and got an Audiência Prévia (intention to refuse) partly because our CPCV wasn't accepted as ...
@Charlie Simpson That's very interesting, we also thought that a CPCV would be acceptable, so long as it was for a habitable home (not commercial, ruin, etc.). I wonder if that is a change in policy or simply that, as we have encountered more than ... Read More
Rental Listing Question by picart035
Hello,Would someone please be so kind as to explain to me what these requirements are? Contracting conditions:- Presentation of personal documents- Performance test for the last 3 months- IRS and settlement note (in the absence of a job contract)- 2 ...
@picart035 Thanks for sharing the Portuguese! Yes, that is as I thought I'm pleased to say. In this case, and for future ease of viewing rental listings:Rendimento = income/earningsRenda = rentCaução = depositGood luck finding the ... Read More
Starting to Explore Retirement Opportunities in Portugal by amlgonzalez
Hi all.We are Amanda and William, currently residing in South Carolina, USA. Originally from Colombia, South America, we have also spent time living in Chile. Our passion for travel has inspired us as we plan to retire in approximately two years, ...
@amlgonzalezOlá Amanda and William! That's exciting you've narrowed it down to Spain and Portugal, both wonderful countries. My husband and I moved here five years ago, and before that has spent a few years in Madrid. For us, we chose our ... Read More
Rental Listing Question by picart035
Hello,Would someone please be so kind as to explain to me what these requirements are? Contracting conditions:- Presentation of personal documents- Performance test for the last 3 months- IRS and settlement note (in the absence of a job contract)- 2 ...
Was this list originally sent in Portuguese? Could you share that here?Here's my best guess of what they are looking for, but it's hard to say for certain without seeing the Portuguese version. We rent out properties for long-term rental with ... Read More