So, what town in the Algarve did we pick to live in?

Vila Real de Santo António (VRSA)

VRSA is the most southeast town in Portugal. It's on the border to Spain. There’s a 9-minute ferry ride across the river (the country & time zone switches in the middle of the river).

This place is delightful:
🗺️To the south of town is a pine tree forest before you reach the ocean.
🗺️To the east of town is the Guadiana river.
🗺️To the north is a nature preserve.

#MovingToPortugal #Expat #Portugal #Algarve

2/

If all goes well with getting the contract finalized, our new apartment will have a gorgeous view of the river. (There aren’t that many units with water-facing views - it is a pretty small town - so we hope this rental works out.)

It’s got two outdoor porches (an L shape on the corner of the building) with 2 sliding glass doors from the living room to the front porch and another from the kitchen to the side porch. Each bedroom also has a sliding glass door off of each bedroom with a juliet balcony. And it’s not nearly as expensive as you might think.

#MovingToPortugal #Expat #Portugal #Algarve

3/

Week 1 (~12 weeks before departure) accomplishments:

✔️ Picked which town to live in (see earlier in this thread)

✔️ Picked an apartment and did a virtual tour (a 12-month lease agreement is a prerequisite for our visa - so this is urgent!)

✔️ Communicated with another American about their experience living there

✔️ Requested our NIF (national id) & got the required fiscal representative

✔️ Had a very helpful pre-move financial/tax planning session with a Portugese accountant

✔️ Got a Portugese lawyer to draw up the apartment lease contract (it’s done separately from the realtor/owner representative there)

✔️ Started process to open a Portugese bank account (a prerequisite for the apartment lease)

Lots to do yet, but that’s a great start.

#MovingToPortugal #Expat #Portugal #Algarve

4/

Oh my goodness I have a LOT more old photo albums & photo boxes…from the pre-digital days…than I remembered.

In related news, I used to have really big 80s hair which is good for a laugh. My husband might be starting to take offense how many times I said “look how cute you were 30 years ago” LOL.

Sidenote…The Americans is a freaking great show. I don’t rewatch a lot of tv shows, but it’s a great companion while I sort through this massive mound of photos to get digitized.

#MovingToPortugal

5/

Week 2 (~11 weeks before departure) progress update on the international move:

✔️ Sorted through a ton of old photos to get digitized. Decided to use the ScanMyPhotos service since it looks trustworthy and is far more economical than anywhere I could find locally.

✔️ Started looking into what to do about our investment accounts. Turns out that brokerage firms have lots of limitations on how expats not living in the US are allowed to invest.

✔️ Started process of getting our criminal background checks with the FBI. (It's a prerequisite for the visa application.)

✔️ Requested duplicate drivers license copies. When we get to Portugal and get drivers licenses there, they will take our US drivers licenses. (We don't expect to need a car full-time, but we will rent a car from time to time to tool around the country.)

✔️ Got our NIF (national id) which is a prerequisite for pretty much everything. Big step.

#MovingToPortugal #Expat #Portugal #Algarve

6/

Week 3 update on the international move
(~10 weeks before departure):

✔️ Got fingerprinted for our criminal background check (needed for our visa app).

✔️ Scheduled and started final set of dr. appts.

✔️ Started process to open a bank account in Portugal. Need to get account validation letters from our bank & we need to change names on our bank accounts to exactly match our passports.

✔️ First round of household goods & clothes went to thrift shop.

✔️ Sorted a bunch of financial papers. (Next up is to scan in the important stuff we need to keep.)

✔️ Ordered int'l shipping boxes. For about $1000 we can do 6 large boxes that can be 60 pounds each. It'll take 2-3 months for them to arrive.

✔️ Did a little yard/house "sprucing up" to prepare for pictures our realtor will take when he's here next week to talk about listing the house.

✔️ Progress on the apartment lease. Still waiting for paperwork from the owners to finalize it.

#MovingToPortugal #Expat #Portugal #Algarve

7/

@sqlchick

It sounds like you have everything under control!

We chose Porto and have been in Foz do Douro for just over a year. We traveled lighter and bought everything we needed here. Avoided the wait for our stuff.

Have fun in spite of the stress!