David D. Says:
We lived in Hawaii and visited Portugal last summer. What should we do and need before we move there? We’re both retired (not married) and I’m U.S. Army retired.
IL Contributor in Portugal Tricia Pimental Says:
Dear David,
Lucky you, living in Hawaii. I’m sure you found notable similarities between it and Portugal, so you should feel right at home when you move there. Your first step is to acquire a long-stay Portugal D7 visa. (Though, depending on your budget, a Golden Visa could make sense for you. You’ll find details about your visa options in our Escape to Portugal guide.)
When friends of mine decided to make the move to Portugal from the U.S. Midwest several years ago, they used a company called VFS Global. International Living often recommends this firm, as we have had personal knowledge of the services it offers and it’s quite a manageable site.
Following their guidelines, you’ll learn what you need to get your visa, a one-year health insurance policy, establish a residence, and how you can support yourselves. (Don’t worry, the financial bar is not set very high.)
One point of interest for you as U.S. Army retired: I have several retired U.S. military friends in my church in Cascais who’ve made Portugal their fulltime home. Portugal makes no distinction between retired U.S. military and retired U.S. civilians.
Finally, of course you will have to decide where—at least in general—in the country you’ll want to live. Several real estate sites with an option for English are imovirtual.com. remax.pt, and idealista.pt.
I hope this information will be of use to you and wish you the best on your journey!
Editor’s Note: Portugal took the top spot in our 2023 Annual Global Retirement Index to become our official Best Place to Retire in 2023. See the full index here.
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