You decided to make the move to Portugal from your home country, so what do you need to plan?
International Transport
If you are moving to Portugal, it is most likely that you will need International Transport, whether you are coming over land or by sea. Unless you are moving from and EU country you will need to get all your documentation in order, and this can be complex. You will need a full list of items, receipts for items recently purchased, customs clearance paperwork etc.
Some people try to do this themselves, however that can be very expensive if it is not correct. If you arrive in customs in Portugal and your paperwork is not correct for personal goods, you might need to pay Import Duty, or IVA on new purchased items. These can be avoided or minimised if you use the knowledge and experience of a Professional International Mover.
Employing a professional, is just a smart move. They can also liaise with your Storage company if you don’t have a permanent home to move straight in to.
A Storage Solution
Unless you have a property to move into on Day 1 you will need somewhere safe to store your belongings. In Portugal Self Storage is a relatively new idea. In the Central Region there are very few, and none that offer the flexibility that we do at Fusion Discovery – Storage Solutions. Most of our client are moving into Portugal from other countries.
You might be offered a garage space, but is it secure and is it dry? If you need to store items for some months then the garage needs to be dry, we are near the coast and it does get humid at times.
We have helped many clients make the move easier. We offer a personal service to meet your needs. Read some of the Feedback we have.
We can liaise with your moving company to make sure everything goes well. Our facility in Caldas da Rainha, in the heart of the Silver Coast, has easy access for trucks or containers, and we are just 2 minutes from the A8 motorway. We can arrange to offload containers with a Fork Lift Truck and if extra hands are needed, then we can arrange that too. We have a variety of Storage Solutions, lockup self storage, packing crates, pallet storage, and even open storage for very large items that don’t fit in any space.
What to do before you arrive or when you get to Portugal ?
Find out if you need a D7 or any other Visas from your home country, in order to get your residency papers. Contact your local Portuguese Embassy to get the most up to date requirements, and book appointments early, as this can take some time. (SEF)
When packing up make sure all your boxes are numbered, and you have a list of everything in each box. If it gets to next Christmas and you are not in your new home, then you will want to know that box number 64 has all the Christmas Decorations.
Make arrangements for Pet Passports if you are bringing furry friends.
If you are bringing children of school age, you will need to get them registered in a school and they will most likely require the last school report, translated and a record of Vaccinations.
Get a NIF (Financas) can be done remotely by a lawyer. If you are visiting to look at property, then start by getting a NIF, as you will ned that to open a Bank Account, Make a Rental Contract or Buy Property.
Register at your local Health Centre (SNS), this can be complicated and each Health Centre can ask for different things. You can really only deal with this when you get here, and have your residency papers.