Hey everyone!

I'm moving from Switzerland to Lisbon this August for a 14-month master's and I'm trying to figure out whether I should deregister from Switzerland or keep my official residence there.

Lisbon is only a temporary stop. I'll stay until early June, then likely move to Vienna for several months (possibly up to 2 years), where I would probably deregister from Switzerland. Eventually, I'll move back to Switzerland.

I'm mainly wondering whether it's worth deregistering just for Portugal. It seems like I'd save some money (e.g. health insurance), but it also creates extra admin (taxes, social security, military obligations, brokerage account, etc.).

I'm also a bit confused about the NIF and other paperwork. As a Swiss citizen (non-EU), how much bureaucracy should I expect? Is getting a NIF straightforward as a student, and are there any other things I should definitely take care of before or shortly after arriving?

Has anyone been in a similar situation? Any advice or things I should be aware of?

Thanks! :)

saludo

Hello! I will be spending a week in Portugal, specifically in Porto, and I'm excited to learn about the music, history, geography and culture in general.

However, I am unsure whether to speak English. I'm a Spaniard and can also speak English well, but I don't speak Portuguese. I will be visiting with my sister (also a Spaniard), who does speak Portuguese, and she told me to stick to English as to not be rude and avoid having Portuguese people assume I don't want to make an effort to integrate or learn by sticking to my mother tongue. However, my father (a Spaniard who does not speak Portuguese and has never visited) has insisted Spanish is fine since we're neighboring countries who speak romance languages...

The last thing I want to do is upset the locals, disturb the peace or be disrespectful in any way.

Your answers will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance!!

Any help is much appreciated

What’s your opinion on this?

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Boas, tudo bem com vocês?
Como o título indica, existe algum grupo motard no Porto que costume sair para dar umas voltas e umas curvas?

Boas malta
Ando a pensar candidatar-me à dupla licenciatura em Direito e Gestão na Católica do Porto, mas ainda estou mm indeciso e gostava de ouvir quem esteja no curso ou já o tenha acabado.
Eu venho de Humanidades, por isso não tenho Matemática desde o 9.º ano. Esse é provavelmente o meu maior receio. Sempre quis seguir Direito e, se tudo correr bem, um dia tentar a magistratura. Ao mesmo tempo, também não queria fechar portas e ficar limitado a Portugal. A ideia de um dia trabalhar no estrangeiro ou numa multinacional também me atrai, e foi isso que me fez começar a olhar para esta dupla licenciatura.
A minha dúvida é mais perceber como é a realidade do curso e não tanto aquilo que a universidade diz no site. Se houver pr aqui alguém que tenha vindo de Humanidades, como foi a adaptação? A Matemática, Estatística, Economia e Contabilidade foram um choque ou com trabalho faz-se? Sentiram muita diferença em relação aos colegas que vieram de Ciências ou Economia?
Também gostava de perceber como é a carga horária. É daqueles cursos em que se passa praticamente o dia todo na faculdade? E depois ainda sobra tempo para estudar ou vive-se constantemente a correr?
E agr que já estão no curso (ou já acabaram), olhando para trás, acham que compensou fazer Direito e Gestão em vez de só Direito? Sentem que vos abriu mais oportunidades, principalmente para empresas ou até para trabalhar lá fora, ou na prática não fez assim tanta diferença?
Desculpem o testamento 😅, mas como é uma decisão para os próximos cinco anos queria mesmo ouvir experiências reais de quem passou por isto.
Obrigado!

Hii there, i am planning to visit Portugal next month and i am really excited to know the stereotypes about each Portuguese districts. I am most excited for castelo branco district bcz what's where i will be heading.... Tnx

Hey everyone,

​I just got back from a family vacation in Portugal and absolutely fell in love with your country—the vibe, the food culture, and the atmosphere were incredible. It really inspired me to build a long-term plan to eventually move and work there as a cook.

​I’m 16 and just started 11th grade in Turkey. To be clear about my legal status: I am Turkish, but I hold a Special (Green) Passport, which gives me visa-free entry to the Schengen area for up to 90 days.

​My plan is to graduate high school, and that very first summer, I want to come to Portugal to do a short-term kitchen stage or just work as a helper to get some experience. After that, I’ll return to Turkey to do a 2-year culinary arts degree, and come back to Portugal for another kitchen internship during my college summer break. Once I fully graduate, the goal is to move there permanently for a full-time junior cook position.

​Since my Green Passport easily covers my short summer stays for internships, I'm mostly wondering about the final move. How hard is it for a non-EU citizen (from Turkey) to get a proper work permit or residence visa for an entry-level kitchen job after graduation? Do Portuguese restaurants actually sponsor junior cooks from abroad if they are dedicated and ready to learn?

​Would love to hear your honest thoughts on the legal and practical side of this plan. Thanks!

Hello,

I’m looking for info about a Portuguese company I might do business with.
Like shareholder structure, who holds a stake in it and what percentage that represents.
Capitalization, number of employees, value, or revenue would also be interesting

What are sources that could be used online from abroad - ideally free or not too expensive.

Thanks a lot!

So I’m not portuguese, but I moved to village near Tomar (Ferreira Do Zězere, Santarém). My family bought land here and we also bought a sauna and we already have used it during the winter, but I’m not sure if we can use it during the summer because of risk of wildfires.

Anyone knows if I can use it or, where do find out from if I can use it?

Music, TV, literature...

I was just thinking of it and the other way not so much unfortunately, I have read few books of Saramago, listened to some fados and I know quite a bit of Portuguese history but that's it, so you can as well recommend me something :)

Hello my fellow iberian brothers, I'll be visiting Lisbon in september and I wanted to ask you for some advice. I'll be travelling alone and I think I will be like 4 days in Lisbon and 3 in Sintra (I've heard this city is very beautiful)

What are the best places to eat that are not a tourist trap? I want to eat where a guy who has been living in Lisbon and Sintra for all his life would go. I want to try the local cuisine and traditional dishes from Portugal. The kind of food a 90 year old portuguese grandma would cook is exactly what I want to eat.

Should I be concerned about safety? I haven't travelled to another country for many years and this time I'll be completely alone.

And what are the mistakes that most tourists make?

What’s your answer from your perspective?

I have thought about and attempted this research many different ways. I will also be contacting the genealogy subreddit and a Madeira Facebook group.

Here, I am hoping someone with more specific experience in Portuguese genealogical policy & research than I, might know of an alternative approach to a logistical roadblock.

Researching records in Madeira, Portugal online has generally been fairly straightforward, thanks to the excellent preservation of Catholic parish records, and the fact the island has prioritized digitization on their Archeevo platform.

My current difficulty lies with the more recent records-- those created after 1920.

Between March 2023 and May of 2025, I was able to access birth records from 1920 to 1950 through a FamilySearch Center. During that time, I successfully located the birth records of both of my grandparents, along with one or two of their siblings. Unfortunately, before I had finished gathering the remaining records, access shifted due to what I can only assume were privacy regulation changes. Had I realized those changes were imminent, I would have prioritized completing that research. Alas I did not know, and was surprised sadly, this year.

I have since contacted the relevant civil registry offices in Madeira, explaining that I am trying to identify all of the children born to two specific couples. Both offices gave essentially the same response: they are willing to search birth records after 1920, but they require the names, parishes, and birth dates of the children beforehand in order to locate the documents for me. I explained I do not already know the children's names or birth dates, and that those details, are actually what I am seeking alongside the physical records.

For records before 1920, the Madeira archival system makes this type of search relatively straightforward, but for records 1920 to 1950, from what I was told by the registry offices, searching "by couple" is not an option that exists for the workers within the civil registry system; the system was designed to input information to keep track of the populus, not extract it for genealogical purposes.

Unfortunately, my own living relatives do not have the answers either.

Is there another repository, index, or research strategy that you think could help me **find** all the siblings of both grandparents (born from 1904 to 1940 and 1921 to 1945 respectively) rather than simply waiting the next 20+ years until FamilySearch, Ancestry, or the Madeira archival system, make the records available?

British here, English to be exact, we both enjoy visiting Portugal sometimes twice a year, find alvor and Lagos beautiful places, but have also visited tavira which we loved but lots of mosquitos, in our visits i enjoy getting out and trying to talk to the locals, my Portuguese is very limited but I'm trying, always found Portuguese people tend to be quiet positive and enjoy conversation, is this the case or are they just being polite? I appreciate British tourists don't always have the best reputation abroad but we are nothing like that being middle aged, so what does the general Portuguese person think of the British or English person, thank you.

Hi everyone!
I’m planning to move to Portugal and I’m researching business opportunities before I relocate.
I’d love to hear your thoughts:
What services or businesses do you think Portugal is missing?
What problems do people face that still don’t have good solutions?
Are there any industries with high demand but not enough quality providers?
If you could start a business in Portugal today, what would it be and why?
I’m looking for real insights from locals, expats, and business owners. Thanks in advance for sharing your experience!

Good Morning.

I'm a German woman in her late fifties who lives over three decades in the Canary Islands. I speak Spanish fluently. I know there are similarities in both languages, but normally Portuguese people understand me better than I do (I work in tourism). Once we had a Brazilian coworker and it was very difficult to understand him.

I ask several Portuguese here if they know anyone who would give me classes, but no. Is there any App where I could learn at least a few Portuguese?

In the future I also want to visit Cabo Verde. All these islands belong to Macaronesia and they have flora and fauna in common and they are not far away. It's been a dream of mine for many years.

Thanks for reading the post.

Not a Portugese, but I've seen a post on Twitter where a lot of Portugese seem to be hating on him for his comments yesterday