Portugal with a D7 visa (1 Viewer)

[Mr porky]

Advise please,
We travel most of the year in our motorhome and find the 90 in 180 day rule for europe is restricting our life.
January to March of this year we ended up travelling in Asia, it was nice but too expensive and we missed our motorhome.

We believe we can matriculate our morelo onto Portuguese plates and become a Portuguese resident via the D7 visa.
This will entail renting a flat so we have a Portuguese address.
Has anyone done this a using D7 visa or any other options.
Any pitfalls to look out for and do you have a company or agent you would recommend to get through the paperwork.
We would have preferred via spain but we do still need to work in the uk for 2 months of the year and I don't believe they have a visa that's suitable.
We are directors of our own company so we can adjust it to only get dividends not wages.
Thank you for your time.

 

[PaulW2]

One thing to be alert to is the potential cost of matriculating the vehicle, and the proper sequence and deadlines. I once thought about registering my UK-registered 2014 Discovery there, to find that the one-off taxes (based on emissions and engine capacity) would have been about £ 30k! I subsequently bought a car (2005 Nissan) from a Brit who was returning to the UK and when he registered the vehicle there he had missed some bureaucratic matriculation deadline and in consequence had to pay € 7,000 in taxes.

 

[ianp]

Advise please,
We travel most of the year in our motorhome and find the 90 in 180 day rule for europe is restricting our life.
January to March of this year we ended up travelling in Asia, it was nice but too expensive and we missed our motorhome.

We believe we can matriculate our morelo onto Portuguese plates and become a Portuguese resident via the D7 visa.
This will entail renting a flat so we have a Portuguese address.
Has anyone done this a using D7 visa or any other options.
Any pitfalls to look out for and do you have a company or agent you would recommend to get through the paperwork.
We would have preferred via spain but we do still need to work in the uk for 2 months of the year and I don't believe they have a visa that's suitable.
We are directors of our own company so we can adjust it to only get dividends not wages.
Thank you for your time.

Its thread drift I know but interested in your comment about Asia being 'too expensive'....compared to Europe which countries did you find as 'too expensive'?

 

[The Wino]

Its thread drift I know but interested in your comment about Asia being 'too expensive'....compared to Europe which countries did you find as 'too expensive'?

I suppose if you're comparing staying in a MH to using hotels in Asia it could be a pretty big difference especially if in the MH you tend to cook a fair bit yourself rather than eat out

 

[Mr porky]

Its thread drift I know but interested in your comment about Asia being 'too expensive'....compared to Europe which countries did you find as 'too expensive'?

We visited Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Singapore.
All have become a lot more expensive since covid especially Singapore.

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[Mr porky]

I suppose if you're comparing staying in a MH to using hotels in Asia it could be a pretty big difference especially if in the MH you tend to cook a fair bit yourself rather than eat out

It's not the food in Asia it's the decent hotels that rack up the costs.

 

[Lenny HB]

Helen Ariel was looking at getting tempory residency in Portugal don't think it was that hard.
Your van shouldn't be a problem being German and a left hooker.

 

[Mr porky]

Helen Ariel was looking at getting tempory residency in Portugal don't think it was that hard.
Your van shouldn't be a problem being German and a left hooker.

The way we look at it is even though it may cost us more renting a apartment it's our preferred choice to be in Europe. We did Asia for over 15 years before the motorhome owning period.

 

[Mousy]

Mr porky wouldnt a French visa work for yourselves? As you have to come home you could MOT then. What’s the advantage of registering the Moho? We are in the process of getting French visas as we want to be away for 6 months (mainly in Greece).

 

[Mr porky]

Isn't that 6 months in 12 consequently, that wouldn't work for us

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[ianp]

I think it correct to say that there is no 'residence' within the EU that gives you free reign throughout the EU (technically!!!) it would also bring issues re; taxation (some worldwide and some wealth based) and possibly driving licences etc...don't know about Portugal but in Spain a resident must have a Spanish licence to drive currently ( except for hire cars) and can't drive a UK registered vehicle.
The French 6 months is 3 months in the EU with 3 months in France and potentially a further 3 months in the EU......and you must enter and leave via France I think, though may well be wrong on this last.

 

[Lenny HB]

You might have a problem keeping you C1 if you have to get a Portuguese licence, but I'm sure you would be able to take a test for it.

 

[jumartoo]

Mr porky wouldnt a French visa work for yourselves? As you have to come home you could MOT then. What’s the advantage of registering the Moho? We are in the process of getting French visas as we want to be away for 6 months (mainly in Greece).

A French 6 month visa allows you, officially, 90 days elsewhere.

I know there are no borders and no one knows, until the need to know!

 

[Mr porky]

You might have a problem keeping you C1 if you have to get a Portuguese licence, but I'm sure you would be able to take a test for it.

The law changed recently in Portugal, I can keep my British licence until it runs out. You just have to register it in Portugal.

 

[Mr porky]

I think it correct to say that there is no 'residence' within the EU that gives you free reign throughout the EU (technically!!!) it would also bring issues re; taxation (some worldwide and some wealth based) and possibly driving licences etc...don't know about Portugal but in Spain a resident must have a Spanish licence to drive currently ( except for hire cars) and can't drive a UK registered vehicle.
The French 6 months is 3 months in the EU with 3 months in France and potentially a further 3 months in the EU......and you must enter and leave via France I think, though may well be wrong on this last.

We know there may be tax issues but the difference is a lot less than travelling in other parts of the world without the motorhome.
However I need to research the French visa more as it may be cheaper and less upheaval.

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[Mr porky]

Mr porky wouldnt a French visa work for yourselves? As you have to come home you could MOT then. What’s the advantage of registering the Moho? We are in the process of getting French visas as we want to be away for 6 months (mainly in Greece).

I need to check out the French visa I think.

 

[ianp]

The law changed recently in Portugal, I can keep my British licence until it runs out. You just have to register it in Portugal.

Will that include the C1 endorsement? When we move to Spain the better half exchanged her UK passport for the spanish one and retained most of the endorsements but many are time limited and expire in another year whereas the 'normal' driving endorsements run for 10 years.

 

[gus-lopez]

pyro has residency and OldCodger is in the process at the moment.

 

[Mr porky]

Will that include the C1 endorsement? When we move to Spain the better half exchanged her UK passport for the spanish one and retained most of the endorsements but many are time limited and expire in another year whereas the 'normal' driving endorsements run for 10 years.

I actually have a c+e licence the new term for a class 1 hgv licence, so I will be checking that's allowed as I need the hgv part for my business, I'm at the early stage of checking all the details on a transfer to another country. That's one of the reasons spains out for residency.

 

[Mr porky]

I have a very good accountant and for a price he will list all the issues I could have with tax.
Including a recommendation for a tax adviser he can work with to ensure we don't fall foul of our tax requirements for each country.
The pound of flesh will always be required.

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[ianp]

I actually have a c+e licence the new term for a class 1 hgv licence, so I will be checking that's allowed as I need the hgv part for my business, I'm at the early stage of checking all the details on a transfer to another country. That's one of the reasons spains out for residency.

Of course if you intend to spend the bulk of the year(s) travelling elsewhere other than Portugal then you have no need to change your licence or re register you MH do you?

 

[Mr porky]

Of course if you intend to spend the bulk of the year(s) travelling elsewhere other than Portugal then you have no need to change your licence or re register you MH do you?

I'm not sure I would like to risk a no insurance situation if the motorhome got damaged whilst we had Portuguese residency.

 

[Mr porky]

Of course if you intend to spend the bulk of the year(s) travelling elsewhere other than Portugal then you have no need to change your licence or re register you MH do you?

Also I'm under the impression that we get tax relief on the motorhome for import if I declare and matriculate it as an asset during our move.

 

[Dutch 68]

Would it be possible to purchase property in Portugal and therefore get a golden visa ? You could then let the house out as a short term let as and when required if you so wish. Also it can be a long term investment instead of paying rent?
I think Portugal and Greece are both on the lower side for golden Visa requirements , also it doesn’t need to be domestic real estate , it can also be a investment in business I believe, could be worth looking into? Good luck

 

[Mr porky]

Would it be possible to purchase property in Portugal and therefore get a golden visa ? You could then let the house out as a short term let as and when required if you so wish. Also it can be a long term investment instead of paying rent?
I think Portugal and Greece are both on the lower side for golden Visa requirements , also it doesn’t need to be domestic real estate , it can also be a investment in business I believe, could be worth looking into? Good luck

No, the golden visa scheme is not something we are prepared to do as I wouldn't want to change our current property investment in the uk and we don't have that much spare cash without selling the motorhome which then makes the whole exercise pointless.
Thank you for the idea though.

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[Mr porky]

Would it be possible to purchase property in Portugal and therefore get a golden visa ? You could then let the house out as a short term let as and when required if you so wish. Also it can be a long term investment instead of paying rent?
I think Portugal and Greece are both on the lower side for golden Visa requirements , also it doesn’t need to be domestic real estate , it can also be a investment in business I believe, could be worth looking into? Good luck

Just checked. It has to be a business or commercial property, housing is no longer an accepted investment for the golden visa.

 

[ianp]

I'm not sure I would like to risk a no insurance situation if the motorhome got damaged whilst we had Portuguese residency.

Mmmmm drilling down into the fine detail then would you be resident having spent the larger proportion of your time outside of Portugal.......it all gets a bit murky when trying to game the system......I don't know about Portugal but the Spanish residence requires a very high percentage of time to be spent in Spain over the first 5 years or you are deemed to have 'lost' your residence......

 

[Dutch 68]

Just checked. It has to be a business or commercial property, housing is no longer an accepted investment for the golden visa.

There are some Brits in Portugal who started the Andsome brewery, there are worse ways to live in the sun lol

 

[Mr porky]

Mmmmm drilling down into the fine detail then would you be resident having spent the larger proportion of your time outside of Portugal.......it all gets a bit murky when trying to game the system......I don't know about Portugal but the Spanish residence requires a very high percentage of time to be spent in Spain over the first 5 years or you are deemed to have 'lost' your residence......

No not really, we do like to spend time in Portugal so that's not such an issue for us. We know the weather is better in Spain for Jan Feb and March but Portugal is still better than blighty. I like Britain but I don't like the rain wind and snow. We work November and December in the uk so that's no issue as it's work but for leisure we prefer warmer climes. We also have to work in the back end of June for a week as well but we will fly in for that.

 

[Mr porky]

Well the French visa thread is very interesting, I'm not sure which way to turn now.
The Portuguese residency is going to cost more in the short term but after 2 years would make life better, even more after 5 years but the French long term visa could be a better option but lots of paperwork. I'm sure though if you've done it the once it gets easier.