About craigandmicki

Status:

Expatriate  

Gender:

Female

Currently Lives:

CASCAIS, Lisboa, Portugal

Citizen Of:

United States

Past Expat Posts:

United Kingdom

Portugal

About craigandmicki

Living in Cascais, Portugal since 2010. Authoring research-based white papers and articles regarding the process for Americans to reside in Portugal; writing copy and website data for tourism and real estate firms who want to guarantee high-quality English text.

Advice for New Expats

Research helps you learn what you really want, what you need in an overseas location. Listing what's important to you--safety? language? culture?--and how you will spend your time helps you hone your list to a manageable set of destinations.

HR/Relo
Professional:

Provider of Expat-Related Services & Products

Education:

Carnegie Mellon University
  1986 to 1988

Central Michigan University
  2015 to 2015

University of Michigan
  2015 to 2015

Some Forum Posts:

Portugal: Double Messages:

Multiple posts from the same poster are getting worse and worse! People need to press "POST" and "POST REPLY" once, and only once.

Portugal: Mattress protection:

Mattresses in Portugal (good ones) are specially designed for humid conditions and their mattress protectors are designed this way as well. Vinyl would ruin the effect you need to achieve.

Portugal: Residency Visa:

The current overload of applications and work slow-down (a grievance) has lengthened the waiting period to about 3 or 4 months. You know that you can travel the Schengen areas during that time and have two returns to the US also.

Portugal: What is the benefit of having a fiscal representative?:

You should experience a high number of responses saying "NOTHING". There is no benefit. Some people feel less confident in doing these things themselves and do seek external help. Getting your tax ID (NIF) is very simple and requires nothing other than your passport. You could hire a local attorney to help you for 75 euros at most. More private apartment owners are asking for a co-signer or a fiscal representative, but that can also be done without a fee. I can see no benefit of the fiscal rep agreement you're being offered.

Portugal: Cascais vs Lagos:

Cascais offers easy access to some of Portugal's most beautiful areas, such as Sintra, Obidos and Lisbon. All are an easy train or bus ride from Cascais. Lagos and indeed the entire Algarve are a more beach-centric, built-up tourist area. Negative comments about the Algarve will always reference the preponderance of British residents...they tend to overwhelm the area in the summers with young drunken British kids being such a problem that the Portuguese police have required British police to come to the Algarve at certain high-season times to patrol their own citizens. Also, British residents are known for not tipping, having higher complaint rates and being rude. Simple truth--not everyone is like that but reputationally that's the overall impression.

Portugal: Residence Permit Renewal:

Have done it several times and helped a few dozen people do it, as well. There is an article on this site about renewing the residence permit, posted by Susan Stults Korthase. All details there. Currently, most SEF offices are asking people to go online to get appointments. This is due to their work slowdown (grievance). Try the phone number and, if that doesn't answer, use the online booking.

Portugal: Tax ID Number? lawyer vs solicitor vs agent:

For what purpose do you need your NIF prior to being here? To rent or buy? All one needs do is take one's passport to their Financias office and ask for the NIF...might take an hour or two but there is no charge, and it's easy.

Portugal: Los Angeles to Portugal:

Every day, another post (here or on Facebook) from someone who has 'done the research' but still asks us "what will the weather be like next week when I arrive" or "can you drink the water". Please, we ALL WANT to help, but it's a lot more interesting, less tedious, more fulfilling when when we know we're helping the help-able.

Portugal: How does the Non-Habitual Resident Tax Scheme work?:

Re: NHR--Can you open this? If not, I will cut and paste into an attachment file:///C:/Users/Owner/Downloads/IRS_RNH_EN.pdf

Portugal: Potential places to live:

To Auburngrad82's post about areas in the Silver Coast...you're smart to rule out the Algarve and have lots of options in your preferred zone. Check out the blog by Julie Dawn Fox for insights on the towns in your focus area; she travels, photographs and writes about them all. The further north you go, the more you'll be exposed to cooler and wetter winters (altho weather patterns aren't that consistent any more), but you'll also find less costly housing. Shops, stores, restaurants, beaches and great people are all easily accessible by foot in the towns along the coastline. Coimbra, on the interior, is full of life due to the University and Braga and Guimares are stunning. Obidos is primarily a tourist spot. You'll find good local public transit (buses) and bus/train routes running north and south for easy, relaxing and inexpensive transit to other towns and Lisbon.

Date Joined:

3/5/2010

Total Posts:

301

Posts/Day:

0.12