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Hello....you island dreamers!

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Regards

Graeme

Hi sallythomas

just wondering is it part of your D7 visa that you have to do the permanent residency after 5yrs, if not why not do what we do & that is every 5yrs we renew our residency at the SEF.

advice you get your S1 forms sorted before you come so you can register on the social security & advice a very good private health care insurance this works for us ring originally from the UK ourselves.Jean

Hi Sally,

A permanent residence permit may be requested by non-national citizens who have been legally living in Portugal and have held a temporary residence permit for at least 5 years. However, you can apply for this permanent permit if you wish to do so, it is not mandatory.

Request a permanent residence permit:

@Jean Denise

Hi Jean,

We really appreciate your reply to our question.

We will check the D7 and take it from there.

The S1 we are well aware of, thank you.

As regards to the private health care, we have been quoted around £800 per MONTH!!!

It is an age thing.

We feel a bit more confident about making the commitment to move now as the language test was a stumbling block and would be really difficult for us to take which is equivalent  to a UK 0 level, and after five years  we would be 72,

We have found a really nice mobile park just the other side of Lisbon well priced, brand new home for a third of UK prices.

Sally & Jeff

@JohnnyPT We really appreciate your reply to our question.

We feel a bit more confident about making the commitment to move now as the language test was a stumbling block and would be really difficult for us to take which is equivalent  to a UK 0 level, and after five years  we would be 72,

We have found a really nice mobile park just the other side of Lisbon well priced, brand new home for a third of UK prices.

Sally & Jeff

Check into MGEN. it is mutual insurance. I think it is more like preferred provider coverage in the USA. Not as many options for you to choose but the cost is low. I was quoted €55.33/ month. I am 66 y.o.

We have MGEN & have no complaints I am 60 next year my husband is 69 next year they do not have a problem with age & they insure you until you either cancel or die it has been a godsend for us as my husband has had a few problems & they have not quibbled about paying out for his private clinic appointments.

Jean

@sallythomas Tis true! My Portuguese teacher who assisted in setting the test assured me the rule is you need to pass a language test to become a citizen in Portugal. I am in my 70's and can do it so you should be able to do it. determination is what it takes

A. Kent Brown

How tough is the test?  Written, verbal or both?

Portuguese language tests:

In this context is CIPLE - A2

/forum/viewtopic.p … 97#5022340

(Post #11)

We thought about going the full hog & becoming Portuguese citizens but when we researched what was needed we decide not to bother as it not only involved language tests but it also involved going up to Lisboa for I think it was a weekend but could have been a week & talking only Portuguese you were not allowed to lapse in to English no hesitation as in trying to think of the word from English to Portuguese. We both knew then that we would not have passed even today we know more Portuguese but we still would not pass. Things may be different now we looked in to it over 5yrs ago. We are happy with just renewing our residency every 5yrs.

Jean

@busyboy50

Anybody can learn anything (including a new language) at any age, provided that there's a will.

But if one starts from the idea that "I'm too old to do this", then it's going to be hard. There's not even a point moving to another country if one is not willing to even try learning the basics of the local language.

I personally learned Portuguese when I was 60 and I do not regret it, makes my life here a lot easier.

Well, I am 66 and, during my school years failed Esperanto, French, Latin, German and ...Computer Language.

My brain just doesn't work that way, perhaps it has something to do with my aptitude for science, engineering and logic.

Languages have far too many rules that are then simply ignored with no obvious logic.

Not willing to even try learning. I'm retired.

I'm also retired and worked as automation engineer, I worked in the logic for almost 40 years and I was able to learn portuguese language.

So I think like @ctomac, if you want to, you can.

And this is the basic you can do to prove you are willing to integrate a country.

I am 65 and have been learning portugeuse for the past 18 months. I wont lie and tell you that it is a very easy language. However  I can now watch a telenovela and with the help of portugeuse subtitles I can follow the story. I can also write  and read  the language am slowly developing the confidence to converse with others. All of this I did on my own  without any class room support. So, in my view the ability to learn never leaves us, what does become more elusive is the willing to commit to learn.

Give it a go, you will surprise yourself and wont that be just wonderful!

Boa sorte

Roz

we learnt a lot more Portuguese by going where the locals go ie cafes, bars, restaurants & just at first. Saying bom dia, boa tarde they started coming back to us with the same & slowly we learnt more & more we are not word perfect or fluent but enough that now most of our friends are Portuguese, we knew that sitting in a classroom was not for us, we knew that the only way to learn was to integrate which is what we did once we had finished rebuilding our casa & got through covid we started going out again so much so that when we got married last year the majority of our guest where Portuguese.

everyone can learn its just up to each individual how they learn & if they want to.

Jean

One of the ways to learn a foreign language is to watch TV programmes, such as soap operas/ telenovelas.

The flashing 888 (or 887) number on the top right/left corner of your TV at the start of/during certain portuguese programmes is there as a notification for you to be informed that there are Portuguese subtitles available, should you be interested to set them on (by using teletext).

Be aware that in order to set on this feature you will need to press the teletext button (the button displaying the shape of a TV screen with three lines inside it) on your remote control, followed by pressing three times the number 8 button.

An example is the telenovela "Queridos Papás" on channel 4 (TVI). It's a very easy, everyday, funny story that helps us forget about the problems of life....

(Previous episodes available here)

Try to follow the story. The first few episodes will be difficult, but you will see fast improvements in your portuguese, no matter age you have. It is just a number

We have the Portuguese subtitles on all the time that’s another way we have learnt some words, not seen that programme but will have a look at it.

we also found that Lisboa Portuguese does not work down here in the Algarve & the opposite when we go up to Lisboa which is very often these days for hospital appointments.

Jean

Sometimes the Algarve accent is even imperceptible... I understand that it is difficult for you to learn portuguese with Algarvians.... Wishing you luck ....

@slugsurmamates You may be retired, but your brain isn't, or at least you really, really don't want it to be. And one of the best ways to train it is to learn a new language.

One cannot compare school years with life following school. Yeah, I too did not know much Russian after studying it for 7 years in school. Because I was not interested at that time, as I was not interested in learning a lot of other things when I was in my early teens. But I relearned it when I was 48. Because I wanted to. Simple as that. And now I am fluent (although I do admit that I am speaking it daily with my wife).

Saying that one cannot learn a language because of having a logical brain is absolute nonsense to me. I was a physician for 35 years and I needed both memory and logic in my profession. And guess what? I was also able to learn 7 new languages after the age of 30. A logical mind is not an excuse for not learning a language.

Not to mention that it is in the end a lack of respect for the locals to live in a country and not try to learn even the very basics of their language, it is arrogant and sort of a colonial attitude to expect others to learn your language when you're out of your home country.