Your personal relocation checklist

Six questions, one ordered plan

The checklist asks for your visa route (D7, D8, Golden Visa, D2, D3, student, family reunification, EU/EEA citizen or job-seeker), who is moving (just you, a couple or a family with children), whether you are buying property, bringing a car or a pet, and your target move month. It keeps only the steps that apply to you and sorts them by weeks before or after the move. With a move month, each step gets a calendar month; without one, it shows a relative label such as “16 wk before”.

Tap a step to mark it To do, In progress or Ready. Without an account your ticks stay in this browser; a free account keeps the plan across devices and emails you before each deadline. Not sure of your route? Start with the visa finder.

Before you move: the order that works

For visa routes the plan starts about six months (24 weeks) before the move. The order matters more than the speed, because each step unlocks the next:

1. Confirm your visa route — about 24 weeks before. Every document afterwards depends on it.
2. The core document of your route — 18 to 22 weeks before: a business plan with proof of capital for the D2, a formal job offer or contract for the D3, the qualifying investment for the Golden Visa, the enrolment or acceptance letter for students.
3. Consulate appointment — 18 weeks before. Slots are often taken weeks or months ahead, so book early and prepare the file around the date.
4. NIF — 16 weeks before. The Portuguese tax number. From outside the EU you usually get it through a fiscal representative; it unlocks the bank account and the lease. See how long a NIF takes.
5. Portuguese bank account — 15 weeks before. Consulates want a real Portuguese bank; Wise and Revolut are not accepted. See opening an account.
6. Proof of income or savings — 14 weeks before (D7, D8, family reunification, job-seeker). The plan shows the 2026 reference figures: about €920 a month for the D7 and €3,680 for the D8.
7. Criminal record with apostille — 12 weeks before. It is usually accepted for only about 90 days, so not earlier; you may need one for every country you lived in for more than a year.
8. Health insurance and pet papers — 10 weeks; purchase budget and mortgage pre-approval — 8 weeks (if you are buying); first housing — 6 weeks. Renting first for 6–12 months lets you learn the area before you buy.

The first 120 days in Portugal

The residence visa lets you in for four months with two entries; the residence permit itself is issued afterwards by AIMA. So the second block of the plan is about the first 120 days:

• Portuguese phone number — about 2 weeks after arrival.
• AIMA appointment — about 6 weeks after, within the 120 days. Since April 2025 an incomplete file is refused, so bring everything. See AIMA after you arrive. Once you have submitted, AIMA has 90 working days to decide — the AIMA deadline counter gives you the exact date.
• Morada fiscal — about 6 weeks after. Update your address at the tax office (Finanças) and Social Security.
• NISS — about 8 weeks after. Your social security number. For people regularising through AIMA, since late July 2026 it is assigned automatically during the AIMA appointment. See how to get a NISS.
• SNS número de utente — about 8 weeks after. Register at the health centre for your address with your residence permit, ID, NIF and full address.

Settling in and the long term

• Car import (about 8 weeks) — the plan notes the ISV tax exemption for a car you have owned for 6+ months. School enrolment (about 10 weeks) — Portuguese schools enrol in fixed windows, so families should not miss them.
• Driving licence exchange (about 12 weeks). It must be done within 2 years of taking residence; appointments and processing take months, and you drive on a paper guia meanwhile. See how the exchange works.
• Tax: IFICI check (about 14 weeks) for D2, D3, D8 and Golden Visa routes; IMI for owners; your first IRS return, filed from April to June for the previous year.
• Permit renewal. Ask for it up to 30 days before your card expires — the plan puts it in your diary early because AIMA queues punish late renewals.
• Citizenship. Since the nationality law change in force from 19 May 2026, naturalisation requires 10 years of legal residence, or 7 for nationals of Portuguese-speaking countries and EU citizens, plus proof of Portuguese language and culture. See what changed.

If you are an EU, EEA or Swiss citizen

Choose “EU/EEA citizen” and the plan drops the visa steps. The key step is registering at your Câmara Municipal (the CRUE certificate) once you have been in Portugal for three months. You still need a NIF: once you are here, it is free and usually same-day at a Finanças office.

What the plan is and is not

It is the order that works for most people, built from the official steps, with week estimates rather than legal deadlines — except where a step says so (120 days for AIMA, 2 years for the licence). Consulates and cases differ, so check the details on each linked page before you book or pay anything.