Crossing the Finish Line... (Mostly)

Let the postponed rejoicing begin...

This past Monday was a very exciting day! Unfortunately, both of us woke up exhausted and feeling very "Meh". But... The show must go on. What we didn't yet realize is that we had both contracted a head cold, which didn’t fully manifest itself until the end of the day. We have since spent this entire week out of commission. I had hoped to write this on Monday evening, but here we are, and here is our exciting day

At the historic center of Viana do Costelo you will find Praça da República, a beautiful central plaza lined with cafes and shops.

At 10:05AM this past Monday, we boarded the first of two CP trains (Comboios de Portugal) in Porto to make our way to Viana do Castelo where we were scheduled for our AIMA appointment¹. Viana do Castelo is an adorable small port city about 80km (50 miles) north of Porto on the Atlantic Coast (a short distance south of the border with Spain). After changing trains in the tiny town of Nine (pronounced like “Nina”), we arrived just in time to find a place for lunch. I had a hankering for a Bifana sandwich, so after a Google search for Bifana, I landed on the best reviewed spot, Restaurante Boa Vista.

Restaurante Boa Vista turned out to be a delightful experience. It was a couple of blocks away from the tourist area, and was quite busy when we arrived. They motioned us to walk through a narrow doorway into the dining room where nearly every table was filled with local working class men. We clearly stood out. They were all having a lively lunch, chatting with each other and across from table to table. I looked at Yoav and thought, you can't do any more Portuguese than this.

Upon sitting at the only empty table for two, I noticed that nearly every one of our fellow diners was drinking either a Super Bock beer or wine. I also noticed that all the wine glasses were quite small, but next to them was a small glass pitcher used to refill their glasses. I thought to myself “Just what I need! A small glass pitcher of wine”. I scanned the menu for Bifana and although there was a picture of what looked like Bifana, the closest I came was Febra no pão com ovo e queijo which translates to "Pork fever on bread with egg and cheese"².

Along with my Febra no pão com ovo e queijo, I ordered what I thought was a small pitcher of red wine like everyone else... But instead, I ended up with a .375L bottle of Vinho Verde Tinto. I've long been familiar with the almost green Vinho Verde wine which is a delicious and slightly fizzy young wine produced not far from where we were. This was the first time I had had a red Vinho Verde. All I can say is that it was tasty, and while drinking what amounts to half a bottle of wine with lunch is something I enjoyed, I do not see myself doing more than a couple of times a year. I am definitely not much of a day drinker.

A few shots of took while walking around the center of Viana do Costelo. It seemed another amazing photo was waiting around every corner.

With lunch behind us, we had about 90 minutes to kill before we were to meet with "S", our local representative from the firm that is helping us with our residency. We wandered the streets of Viana do Castelo and at nearly every turn were delighted with charm and character. Even though Porto is a very European city, Viana do Castelo felt even more so. Many of the streets around the center of the city were pedestrian-only, adding to the charm of it all.

We then went to the office where we met "S". She is an attorney who essentially acted as our representative at the AIMA appointment after we signed power of attorney forms for her. We then walked over to the AIMA office several blocks away. We were about 30 minutes early for our appointment, so we sat in the very small waiting area outside the entrance to the AIMA office.

The waiting area at the AIMA office consisted of only five seats. Fortunately there was beautiful tile to look at.

A few minutes past our 3:30 appointment, they called "S" in and she went inside with all the documentation and our passports. We waited patiently outside the door. By this time, we were both realizing we were coming down with something. We felt super excited, but exhausted at the same time. We were the only ones in the waiting area at this point, and at 4:00pm, the guard came out and locked the outside door (which is how we learned they closed at 4PM).

A few minutes later, the guard came out and waved me inside so they could do my biometrics which consisted of taking my photo and capturing the finger prints on my index fingers. I then had to pay the processing fee of €177,40 and review my information. By this time, they had Yoav come in to do his biometrics and pay his processing fee. It's a very good thing I reviewed the information as they had our postal code incorrect. That could have caused a serious problem as getting things like addresses changed or revised can be an incredibly arduous process.

Then they handed us some paperwork, including a page with details on our residency and told us our official Temporary Residency cards would arrive in the mail in two to twelve weeks. Woo Hoo!!!!

So, here we are! Officially considered temporary residents in Portugal... Mostly that is. Even though this was the final hurdle in the process of gaining residency, until we have our cards in hand, we are still limited in what we can do, including international travel. In fact, we have been advised not to travel during this period as getting back into the country could pose problems even with our documentation. The residency card is the prize for getting to this point in the process.

We started this journey more than two years ago, first getting our finances in order and our real estate situation established so we had the passive income required to apply for the D7 visa. Then we began the real process in January when we applied for our NIF (tax ID number). Once we had our NIF, we opened our bank account, then in late February, we signed a twelve month lease on an apartment, then in April, we got private health insurance set up. All this in preparation for our initial appointment at the consulate in Newark, NJ, which occurred in May. In June and July it was all about packing up and preparing our household goods.

At the end of July, we had our household goods loaded into two 16' PODs to go into temporary storage in Delaware. On July 24th, Yoav and Bixby along with four giant Home Depot totes and four suitcases headed to the Newark airport to fly to our as yet unseen apartment. I followed them a few days later, arriving on July 28th.

As I write this, it is Friday morning, and thankfully, we are both past the worst point of suffering with our colds and on the mends. I am finally beginning to feel human again.

One more thing... In my last post I all but promised to write about observations to be posted the following week. Well... I didn't get that far. To that end, I am now promising to have it posted sometime next week.

1. This is the appointment required after your arrival on your visa where they review your documents, take your photo, and capture your fingerprints. This is the final hurdle to gaining a temporary residency card, allowing you to stay in the country for two years.

This appointment is supposed to be set up and included in your visa approval. However, often it is not, and those who do not have an appointment can spend hours dialing the AIMA office hundreds of times. We were among the fortunate to have our appointment in our visa.

2. Febra translates to "fever". Not sure why, but if you know, please feel free to let me know in the comments below.