I'm at home sick instead of exploring the many Christmas markets in and around Portugal.  But today, I received the best possible Christmas gift, my residence card.  I'm officially a resident of Portugal!

You may recall, I moved here on May 1st on a tourist visa since I didn't receive my temporary visa in time and I already had my ticket.  

Ten days later, on May 10th, I finally got the email that my visa was approved. So I headed back to the U.S. to get my passport stamped with the temporary visa in early June.  The temporary visa tells you where and when my SEF appointment is in order to get the 2-year residence card.

​My SEF appointment happened to be in Coimbra on September 6th. At the time, I was told that it would take about 2 months to receive the card.

When it didn't come around November 6th, I inquired in the Americans & Friends in PF Facebook group if this was normal.  Many people posted comments that Coimbra was notoriously slow and to be patient.

At the 3 month mark, December 6th, I sent an email to the SEF Office in Coimbra.  It wasn't answered.  So I waited and waited.

All I can say it that I'm glad that I'm sick because that means I'm home when the CTT (postal service) showed up at my door needing a signature to receive the card.

Now to get my address changed on my NIF and apply for NHR (non-habitual resident tax regime) status.

It's almost the end of 2022 and I have yet to get my annual physical after moving here from the U.S.

I normally have my annual exam in June, but I had just moved to Lisbon.  I have private health coverage here, but had a two month waiting period after my coverage began in July.  That meant that the soonest I could get a covered appointment would be beginning of October.  But that's when I was doing all of that traveling (I was basically traveling for about 1 1/2 months.

That and still not knowing the language to the point where I could converse in Portuguese about health and making appointments, I felt very intimidated.  

I kept hearing about Serenity Portugal, a medical concierge service geared toward foreign residents in Portugal.

For a reasonable annual membership fee, you are assigned an English-speaking case manager (registered nurse) who can find specialists and physicians in your area that also speak English, set up and book appointments, speak on your behalf with physicians, pharmacists, clinics, and hospitals, offer support, and review your private health insurance coverage, among other things.

I decided to join.  During our initial Zoom chat, my concierge told me that she could set up a meeting with an English speaking doctor as well as getting my Utente number (bonus, since I've heard a lot of challenging stories (not all) about trying to get this on your own.

A Utente is a unique identifying number to access public healthcare in Portugal.  Even though I have private health insurance, as a resident I'm allowed access to the public system as well.

I haven't received my actual residence card yet, but she asked me to send her the paper form of my approval to start the process.  Good news!  They issued my Utente number without waiting on my residence card (today marks 3 months since my SEF appointment - and it was only supposed to take 2 months).  I'm trying to be patient and not worry, but it is so hard.

Update:  My concierge messaged me to tell me I had an appointment with a physician next Thursday evening at 6:30 p.m. (what? doctors work that late) at CUF Tejo Hospital.

I live in Lisbon, so a friend and I decided to make it a mini vacation.  We stayed at a beautiful 2 bedroom AirBnb just across the river.

I had stacks of paperwork ready for a rigorous interview.  The representative asked for the following:

• passport 
• NIF
• rental contract
• bank statements
• proof of health insurance 

The residence card is valid for two years.  And then can be renewed for subsequent 3 years periods.

Now to wait for my residence card to arrive in the mail. The representative said about 2 months. Fingers crossed that it might arrive before that because I've seen several posts in the Americans & Friends in Portugal Facebook group that Coimbra is notoriously the slowest of the SEF offices.

I just downsized when I moved from Arizona back to Florida in November 2020 after my husband passed away.  Now, that I decided to move to Portugal, I had to downsize my worldly belongings into a 100 cubic foot crate (to be shipped to Lisbon) as well as several suitcases that I will take with me on the plane.

When I was doing research on this company to use, I saw that there were a lot of recommendations for UpakWeShip in the Americans & Friends PT Facebook group. Their rates seemed reasonable so I decided to go with them.

I set up the boxes in the exact dimensions of the crate in my garage that way I could visually see how much room I had as well as making it easier to pack into the crate once it was time.

I was notified by my U.S. rep that my shipment left the U.S. on May 11th and arrived in Rotterdam on May 18th where it had to clear customs which could take anywhere from 5-10 business days. And she passed me on to my European rep.

Since I didn't receive my visa before I left the U.S. on May 1st, I was due to fly back on June 1st so I emailed my European rep that if the shipment couldn't be delivered no later than May 31st that I would have to delay delivery and store it for 2 weeks until I got back in country.

A few days before I left the U.S. to come back to Portugal, I emailed to say that they could start the process of sending my crate.

It ended up being a longer wait time than I anticipated and this rep was not as communicative as on the U.S. side.  It was frustrating because I didn't want to go very far from my apartment because I had read several posts on the Americans & Friends in PT Facebook page that their crates were delivered with little notice.

On the morning of June 30, I got a message that my crate would be delivered that day around 2 p.m.  At noon, I received a call stating that it would be closer to 4 p.m.  At 3:50 p.m., I got another call saying that it would be closer to 5 p.m.  Even though it was a little annoying with all of the delays, I was still happy that they were still going to deliver on that day.

They arrived at 5 p.m. and 2 delivery guys carried up all of my boxes in about 30 minutes.  I paid an extra €450 for this service and even though they made it look easy (carrying up 2 boxes on their shoulders at a time), I knew it would have been extremely hard on my body and exhausting.  I'm definitely much older and less in shape than those two delivery men.

I was a little shocked to see that they had unloaded my crate and just brought the boxes in their truck.  So I was very happy that I secured them in a way by taping a piece of paper with the number over the center of each box ensuring that they were not opened or tampered with.

One of the first things I did when I arrived after moving here in May was to get the Navegante Card.

The Navegante Metropolitano pass is a fixed monthly pass, valid for the whole month for which it is purchased, valid in all regular public passenger transport services, in all 18 municipalities in the Lisbon metropolitan area, will have a price of 40 euros (if you are 65+, it is half the price). For example, the holder of the Navegante Metropolitano pass can go from Setúbal to Mafra or from Sesimbra to Vila Franca de Xira, using any public passenger transport service operator with a single pass.

So far, I've taken the metro (the first that I mastered), the train (to Belem, Carcavelos and Cascais) and the tram.

Details of my experience

I didn't have an appointment, so I took a number.  Waited about one hour only to be assigned to a women who was quite rude and dismissed me when I didn't have my photo.  The woman who was showing me the ropes and went with me said that they took her photo there.  When she questioned her about it, she got even more testy.  

We asked the person who handed out numbers where to get a photo taken.  He gave us directions.  By now it was lunch time and the photo place was closed for lunch so we decided to get something to eat as well.

We went to Padaria do Bairro just down the street from where I need to get my photo taken.  I had the Prato do Dia (dish of the day), Bacalhau (cod fish) with a cream sauce with salad and a drink for €8.50. Bacalhau is one of Portugal's most treasured dishes and you'll find it everywhere you go.

After we finished eating, it was time for the photo place to reopen.  A few minutes later and €6 out of pocket, we headed back to the Loja.

The line was even longer and we were unsure if we had to take another number so we asked the person who told us where to take the photos.  He gave us a ticket, but for the priority lines.  Another 15 minutes and we were next. 

Unfortunately, I got the same lady.  But, her attitude changed drastically.  She still wasn't overly friendly but at least she wasn't darn right rude.  (So far, this is the first and only encounter with a person like this.  Everyone else has been friendly and pleasant.)

We wondered if someone overheard and talked to her about. it. 

Documents Required
1 Photo - they give you back. It’s just to photograph for the pass.  
Passport
Proof of Adress - I brought my apartment lease.

I paid €52.50 - €40 for the monthly fee and €12.50 for the card it self (one time fee) - using my Portuguese credit card (really a debit card since the money comes directly out of my bank account.