Evening all. Ben here, retired civil servant, and my wife Sue and I moved to Portugal's Silver Coast about a year ago after thirty-odd years of talking about it. Mostly lurking to pick up tips for the winter, which I'm told is not as sunny as the brochures suggested. Happy to share what I can on the pension and residency paperwork, since I've now filled in more forms in Portuguese than I ever did at work.
Jimmy 🏆 Community expert Admin Premium
15 Jun 2026, 10:00
Welcome — glad you're here
Whether you're three months out from a move or you landed yesterday and everything feels like a lot at once — this is the place to ask the questions you can't quite find a clean answer to anywhere else.
A few things worth knowing before you dive in:
- Start with your personalized checklist. If you've completed the onboarding wizard, your dashboard already has a checklist scoped to your destination, nationality and situation — that's the fastest way to see what actually applies to you, not a generic list.
- This forum is for the messy, real-world stuff. The country guides are great for "what's the process" — this is where you get "okay but what was it actually like", timing quirks, and the small things nobody warns you about.
- Numbers change — guides don't go stale, forum posts can. When someone (including me) mentions a fee or a deadline here, always double-check it against the relevant country guide before you rely on it. We keep those updated; a comment thread from months ago might not be.
A good way to start: introduce yourself below — where you're moving from, where you're headed, and what's stressing you out most right now. I read every thread, and there's a good chance someone here has been through exactly what you're dealing with.
Looking forward to it. — Jimmy