MEREDITH
[ 00:00:09 ] Welcome back Portugal Junkies we're so glad you're back with us and we appreciate all of the support as we have rolled out this podcast over the past few weeks it's been very very exciting and um i mean we are we are new to this and we hope it's bringing some fantasy to you and um that you're finding it in some way entertaining in some way informative yeah absolutely that's the intention at least but i was talking to mark before we hit record and i was like i want to tell i want to let them in on their lives and tell a story or something so i poured some more wine so i can sit um we know that like this topic of information is like you know it's very you know and I won't say dry, but it is the grunt work that you have to get through to do the D7. And we are continuing with this episode today to continue to talk about those last few requirements of the D7 application. But I was like, I want to tell a funny story or like bring them into our lives in Portugal. And I was like, oh, I have the best story. I have the best story. So I'll tell the story. Okay. Um, we take Charlotte, our little Boston Terrier, who is the love of our lives. Sometimes I think Mark loves her than me, more than me, but that's okay because I married him for that purpose. Anyway, um, we take her for, I take her for a walk in the morning. Smart usually takes her at night, but every morning we go to a park that's like three or four blocks from us. And ironically, it is the park that we sat at outside and had a bottle of wine and a delicious lunch the very first time we came to Porto and we literally saw one of us, I don't know if it was you or me, we looked at the park and was like, wouldn't it be so awesome to live right by this park? Charlotte would love this park. And we hear y'all like we're here and we, we live near that park, which is, it cracks me up. So I got, I got diverted from my original story by telling another story, but on the way, it was a bit like a Notting Hill event, wasn't it?
MARK
[ 00:02:35 ] Where they climb over the gate to go into that park. And then ultimately that's where they end up living.
MEREDITH
[ 00:02:41 ] Don't tell them that we broke into the park. Jeez. Anyway, we walked to that park every morning and there's this little, uh, for what we would call in the United States. Yeah. Uh, like a convenience store, and the worker or the owner, I'm not sure which, he is almost always literally standing in the doorway, smoking a cigarette. And if I could pinpoint a group of people in Portugal that are less warm and fuzzy on the Portugal scale, because most people are warm and fuzzy and loving and all that. If I could pinpoint a demographic. That does not fit the warm and fuzzies, it's older Portuguese men. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. So that's the precursor. I mean, that's it. And that's the category he falls into, a hundred percent broad brush.
MARK
[ 00:03:36 ] If you're going to find somebody, it's going to be that demographic that doesn't fit.
MEREDITH
[ 00:03:41 ] So the first, after we moved here and the first couple of times he, he wasn't really like he would make eye contact with me, but he would, wouldn't really smile when I said that. I smiled at him and I was like, 'I'm taking this as a mofo challenge' and I used the dog because the next time we walked by and I said, 'bon dia', I kind of made Charlotte like go up to him and he literally was like looking down at her and grinning and he would like give her a tap on the head. Well, the next day I went and he gave her a big old like rub down instead of a tap on the head. And then the next day he literally threw his cigarette out. In order to like have a loving moment with her. So now he's my friend.
MARK
[ 00:04:27 ] You can break down barriers.
MEREDITH
[ 00:04:28 ] It's like, yes, it's like, you know, everybody gets love through dogs. That's what it is. So anyway, that's the story. Okay. We'll peek into our lives. Well, that was two stories. I know, I'm a talker.
MARK
[ 00:04:42 ] We'll have a separate podcast that just addresses stories.
MEREDITH
[ 00:04:46 ] Stories. I've got plenty.
MARK
[ 00:04:47 ] It's going to be the storytelling, you know, baby.
MEREDITH
[ 00:04:50 ] Okay, okay. Now we're going to get down to business.
MARK
[ 00:04:51 ] Let's get in. We're going to get into the finishing off.
MEREDITH
[ 00:04:54 ] So, the remaining D7 requirements we talked about last time. We talked about FBI background check. We talked about NIF and bank account, lease, and proof of funds, passive income. Now we're going to get into the more administrative stuff. The stuff that's a little bit more simple for you to like take care of and might be further along in the timeline. So when we made our appointment in June for September. We didn't work on this stuff until later because the other stuff that we talked about in the prior episode was more time-bound and like you had to get that stuff going before the stuff. Yeah. So the first thing is health insurance, and what they mean in, in terms of health insurance from a visa application perspective is essentially travel insurance for, I think we booked ours for six months. I don't know what the actual requirement is, but. But it's so affordable that I just booked it for the longest period that it would allow us to, and we made that effective, like a couple of days before our appointment, um, to ensure that when we showed up, they could see that we were; it was in place and so I think it's not even expired yet for us. I think May is the last month. So it's this month sometime. So here is what the specifics are on this. And I personally would recommend the AXA travel sheet. It's the AXA travel sheet. So it's the AXA travel sheet. And it's a very affordable, I'm trying to like a couple hundred euros total.
MARK
[ 00:06:29 ] Yeah.
MEREDITH
[ 00:06:30 ] It's something pretty affordable. It has to include repatriation. It has to include or not exclude COVID and it has to be valid, obviously in Portugal. So the pro tip on this is, well, we know that the AXA travel policy is because we used it. But how we double-checked that was in the FAQs. So that's how. The policy, um, it will actually list all the countries and so take that with you to your appointment in case anybody questions you about it. And sometimes you have stuff with you that they'll never ask for; in fact, a lot of times I mean, I literally carried so much stuff with us to our appointment just in case, you know. Just like I would be up at night thinking, 'Oh, what if they ask for this and whatever?' You know? But anyway, this is a good example of like one extra step: print out the FAQ. It'll have Portugal listed, just in case somebody comes back and says, 'Um, how can you prove to me that this is valid in Portugal? Yeah, because he says it hits.' Yeah, because I have the FAQs printed out because Meredith told me to. It has to have thirty thousand dollars... sorry, thirty thousand euros worth of coverage. Here's the thing: you can book it right online. It literally took us five minutes to book it and um, so again, I just did it right before like maybe a week before I did it, and I just did it right before I did it, and I just did it right before I did it, just to make sure that I had all the documentation ready. And I chose the six-month policy just to make sure we were fully covered so
MARK
[ 00:07:58 ] It's not just about what they're asking me to do, you want this anyway for the affordability of it, you want to have that extra because if you come over if you come on you know a quick trip over you know that you're going to have that coverage so have it in place if you've got to pay for it have it in place be done yeah and have that you know piece of money and then you can book it and then you can book it and then you can book it and then you can book it.
MEREDITH
[ 00:08:23 ] You get a certificate online and it prints out, and that's what you need to provide as part of your application again for each applicant, okay. Number one done, second one personal statement. so I first of all we we went back and forth about like what is this personal say it made me feel like I was writing a cover letter for like to like to get into the application and to college or a cover letter for a job personal statement it was just like it feels so broad and we found a resource out there that kind of gave us a template which we then enhanced so we had a guy who had gone through the application before give us a copy of theirs and then we added things that I felt like we should add yeah again it comes down to it's personal to each app yeah it comes down to it's personal to each applicant yeah it comes down to it's personal to each applicant yes and how do you put your best foot forward when you're applying and so our ice what is out there on Instagram as a free download in our bio I encourage you to go there and download it it's completely free it's literally a pdf where you can copy and paste and basically enter in the spaces to cater it to yourself and kind of get an idea of like what people are actually looking for so think about it if they see 11 D 7 applicants what is it that they really care about you know a big picture we were like should we write a book on like how we were so we fell in love with Portugal and we love Fado and we know three words in The Portuguese language because, like I mean, I think that there's one line that talks about, you know, we want to become part of this culture, we enjoy it and we love it, and we want to contribute to it. Okay, fine. But this is not a book about, like, all of your Portuguese travels and all that. It's really about here are the reasons why you should say yes to me.
MARK
[ 00:10:28 ] Here's the bank account.
MEREDITH
[ 00:10:30 ] Here is the account. Here is the how I'm gonna fund myself. Here's why I'm coming. Here's who I know, and that's it. Okay, so we've talked about health insurance and we've talked about personal statement. Now the rest of the stuff is really more administrative stuff if you.
MARK
[ 00:10:47 ] Can tick a box, yes.
MEREDITH
[ 00:10:48 ] Color copies of your passports, that are notarized, so two color copies each of your passport that are notarized. Passports have to have at least two blank pages, yes. And it has to be valid for at least six months after you plan to travel and three months after the expiration of your visa. Here's my pro tip: this would be the pro tip for everything-always take extras! I was kind of in charge of our documents for both of us, so I was literally printing for days, but it does make you feel better just in case. Now, when we got there, did they only ask for two? Yes, so I'm usually over-prepared, but just in case, I would do that running. Back, it stands. Color copies, notarized, make sure to do that – that it's a European-sized photograph, yes, um, and I'm okay because I don't have much hair, um, but for you, hair behind the ears, no smiling for anybody, so I will say this, yeah, we, you part of the requirement is that you need to also bring two um, European-sized passport photos, so we did that at Triple A, yeah, and then we weren't even able to use mine because my hair was like this and they wanted my hair like behind my ears, but here's the thing if that happens to you at the appointment, I think almost all if not all at least the one in DC, they have a passport cubby basically where they Take your photograph, you just have to pay them some money; um, but that's okay at this point it's like, yes, yes, take my money and make sure that I have this complete; um, so all of that is very straightforward. The photocopies of your notarized passport and then your two colored, European-sized photos, yep. The next one is proof of legal status; this is only if you are not a U.S. citizen. A U. S. citizen, so for instance somebody who has a green card right; that wasn't him when we started the process, it was not him by the time we got to our appointment, but um, for anybody, anybody carrying a green card, for instance you want to provide that and I would also notarize that just in case.
MARK
[ 00:13:23 ] It doesn't ask for that, but again, yeah, what you're doing here is really just proving that you are legally entitled to reside in the U.S. That's it, next thing.
MEREDITH
[ 00:13:35 ] Portuguese criminal background check slash release this is literally just a form you know, the FBI thing we took care of on the state side, right? They're going to want to do the same thing here, they're going to want to make sure that you don't have some sort of weird criminal history in Portugal before they give you a visa in Portugal. Um, that is right on the website, you can print it out and you sign-you don't have to do anything else with that.
MARK
[ 00:14:00 ] Yeah, it's taken care of.
MEREDITH
[ 00:14:01 ] It's really, I feel like did I sign it when we got there? No, we signed it before we signed it before so um, that was part of it and a lot of this stuff they will have a copy if you're if you happen to be missing that particular document-it's not like they're going to turn you away. Um, so if you're missing it, ask for a copy, they'll probably print you one and you sign it right there in the office and then the final thing is the application which ironically we had trouble finding them because they seem to change it like yeah just a minute their website is not the most user-friendly or intuitive website so um. If I get the chance, I will link it here for you too so that you can start the process there. But again, I wouldn't print this out until you're close to time just to make sure that if anything is updated, you're getting the most recent copy and um I'm sure that if you showed up with an old version, they would give you a new one and you fill it out on the spot, it's not difficult, it's literally just a one-page yeah it's very um very simple. And also here along with the application there is a fee for the service at VFS and um some people take cards, some locations only take a money order, I don't think any of them take cash so we were always told. Bring a money order. Here's the catch with this: every month, on the first of the month, they're going to announce what those fees are and those can change month to month. So, let's say your [is] June 3rd. You're gonna want to make sure on June 1st you're checking what that actual fee is so that you can go get the accurate amount on the money order for that month's updated rate. It doesn't usually vary by by too much, but if you're if it's not right, it's not right, but you don't know that. So we did a money order, yeah, okay, here that takes care of all of the elements that are part of the D7. But here are some extra things have a simple that super prepared. Meredith, type a teacher's pet Meredith, also brought with us. I'm not saying that you have to, but I would like to say that you have to, but I would like to say that you have to, but I also say why not have it handy in case somebody questions you about the thing? Marriage certificates, I even had those notarized. I even had those notarized. I think divorce decrees, anything like that that you need to prove something about your relationship to each other, perhaps for our business because we were using our business as our funding for passive income; we didn't want them questioning if we actually own the business so I provided our articles of incorporation to show both of our names as owners of that business it's things like this that is never going to be on the list but if you were to think if I'm the person sitting there and looking at the documentation what questions would I have and if you come up with a question figure out what to bring as the solution there the other thing that goes there's not a rule on this but some people said that they have been asked for proof of like book booked flights for the day that they say they want to travel which I think is a little bit nuts I think providing an itinerary like a proposed itinerary would be good but here this takes me to another subject if they ask you for something that's not on the list this is what you need to do you need to politely but firmly ask them where it was on the checklist because a lot of times it's just human error maybe they heard their partner down the way ask for this for something else and they think they're supposed to ask for it even though it is not part of the required documentation if they keep pushing you for it then say I can absolutely provide that if you give me an email and I will provide that to you right like be accommodating but also push back at first because if it's not on their website As part of their power documentation, they really shouldn't be asking for it, and we hear about those situations one-off all the time, but I think in general if you're firm but nice to them then they'll probably be like oh, you know, maybe the It's not really needed. I will also say on the flip side, the guy who helped us process our applications kind of gave me the option of what I provided and what I didn't in terms of how many bank statements, how many accounts, all of that. And I said yes to all. Do not be afraid to give them everything they'll take. Okay? You can hear these things about, oh, don't make your application more than 50 pages, blah, blah, blah. I would rather give them a 50 file than to be disappointed later that I didn't give them something that would just give me a yes.
MARK
[ 00:19:29 ] If only they'd asked.
MEREDITH
[ 00:19:30 ] Yeah. So that's the, I would say that's the advice that I would, in the gray area, when you're attending your interview.
MARK
[ 00:19:40 ] If it's gray area and you have something.
MEREDITH
[ 00:19:42 ] Give it.
MARK
[ 00:19:43 ] Offer it up.
MEREDITH
[ 00:19:44 ] If they ask you for something you weren't prepared for, push back a little bit on why. And then if they keep needing it, then say you'll provide it by email or whatever it is. Yeah. Right?
MARK
[ 00:19:56 ] Absolutely. Absolutely.
MEREDITH
[ 00:19:58 ] All right. I think. I really, oh, here I want to say one more thing before we close. Okay. There is a checklist, like I said, we were referring to it. But there is a checklist on the site that should tell you exactly what documentation is required. And I heard when we were in this process to print that out. And bring that with you and actually check it off so that they know that you have seen what was on the checklist and that you've checked it because, you know, you have it. Yeah. And so there's a confidence there that kind of shows them like these people know what they're doing. They're organized. And in fact, we had printed a checklist. It ended up being an older checklist. And they gave me a new one. And I looked at it really quick. And I was like, yep. Yep. Yep. I got all that. And so it's really kind of like this air of like, yeah, I know what's required of us. And I'm prepared. And I'm ready to turn this in. If you're walking in stride.
MARK
[ 00:20:58 ] Yeah. If you're walking in stride with what they want, then in theory, at the very least, you shouldn't have any many issues.
MEREDITH
[ 00:21:07 ] And I'll also say this. You know, it can be intimidating when you go in there because you don't know what you don't know. But most people are so super kind. Like the person that worked with us. It was just a matter of process more than anything else. They're not trying to keep you out.
MARK
[ 00:21:23 ] I was just about to say that. That's exactly what I was just about to say. It's not like a green card. It's not like a. They're not trying to trip you up. They're not trying to get you to give a false answer or anything like that. They are there to process paperwork.
MEREDITH
[ 00:21:36 ] Yeah.
MARK
[ 00:21:37 ] And if you have the paperwork. There you go.
MEREDITH
[ 00:21:39 ] It's like a formality more than anything else.
MARK
[ 00:21:41 ] It's going to flow.
MEREDITH
[ 00:21:42 ] It felt more nerve wracking the first interview. Mm-hmm. Um, or the first appointment versus the one once you get here and you have to do the follow-up to get your card. But you know, when I look back, it really was just paperwork. Like, it's not like they're going to be interviewing you and asking you in-depth questions about why you want to go to Portugal. It's really just, do you have the proper documentation and hand it to me in an organized way so I can put it together in the file and send it off for you. Absolutely.
MARK
[ 00:22:13 ] So, and one final pro tip, and we've not mentioned it before. And you may have seen it. Or heard of it, but don't staple anything. If you're going to put pieces of paper together, use paperclips, do not staple. Yeah. I don't know why or what it is about it. Well, they have to un-staple stuff. But yeah, they get really irritated if they have to take the staples out.
MEREDITH
[ 00:22:33 ] No staples, no paperclips, no nothing. In fact.
MARK
[ 00:22:36 ] Even if you, even if you paperclip it and then when you hand it to them, if it's three or four pieces, you take the paperclip off.
MEREDITH
[ 00:22:41 ] Yeah. I'll also say this, um, and I'll try to even attach maybe a picture of our folder.
MARK
[ 00:22:47 ] Oh my goodness.
MEREDITH
[ 00:22:50 ] Um, I had three-ring binders that were white three-ring binders and I also bought, um, how do I, how do I describe those? They were, yeah, they were the page breaker, God, what am I thinking about in school? The, um, dividers. Right. But dividers that had pockets. Yeah. So. The sleeve. The sleeve. The sleeve. The sleeve. I wrote down the 11 or 12 documents that were required and each one of those had a sleeve and I printed stuff out and I put it in the sleeve. So, if they were asking me for stuff that was out of order, all I had to do was look down my dividers and flip to that and go. And I felt like doing that was such a, um, stress reliever. Yes. . It helped me feel prepared in a way that I could vary. I could very quickly locate what they're asking me for. Whereas if I had gone in with all of that crap for both of us in like some random manila folder and I just would have been, it would have felt completely disorganized. Even worse. Yeah. So, that part worked really well and I will try my best to find a picture, maybe even a video, I know we have video. Yeah. But, um, of that so you can see what I'm talking about with the, the folders. Yeah. So. Oh. That's very, very school teacher's pet peeve, isn't it? No. It's just who I am. Okay. I'm gonna. I'm gonna.
MARK
[ 00:24:17 ] But there were a lot of other people in, in the VFS office when we were there that had exactly the same thing. They had a, a folder that was divided. Divided and it was very clear what the content of each. Yeah. This was. So. It was awesome. It worked. That's a pro tip. It worked.
MEREDITH
[ 00:24:33 ] And I would recommend that to anybody. So.
MARK
[ 00:24:35 ] Yeah.
MEREDITH
[ 00:24:36 ] All right. Well thanks guys. Thank you. This ends this episode about the visa process. Yeah. And, um, onward and upward. We're gonna talk about. Yeah. New subjects next time. I think we're gonna talk about apartments. We're definitely. Now that, now that I've said it. Yeah. We're definitely. We're definitely gonna be talking about apartments. We're definitely gonna be talking about apartments. Next time. For sure. So. Join us. All right. And we'll talk to you soon. All right. You guys. Cheers. Cheers. Cheers y'all.
MARK
[ 00:24:59 ] Take care.
MEREDITH
[ 00:25:04 ] Listen up future expats. For more content about our move, the visa process, Portuguese culture, and destinations, and tons of support resources for your own decisions and potential move abroad. Follow us on Instagram and TikTok at Portugal Junkies.
MARK
[ 00:25:22 ] Stay in touch and help us reach more people by subscribing here and following us there.
MEREDITH
[ 00:25:28 ] Cheers, y'all.