This is a subject that we've had a lot of interest in that we've never done before but I guess we
can let our secrets out so what are we going to talk about today Tina - We are going to talk about
how to long stay in Portugal for non-EU residents which is us - And we are Tina and Norm
and we talk all things retirement and travel so Tina can you hack the 90-day tourist visa
in Portugal - Yes you can we found out how to - Yes we contacted the Portuguese consulate
in Toronto and we got a very nice email back from an official who told us how to do it
- So this is how you can get 6 months in Europe on tourist visas - In all fairness
we met a Canadian couple on a cruise ship out of Barcelona we were on the cruise for 2 weeks and
we got friendly with them so we were getting together regularly and
they told us that they were staying in Portugal basically for the winter from Canada (yes) and
when we started going to Portugal we realized you couldn't do this or could you
- This is true so what you have to do is beat and comply with the Schengen visa
now this is - Very well done Tina that's a difficult word - And this actually covers 26 countries
so there's a lot of different countries in this isn't there Norm - But for non EU residents
the maximum tourist visa is 90 days in that region and Portugal is part of that - This is very true
- So what our friends had been doing were going to Europe they were getting their Europe travel
out of the way before they went to Portugal that's why we met them on a cruise ship in Barcelona
and incidentally that was a great cruise because it was the first time that we ever got to Morocco
it was quite exotic - Fantastic cruise wasn't it we loved that - So we had 2 weeks finding out
how you can get around the system - They had actually been doing this hadn't they for over 10
years so they were quite experts at this so the whole thing is it's basically staying in Europe
and Portugal for 6 months this is how they were doing it and how we've now checked by
the consular and this is how you do it - Arrive in Europe it will probably be a Schengen regional
country because most of the sunny south are so this couple were getting their Spanish travel out
of the way using up part of their 90-day visa from the Schengen area so after about 45 to 60 days
they would then go to Portugal once they're in Portugal basically you can't leave doing this hack
- So then basically once they had then returned to Portugal and particularly The Algarve region
because that was where we like going isn't it - And that's where they had been staying for
over 10 years - So once you're now back in The Algarve and you're getting near to
your dates running out you then go and you apply to the local SEF border service
don't you - Yeah and what you're going to be asking the SEF for is a visa extension
and to get the visa extension you have to make an appointment online
and then you go to the office at the appointed time you need to take 2 colour passport
photographs of each of you and €64 euros they will extend your tourist visa for another 90 days
- Which basically is great isn't it then from your original 90 days when you were traveling
now you have the other 90 days so you basically now can have 6 months or 5 months if you just
want that - But Tina if you didn't want to do any traveling outside of Portugal and you just
felt hey I want to be in Portugal for 6 months you can do that you can just go directly to Portugal
and before your tourist visa runs out you apply to get the additional 90-day extension
- Now there is one thing also Norm too that we should tell everybody about is once you
have this extension it is good for Portugal only you cannot travel outside Portugal once they've
given you the extension that's why if you want to travel, travel first before you go into Portugal
- We want to make that clear it is not a Schengen extended visa it's a Portuguese extended visa
so it's only good for Portugal so don't make that mistake - No but there's lots of beautiful
places to see in Portugal - Absolutely - We've just been to The Algarve and Lisbon but there's
lots of other areas that you can go to and explore isn't it - And if you're going to be in Portugal for
6 months or even 4 months start asking these smaller car hire companies whether they have
an extended rate we were getting €12 a day for basically 30 days when we first started but our
friends that we met on the cruise ship got that down to €9 a day based on the fact that we're
going to be there nearly 6 months I think it's 5 months that they ended up being there - Yeah
that's a great deal wasn't it, well we got a great deal but they got an even better one
- So if you don't want to live full-time you don't want to emigrate to Portugal this is
the way to get 6 months in Portugal in the wintertime and we just thought you'd like to
know that - Yeah we think it sounds like a great plan don't we - So thanks for watching - Yes and
we hope everybody is staying safe - And keeping well - And until the next time bye bye, bye bye