About Relocate To Portugal and our Partners
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Relocate to Portugal originated in 2015 with Gail Aguiar conducting private orientation tours of Porto by request. The focus was to provide practical information about life as a foreigner in Portugal.
In 2017, Gail formed Relocate to Portugal by developing administrative services, then selecting associated partners for law and real estate.
Relocate to Portugal grew to a team in 2019, expanding administrative support to other areas such as home search, assistance with registrations, lawyer contract reviews, and interpretation at appointments.
Relocate to Portugal’s team expanded further to serve other areas in the country, such as Lisbon and the Algarve.
Services offered have grown to include custom research projects for vehicle importation and purchase, education, and medical specialists.
Relocate to Portugal moved from an office near Porto City Hall to the current location in Boavista, next to Casa da Música metro station.
New office as of December 2021:
Relocate to Portugal, LDA
Avenida de França, 256 – 8º Piso (Edifício Capitólio)
4050-276 PORTO
https://goo.gl/maps/LCE7yEbTz71yhwiAA
We’ve expanded our services menu, reduced the fee for minors from 20% to 10% of the adult fee, and included IVA/VAT to all pricing for simplification.
Relocate to Portugal provides:
- Guidance through the processes of establishing residency in Portugal;
- Due diligence in ever-evolving immigration procedures and public policy;
- Curated partnerships for legal representation, real estate, and accountancy.
- A team of multilingual administrative assistants to reduce the stress of navigating procedures in a foreign country, in a foreign language.
- A network of resources for day-to-day life.
References for our work are provided upon request.
Gail Aguiar is a lifelong immigrant who moved with her family to Canada at the age of two, then moved by herself the next four times from the age of 19. A former resident of five Canadian provinces (SK, MB, BC, AB, ON) and six countries on four continents, migration has been her way of life. In addition to expatriation, she has also repatriated twice since the ’90s. Her travels have taken her to 42 countries thus far, mostly solo, and she is passionate about travel for personal growth.
Gail is an outlier, part of a minority of expats who did not move for work, study, retirement, or as an accompanying partner. Of her four international moves, three were without the aid of a lawyer.
Prior to moving to Portugal in 2013, Gail worked in economic research, equity research, market research, human resources, and the Canadian public service (Ministry of the Attorney General of Ontario). Due diligence has always been part of her work ethic and ingrained sense of responsibility. If a move to Portugal is inadvisable under the circumstances, she will be forthcoming about why.
Gail was a weekly solo volunteer in a migrant detention centre in Portugal from 2015-2020 (when COVID struck, volunteering was suspended twice). Although the objective was to help others, the experience also deepened her knowledge of immigration law and its impact on the lives of a wide demographic of migrants.
During her academic studies in Anthropology, Gail started a personal blog in 2002 which features a large catalogue of photography and information, with the spotlight on Portugal from 2011. She’s written more than 6,110 posts to date.
A professional photographer since 2008, Gail’s website has imagery from her travels in all 18 districts of Continental Portugal, Madeira (including Porto Santo), and five Azorean islands: São Miguel (where she got married in 2013), Terceira, Faial, Corvo, and Flores, with four to go. All the images in RTP’s website and social media accounts were taken by Gail.
Gail’s knowledge of Portugal has led to interviews in the Wall Street Journal, CNN Travel, the Financial Times and the Toronto Star, in addition to Portuguese media (newspaper, radio). She’s written articles and licensed her photographs of Portugal for Expedia, AirTransat, Lonely Planet, and other travel-related companies. Her latest commissioned work was to co-author the first edition of the Lonely Planet book Experience Portugal, published in March 2022. Gail wrote several chapters (Porto, Douro Valley, Braga) and contributed nine images to the book.
Gail lives in the Porto metro area with her Portuguese husband and rescue dog from Guimarães.
Our core admin team is a mix of junior and senior assistants based in Porto, focusing on post-arrival admin tasks and housing searches.
Junior assistants schedule SEF appointments and appointments in other offices, set up utilities, and assist with basic admin tasks.
Senior assistants help with residency processes for EU citizens (CRUE certificates), residence permit processes, housing searches, school searches and enrollment, accompanying clients to appointments as interpreters (eg. deed signings, civil marriage ceremonies, etc.), shipping-related admin, and management of larger responsibilities in the relocation project.
Our research team is commissioned for custom research such as medical specialist searches, vehicle importation cost analysis, and more. Fees start at 60€/hr or by quote.
Office meetings are by appointment only. Our office address:
Relocate to Portugal
Avenida de França, 256 – 8º Piso
4050-276 PORTO
https://goo.gl/maps/LCE7yEbTz71yhwiAA
We have other team members and associates around the country.
Our assistants are fluent in Portuguese, English, French, Spanish, and Japanese.
We have a lawyer on retainer and work with law partners in three different firms serving Porto, Lisbon, Setúbal, and the Algarve.
Specialty areas: property, immigration, tax, contracts, and Golden Visa.
Our contract lawyer in Porto will review your lease or employment contract to ensure it is not only legal but fair. Fee: 150€/contract, IVA included (visa clients pay ½)
Partners
We always try to find a good match between clients and our service partners. Sometimes it’s a matter of geography, availability, or other criteria. We do not work for commission. We are paid by our clients, not by referrals.
We only refer service partners who we know and trust
LAWYERS
We have a lawyer on retainer and work with law partners in three different firms serving Porto, Lisbon, Setúbal, and the Algarve.
Specialty areas: property, immigration, tax, contracts, and Golden Visa.
We have a lawyer in Porto with a contract review service to ensure your lease or employment contract is not only legal but fair.
REAL ESTATE AGENTS
We work with licensed agents across different agencies for long-term leases or purchasing property. We choose them based on competencies and feedback from their clients, we do not seek commissions from agents.
We have assistants on our team (independent of agents) to screen your choice of rental listings and make appointments for viewings. If you are not in Portugal, the assistant will video conference home viewings and communicate with landlords.
Accountants & Tax Experts
We work with accountants, tax advisors, and financial consultants in different parts of Portugal.
INSURANCE AGENTS
We work with private insurance brokers around Portugal who translate policies into English and will assist foreign clients with making insurance claims.
As we are continuously adding to our list of referrals:
- Let us know your needs and we will be happy to connect you with the partners most suitable to your situation.
- Did you have a superb experience and want to refer a service provider to us? Feel free to send us their details.
WE WORK WITH CLIENTS RELOCATING TO ALL PARTS OF PORTUGAL
Relocate to Portugal is based in Porto, but electronic communication has made it possible for us to assist you, wherever you are. If you need assistance in person outside of the Porto area, we’ll refer you to our partners closer to where you’ll land.
We have associates in the Lisbon area and Algarve.