How to get Schengen residency?

Do you want Schengen residency?

I don’t know why YOU would want Schengen residency, but I know why we want it.

Nicke and I are in our 70’s, that means our time is running out. We would like to live, at least some of our remaining years, in Europe.
It is a different culture than we are used to, viva la difference.
It is less expensive that the US, meaning our retirement money will go farther.
It is healthier,
- a lot of farm to table
- little to no preservatives
- fresh everything
- bread that does not have to be “enriched”
- cleaner air.
More balanced politics and government,
New “old” sights for us to see.
Some very nice climates.

So if these items could be important to you, you might want a schengen Visa.

How do I get a Schengen Visa?

It entirely depends on the country that you want to reside in. And remember just because you reside there does NOT mean you cannot go and visit other Schengen member countries. Each Schengen country has its own Visa programs and a lot depends on:

Your age
Your skills and marketability
Your income (including pension, social security)
Your backup funding (money or assets in a bank or institution)
Your employment
Your criminal background (probably best not to have one)
Your health
Whether you able and willing to bear children

You must look into the requirements of each kind of visa for each country to determine if you can prove your eligibility. May times, if you are a couple you can combine some factors to gain eligibility. Not all of the above factors apply to ever visa type. and there are some. almost, universal requirements, like having a signed, executed lease for one year to prove you have a place to live. Have a local bank account and a local Social Security Number (every country has a different name for this) Nearly all services in Europe can be paid through your bank, like internet, transportation, electric, gas, and others. Almost every country require that you apply for the visa while you are still in your home country.

So, what did we do?

Ok, at the end of 2023 we had almost all of the documentation and requirements for Portugal’s D7 visa completed. Then the government of Portugal decided that they did not want as many retiree and rich expats entering the country so they changed their rules to be more difficult to get a D7 visa. But, how did we get all that stuff together in the first place?

We got a NIF (social security) number. Normally, in order to get one in Portugal, you have to hire a lawyer to be your representative. This ends up being expensive, in the €200-€400 range. But, after a lot of searching around, we found a online service, NIF-Online that will get you a NIF for only €99. (Please see the links below).
Using our new NIF’s we were then able to find an online Portuguese Bank with only a single physical location in Lisbon. Banco Atlantico Europa. (Please see the links below). The process to get this was somewhat strange, in that, besides filling out tons of documentation, making a substantial deposit in Euros, and submitting photos of our ID’s, we had to complete an online face to face interview with a Bank representative. This was kind of tough, as the time difference only allowed for a 2-3 hour window at 8:am EST, it took us several try’s over several days to get the interview going. But it finally worked out.
We had to get a copy of our criminal record, that had to be notarized, and to get this we had to have our fingerprints taken at a local Police deportment. In many other countries a Notary is NOT acceptable but instead you have to have your documents Apostilled. This is similar to a Notary, however it is an international body rather than a state body (notary). The document must be sent from the government agency directly to the Apostille service who then authenticates it for you.
We did not complete this step, because of the Portuguese change of rules but we also figured out how to get a 1 year lease in Portugal sight unseen that protects the renter from a bad choice. What? yes, there is an online service called Flatio (Please see the links below), That generates a set of property to rent listings that you can lease (1 year or more) but allows you to cancel with a full refund upon review of the the property in person when you finally arrive in Portugal. Some are really nice and you might not want to cancel.

There is another option of course, you can visit your target country and do all the above in person and then go back to your home country and then apply for the desired visa. It’s up to you.

What we are doing now (Fall, 2024)?

Its, ‘fallback and punt’ for us. We are exploring more of Europe to see if any other locations appeal to us and fit our retirement parameters. So far we checked out both Montenegro and Albania, and even though they both have a lot of plusses, they both have a couple of big minuses that rule them out.

Plus: