Rex McIntosh

I moved to Portugal in 2022 with my wife and our three kids. We did it the ordinary way: no relocation package, no company sponsoring the visa, no fixer handling the paperwork. Just the two of us, three children, a pile of documents and a lot of guessing.

We rented first, which I would still recommend to almost anyone. Renting bought us a year to learn where we actually wanted to be rather than where the internet said we should want to be. We have since bought a home in Oeiras, just west of Lisbon, and Portugal is where we plan to be for a long time to come.

I have lived the ups and the downs of this. The appointment that gets cancelled the week before. The rule that changed after you already filed. The advice on a forum that was accurate two years ago and is now quietly wrong. The good parts too: the first time the school run feels normal, the first time you handle something in Portuguese without rehearsing it.

That is why this site exists. When we were doing it, the information was scattered, out of date, or written to sell something. I wanted one place that tells you what is actually true right now, says when it was last checked, and does not take money to recommend anyone. Everyone arriving here is on a personal journey, and it is a lot easier when someone who already made the trip left the lights on.

What I can and cannot tell you

I am not a lawyer, an accountant or a tax adviser, and nothing here is professional advice. What I have is first-hand experience of the process and the discipline to re-check the facts and show you the date I last did it. Where a page touches money or immigration law, it links to the official Portuguese source so you can verify it yourself, and it tells you when to go and pay a professional instead.

How I keep this honest

No business can pay to be recommended or to rank higher on this site. Where a link earns a commission, the page says so. The full editorial policy sets out the rules I hold myself to.

Get in touch

If something here is out of date or wrong, I want to know. Email hello@ultimateportugal.com, or use the contact page.