Rental lease in Portugal

Dear wonderful community of expats1f600.svg,
                                                                        I am new to this site.  long story short, I am planning on applying for a D7 visa- own income and have already a Portuguese bank and NIF and am currently in Portugal looking for a 1 year lease.

Question- I have found a real estate company willing to  do a lease from dec 2022 to dec 2023. If I pay the rent now, will they be able to generate the receipt so that it is available in FINANCAS website right away or do I have to wait until dec 2023 for it to be available on the website?

I do know that, generally they have to register within 30 days but no sure if they are obligated to register within 30 days even for contracts that  will commence sometime later in the future. 

Thank you.

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The contract should be dated from whenever you sign it, so it is valid immediately, even though the actual service you will receive in return for your payment might be in the the future. They should register the contract immediately, and they should issue you the receipts immediately. If the contract states that the full payment must be made upfront, then the full receipt must be issued immediately on payment.

You should make payment when the contract states payment should be made, and you should receive your Finanças receipt(s), whenever you make your contractual payment(s).

I am not an attorney. This is my opinion only, and should not be construed as legal advice. I do have experience of this in Portugal.
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1f600.svgThank you for your reply. Quick question,  is there any difference between registering a contract on financas and issuing a rental receipt thru financas?

From what I have heard, they have 30 day deadline to register. Hypothetically, if I make a payment in relation to a future rent, and I get the rental receipt on financas, it is safe to assume that the contract has been registered too? i know this is a dumb question!

On the financas website, if the contract has ONLY been registered and no rent paid yet, will I be able to see some kind of confirmation?

Just to be sure,  the rental receipt  or confirmation of registration of lease (if there is any)  should be available on my financas portal too right? even if the other party does not give me c copy -just in case?

thank you
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@folinas934  the receipt is issued with the date when you pay it. If that's not the case its propably a scheme

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@folinas934
Hi. You do not need to pay the whole year in advance. You just Need to prove you have an address . A contract of minimum 6 months is fine.
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Thank you for your beautiful responses1f600.svg.  My sincere apologies if I am reiterating information but just wanna be sure as we never know what could go wrong. Imagining I pay only 1 month's rent  out in the future,  lets say  Dec 2022(and the contract starts from dec 2022) - the rental receipt provided by the landlord/real estate agency should be available in my financas portal correct?

Is there a sample that I can refer to?

My other question is  when a contract is registered(again starting in dec 2022), but no rent paid yet, do we get a status update in Financas -  that verifies the contract has been registered?.

Thank you.
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Check out if rental receipts are being issued by the landlord
(Post #12)

The answers to the questions: yes
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@folinas934

1f600.svgThank you for your reply. Quick question,  is there any difference between registering a contract on financas and issuing a rental receipt thru Finanças? *Yes - but they are connected in the system. Receipts are issued against payments made towards a specific contract.

From what I have heard, they have 30 day deadline to register. Hypothetically, if I make a payment in relation to a future rent, and I get the rental receipt on financas, it is safe to assume that the contract has been registered too? i know this is a dumb question! *You must check in Finanças website. Under "Consultar Contratos". You will see there if it has been registered. If there is nothing there, it hasn't been registered.

On the financas website, if the contract has ONLY been registered and no rent paid yet, will I be able to see some kind of confirmation? *Yes... See above  answer. Contracts and payments are all in your Finanças area.

Just to be sure,  the rental receipt  or confirmation of registration of lease (if there is any)  should be available on my financas portal too right? even if the other party does not give me c copy -just in case? *Yes, see above. You don't need handed to you. It's in the system for you and Them. Spend a few minutes looking at all the options.

ARRENDAMENTO / CONSULTAR CONTRATOS/ LOCATÁRIOS

thank you
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@folinas934

Read my replies.

If you want the Landlord to register the contract you will probably need to pay them some money immediately - because it costs money to register that contract with Finançes (10% of one months rental). You should not expect them to register a contract that only starts months in the future, without their costs being covered. Plans change, things happen - they have no guarantees either.
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@folinas934
If you pay now as you said, (in Portugal they cannot ask you more than 3 months of rent upfront plus a deposit for the content of the place, but it is up to you if you want to advance a larger amount) the landlord has to register the contract in the Finanças site and supply you with a copy of the registration upon your request. Regarding the invoice/receipt it depends from the status of the landlord, if it is a registered company they may issue it in their invoicing software, otherwise they do a receipt on the Finanças site. Either ways they have to supply you with a document (if it is a company invoice it has to have a q-code in it, if it's a receipt done in the Finanças site it has to have their signature).
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@folinas934
Hi. When we applied in March this year, all we showed was the lease agreement signed by both us and the landlord. There was no requirement to show the Financas receipt.
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@lindaeva Hi ! I want to know if you can help me. We want to ask for a D7 visa but we are not sure if we can get an Airbnb for the first 4 months. It does actually work at the moment of asking for the visa in the embassy? and then when we arrive in Portugal get a one-year contract before the SEF appointment? Thank you.

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@Lily Luciani

I don't know for sure, but I believe you have to have a 1 year lease contract to qualify for the D7. 
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@Lily Luciani
We sent the reservation for 4 months with Airbnb, weeks later the Portuguese embassy replied that this was no longer valid, that was something that they accepted before the start of the pandemic. That we needed to send a rental contract for one year "or" a "Term of Responsibility", that is to say that someone in Portugal would be responsible for our accommodation, a friend for example. We did the whole process and sent the Term of Responsibility. Four weeks later they told us that from now on that document was not enough and that we had to present a rental contract for one year. We extended a power of attorney to our son who lives in Europe and had to travel to Portugal to sign for us the Rental Agreement for an apartment that he had to look for while present in Portugal, through a real estate agency. THE ENTIRE visa application process took more than a year. We paid the rent for the apartment for 4 months without occupying it, while still in our country of origin, waiting for the approval process to continue. After 4 months we were approved for the D7 and we were able to travel. I hope this helps. Now we are close to the interview with the SEF. 4 months after arrival. So 8 months have passed since the rental of the apartment began. I believe that for each person the circumstances change and the demands depend, among other factors, on what your country of origin is. Greetings.
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Hi, would anyOne guide and help me? My question is that while living in Pakistan, how is it possible to get NIF,  opening of bank account and lease agreement of 1 year from Portugal in order to qualify D7 visa. If there is any source please suggest me as I have appointment in May 2024 in Pakistan. I shall be highly obliged. Best Regards

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@asnizami786


hello,  you don't have to worry about doing that before your appointment in your country.  After that appointment,  they will give you a  free months to arrive  in Portugal for your appointment with SEF.  After your appointment with  SEF  you will get your card and  open the bank account.  My lawyer helped applied for my NIF. I had a  lawyer who was very  helpful and not expensive.  If you wish I  can refer you to him,  he is located in Lagos.  Hope this helps.

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    Hi, would anyOne guide and help me? My question is that while living in Pakistan, how is it possible to get NIF,  opening of bank account and lease agreement of 1 year from Portugal in order to qualify D7 visa. If there is any source please suggest me as I have appointment in May 2024 in Pakistan. I shall be highly obliged. Best Regards
   

    -@asnizami786


Hi @asnizami786,


My suggestion is to start by checking if you fulfil the minimum passive income requirements for that visa:


Minimum Resources

https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.p … =2#5775987

(Post #56)



If you do, you can use one of the online services to get your NIF and bank account in Portugal, easily found on internet. The main problem is housing. If you want to rent, there are very few houses available in the cities at the moment. There is a housing crisis, few houses and high rents. Outside the cities it's easier, and I suggest you do your research outside the main cities. To find a house without seeing it, you either have to be very lucky and find a serious person, or you can be easily tricked... The best option is to contact a lawyer or solicitor in Portugal. Here's a list:


Solicitors, Lawyers & Administrative division of Portugal:

https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=941009



Regards

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@lindaeva D7 requires 12 month lease, not 6.

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