TL;DR: The first 30 days in Portugal are the most administratively intense of the entire move. Your priorities in order: get SIM cards, open a local bank account if not done already, book your AIMA appointment immediately, register at the Junta de Freguesia (EU families) or ensure your visa status is documented, register with the SNS, enrol children in school, and find a doctor. Everything else — decorating, exploring, settling in emotionally — comes after these are handled. The families who struggle most in the first month are those who treat it like an extended holiday before getting organised.
You’ve landed. The bags are in the hallway, the children are running around a flat that doesn’t feel like home yet, and you have a list of things to do that seems impossibly long. The first 30 days in Portugal are genuinely busy — but they’re also manageable if you know what to prioritise and in what order.
This guide is the article version of our family relocation checklist — a step-by-step account of what needs to happen in the first month, why, and how to actually do it.
Week 1: The Essentials
Day 1–2: SIM cards and connectivity
Do this on the day you arrive or the morning after. You cannot function without a Portuguese number — you need it for property viewings, school contacts, healthcare appointments, and almost every form you’ll fill in. NOS, MEO, and Vodafone all have airport kiosks and city centre shops. A prepaid SIM costs €10–€15 and gives you immediate local coverage. A monthly plan (€15–€30) is better value if you’re staying permanently — you can set this up within the first week once you have your NIF.
Day 1–3: Book your AIMA appointment
This is the single most time-sensitive task of the first week. AIMA (Agência para a Integração, Migrações e Asilo) — the Portuguese immigration authority — handles residency permit applications for non-EU families. Appointment waits have been running at several months in Porto and Lisbon. Every day you delay booking is a day added to your wait.
Book online at aima.gov.pt as soon as possible. You don’t need to have all your documents ready to book the appointment — you just need to secure the slot. While you wait for your appointment, your visa entry stamp in your passport serves as proof of legal status.
EU families do not need an AIMA appointment for residency — they register at the Junta de Freguesia instead (see below).
Day 2–5: Junta de Freguesia registration (EU families)
If you’re an EU citizen, your route to legal residency is registering at your local Junta de Freguesia — the parish council office covering your home address. This is simpler and faster than AIMA. Bring your passport, proof of address (rental contract), and NIF. You’ll receive a certificate of registration (Certificado de Registo de Cidadão da União Europeia) — this is your proof of legal residency in Portugal and you’ll need it for almost everything else on this list.
Find your local Junta de Freguesia by searching your neighbourhood name plus “junta de freguesia” — they’re listed on the local Câmara Municipal website.
Day 3–7: SNS registration
Register your whole family with the SNS (Serviço Nacional de Saúde) — Portugal’s public health system — at your local Centro de Saúde as soon as possible. Do not wait until someone is ill. The registration itself is quick; being assigned a family doctor takes longer, but the registration date is what counts for entitlement.
Bring for each family member: passport, NIF, proof of address, and proof of legal residency (your Junta de Freguesia certificate or AIMA appointment confirmation). Children’s vaccination records from your home country are useful to bring — the nurse will assess which Portuguese vaccines are needed.
Each person receives a Número de Utente — your SNS user number. Keep this safe. You’ll need it for every public health appointment, prescription, and school enrolment.
Day 3–7: Open a Portuguese bank account (if not already done)
If you haven’t opened a Portuguese bank account before arriving, do it in the first week. You need it to pay rent, receive salary transfers, set up utilities, and function financially. Most banks require an in-person visit with your NIF, passport, and proof of address. Millennium BCP, Novo Banco, and Santander are the most commonly used by expat families. For day-to-day spending while the account is being set up, Wise and Revolut both work well in Portugal.
See our bank account guide for the full process.
Week 2: School and Healthcare
Day 7–14: School enrolment
If your children aren’t already enrolled — either because you’re arriving mid-year or you finalised the school choice after arrival — enrolment is the priority in week two.
International schools: Contact admissions directly with confirmation of your move, your child’s previous school reports, and their passport. Most schools have a structured admissions process — if you’ve already been in contact from abroad, this is the moment to confirm the start date. Bring your proof of address and NIF.
Portuguese state schools: Go to your local agrupamento de escolas (school cluster) office with proof of address, NIF, Número de Utente, birth certificate, vaccination records, and previous school reports. Year placement is assessed by the school. If PLNM (Portuguese language support) is available, ask about it at this meeting — not after the first week of school.
Day 7–14: Find a private paediatrician or GP
Even if you have private health insurance from day one, you need a named private doctor or paediatrician rather than just walking into a clinic cold. Ask in the Porto or Lisbon expat Facebook groups for current recommendations in your neighbourhood — this produces better results than any directory. Most private paediatric appointments can be booked within a week in Porto.
Get your insurance cards or documents organised so you have them accessible at your first appointment.
Day 7–14: Set up utilities
Electricity and water are typically already connected in rental properties — your landlord or letting agent will advise on transferring accounts to your name. Internet is the priority: NOS and MEO both offer fibre packages with quick installation (often within 3–5 working days of signing up). Don’t try to work from a mobile hotspot for more than a few days — the frustration is real.
Week 3: Getting Settled
Day 14–21: Driving licence and car
EU licence holders can drive in Portugal indefinitely on their home country licence, though exchange to a Portuguese licence is recommended after 2 years. Non-EU licence holders (UK, US, Australian) have a limited period to drive on a foreign licence before exchange is required — typically 6 months to a year depending on your country. See our driving licence guide for the full exchange process.
If you need a car and haven’t arranged one yet, this is the week to sort it. Short-term car rental is expensive over weeks — buying or leasing is more cost-effective for permanent residents. Local Facebook groups often have expat families selling cars as they leave.
Day 14–21: Portuguese language — start now
The families who integrate fastest are the ones who start Portuguese lessons in the first month, not the first year. Even basic functional Portuguese — greetings, numbers, shopping, directions — makes daily life significantly easier and signals to local neighbours and tradespeople that you’re making an effort.
Book a private tutor via italki for yourself and, separately, for any children who are going into Portuguese state schools. For children, 2–3 hours of private Portuguese support per week in the first 6 months makes a substantial difference to their classroom confidence. See our Portuguese language guide.
Day 14–21: Meet people deliberately
The first month is when social connections are easiest to form — everyone expects newly arrived families to be in introduction mode. After six months, it becomes harder to explain why you haven’t met anyone yet.
Post in the local expat Facebook groups introducing yourself and your family. Attend one school event, one neighbourhood café regularly enough to become a recognisable face, and one expat community event if there’s one in your first month. It sounds engineered — it works. See our making friends guide.
Week 4: Consolidating
Day 21–30: Tax registration and financial admin
By the end of the first month, get your Portuguese tax situation sorted — or at least started. This means:
- Confirming your NIF is linked to your Portuguese address (update at Finanças if you registered your NIF with a fiscal representative’s address before arrival)
- Understanding whether the IFICI incentive (NHR replacement) applies to your situation — this needs to be applied for within the tax year of arrival
- Speaking to a Portuguese accountant (contabilista) if you have complex income — rental income from abroad, freelance, investments
See our NHR/IFICI guide and UK-Portugal tax treaty guide for the relevant background.
Day 21–30: Organise your documents
By the end of month one you will have accumulated a significant volume of Portuguese paperwork — registration certificates, SNS cards, school letters, utility contracts, bank statements. Set up a physical folder system and a digital backup from the start. You will be asked to produce these documents repeatedly over the coming months and years.
Key documents to have copies of (physical and digital) for each family member: passport, NIF card/certificate, Número de Utente, Junta de Freguesia certificate or AIMA appointment confirmation, rental contract, bank account confirmation.
Day 21–30: Breathe
The administrative sprint of the first month is real. By day 30, if you’ve worked through the list above, the major pieces are in place. The children are in school. You have a doctor. You have a bank account. You have a Portuguese number. The bureaucratic mountain, while not fully climbed, has a path up it.
What comes next is the slower, less structured work of actually making Portugal feel like home — which takes longer than a month, happens in ways you can’t plan for, and is usually better than you expected.
The First 30 Days Checklist
| Task | When | Who |
|---|---|---|
| Get Portuguese SIM cards | Day 1–2 | All adults |
| Book AIMA appointment | Day 1–3 | Non-EU families |
| Junta de Freguesia registration | Day 2–5 | EU families |
| SNS registration | Day 3–7 | Whole family |
| Open Portuguese bank account | Day 3–7 | Adults |
| Set up internet | Day 3–7 | — |
| School enrolment | Day 7–14 | Children |
| Find private GP/paediatrician | Day 7–14 | Whole family |
| Sort driving licence situation | Day 14–21 | Adults |
| Start Portuguese lessons | Day 14–21 | Adults + state school children |
| Make deliberate social connections | Day 14–21 | Whole family |
| Update NIF address at Finanças | Day 21–30 | Adults |
| Speak to accountant about IFICI | Day 21–30 | Adults |
| Organise document filing system | Day 21–30 | — |
Timelines are approximate and depend on your specific visa situation, family size, and which city you’re in. EU families skip the AIMA step; non-EU families should treat the AIMA appointment booking as the most urgent single task on arrival.
Planning the move and not yet there? Our free family relocation checklist covers everything from visa applications through to the first 30 days.