Complaints by registered post to hurry AIMA, a taxi driver who demanded cash, and a smaller BP fuel discount
Paper complaints sent by registered post can bring an AIMA appointment for EU long-term residence, a chat says
After five years in Portugal you can apply for EU long-term resident status (estatuto de residente de longa duração, under Article 125 of the foreigners' law) — in the chats it is called EU permanent residence. A woman who had applied for it asked how long the wait for an AIMA appointment usually is and whether she could complain about the agency's silence.
Members replied that paper complaints (reclamação) work: send them by registered post with proof of delivery, and an appointment often arrives by email. The catch is that this only applies if you applied yourself rather than through a lawyer.
“If you nudge them with physical reclamação letters with proof of delivery, there's a good chance a slot will turn up in your email. Provided, of course, you didn't apply through a lawyer.”
Translated from Russianleft4portugal01.11.2026
In another chat, people point out that the time counted towards permanent residence and citizenship, as they put it, runs from the date the D visa was issued rather than the date of entry, which adds almost a year. The certificate confirming legal residence time is called contagem de tempo.
One taxi driver refused a card and demanded cash, another put €980 on a card. Reddit advises Uber and ringing dispatch
A foreigner was kept in hospital for observation, and his wife, who finds walking difficult, took a taxi home. She showed the driver her bank card, but when they reached the house he refused it and demanded €60 in cash, so she had to scrape the money together from all over the flat. The poster writes that this is not the first time it has happened to them, and a complaint about a taxi driver had come to nothing.
One reply described the opposite case: a driver taking a woman's husband from the Pastéis de Belém pastry shop to the Luz hospital refused cash and charged €980 to his card. He had entered his PIN, so the bank would not help get the money back. Her advice: if you do take a taxi, pay in cash, which, she says, the driver is legally obliged to accept.
“It can be much worse. A few weeks ago my husband took a taxi from Pastéis de Belém to Luz hospital. The driver refused to take cash and, to cut a long story short, charged him €980. He paid with a debit card and entered his PIN, so the bank said it couldn't help get the money back.”
r/PortugalExpats01.11.2026
If you confirm a payment with your PIN, the bank may refuse to refund it, as happened here: check the amount on the terminal before entering your PIN.
Others advise ringing the dispatch office beforehand to ask about the fare and whether you can pay by card, and threatening to call the police if there is a dispute. One expat writes that they did exactly that, and the driver cancelled the payment and drove off. Most, though, say they use only Uber and Bolt, where you know the price in advance. Others mentioned a police check at Lisbon airport that found dozens of offences by taxi drivers, including tampered meters.
“Back when I still took taxis, I always rang the dispatch office first and asked how much the ride would cost and whether I could pay by card. One smart guy tried to pull that on me, and I told him I'd noted down everything the dispatcher had told me and that if he insisted, I'd call the police.”
r/PortugalExpats01.11.2026
BP cut its discount for Pingo Doce shoppers on 2 November: an €80 fill-up now saves about €6 instead of €20
Anyone who bought groceries at Pingo Doce got a discount at BP petrol stations — about 25%, according to Reddit. The poster writes that last time they put in 34 litres worth €80 and paid €60, but from Monday, 2 November, the same fill-up will cost them €74. The discount is now tiered by the number of litres and, by Reddit's reckoning, is several times smaller.
Others shared their own figures: €10 used to come off €40, now it is €4 plus another €1; 16 litres used to earn €8 off, while now you have to spend €80 to get the same €8. The discount could be combined with other Pingo Doce promotions, and with it, petrol sometimes worked out cheaper than at rival stations, at €1.91 a litre.
“Yesterday I put in 16 litres and got an €8 discount. Paid twenty-something. And now, to get €8 off, you have to fill up for €80...”
Translated from Portugueser/portugal01.11.2026
Without the discount, Reddit reckons, filling up at BP isn't worth it: a litre there costs about 30 cents more than at the Jumbo and Auchan hypermarket stations. Some have already switched to those, while others recommend Repsol, which gives a discount without your having to shop anywhere else.
“Does anyone still fill up at BP? It's almost €0.30 more expensive than everyone else, and the station in our area even closed because nobody went there.”
Translated from Portugueser/portugal31.10.2026
Home sellers knock €10,000–25,000 off when buyers are scarce; with competition, people pay the asking price or more
On Reddit, recent buyers were asked whether they had managed to knock €10,000–20,000 off the price. Many said yes: one buyer negotiated €19,000 off in the Porto suburbs, and the bank's valuation later came in at almost exactly the agreed price; others got €20,000 and €25,000 off. A house listed at over €600,000 sold for under €500,000: it had defects, and the seller liked the buyers. One poster says many sellers set their asking price "to try their luck", and he regularly sees 10% price drops on flats he has saved to his favourites on the listings site Idealista.
“I negotiated €19,000 off. But the house really was overpriced, so the offer was accepted. When the bank did the valuation, it came out at almost the same amount I was going to pay. So the price was fair. Bought recently, in the Porto suburbs.”
Translated from Portugueser/portugal31.10.2026
But this only works when buyers are scarce. Where several people are after a flat, offers below the asking price are turned down, and one buyer even paid more than asked: a rival had made a higher offer but could not sign the deed of sale (escritura) for at least 30 days, while she could. Having a mortgage approved in advance also helps. A developer in Leiria gives no discounts, except perhaps for cash. The estate agent's commission, people say, is almost impossible to negotiate down.
“I paid more! The price was noticeably lower than other flats in the area (the owners wanted a quick sale), so I offered more. They also had a higher offer, but those buyers couldn't sign the deed of sale for at least 30 days. I could — and the sale went to me.”
Translated from Portugueser/portugal31.10.2026
Adults can be diagnosed with ADHD on the SNS through a family doctor's referral; Reddit advises a specialist psychiatrist
A final-year student noticed signs of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in herself and asked on Reddit where adults can get assessed. She was promptly corrected on the name: in Portugal it is called PHDA — perturbação de hiperatividade e défice de atenção. One commenter said she was diagnosed through the national health service (SNS): she went to her family doctor, explained her difficulties, and the doctor referred her to the psychiatry department.
“Hi, I was diagnosed in the SNS. I went to my family doctor, told her about my difficulties and that I'd recently learned about this condition, and she referred me to the psychiatry department, where I got the diagnosis. ADHD at 41, autism at 43.”
Translated from Portugueser/portugal31.10.2026
A clinical psychologist who works in England and has the diagnosis himself advises seeing a psychiatrist who specialises in ADHD: other doctors, he says, often see only anxiety and depression. For private care, people mention PIN, Hospital da Luz and CUF. One man described his assessment: a consultation with the doctor, a questionnaire, an electroencephalogram and practical tests, and only then treatment.
“My advice — both as a clinical psychologist who specialises in autism and ADHD (I work in England) and as someone with the diagnosis: whatever you do, look for a psychiatrist who specialises in this area. Each of us has our own speciality, and unfortunately many professionals prefer to diagnose based on what they know rather than refer the patient on.”
Translated from Portugueser/portugal01.11.2026
Others warn against self-diagnosis: if you have only recently started struggling to concentrate, the cause may be tiredness, anxiety or burnout, and it is worth starting with sleep and routine.
