Cascais AIMA registers a child in 10 minutes, a Ukrainian car clears customs tax-free, an FCT grant rules out a job
AIMA in Porto won't register a child for temporary protection, but Cascais did it without an appointment in 10 minutes
In a chat for Ukrainians in Porto, someone asked how to get temporary protection for a child. The AIMA office in Porto told them it doesn't do this and gave them an email address, but a month on there has been no reply. Others in the chat confirmed that Porto gives the same answer, and one family who wrote to AIMA's general email address waited a year and a half for a reply.
People suggest two routes: apply on the SEF for Ukraine website, or take the child to the AIMA office in Cascais. There, they say, you can turn up without an appointment: you go to the security guard, say you have brought a child to be seen, and the whole thing takes about ten minutes. All they asked for was the child's passport and the passport of the parent whose application the child was on. Nobody in the chat knows for sure what it is like there now.
“Each AIMA is different: in Porto we had the same thing, but in Cascais they did it in 10 minutes, though I don't know what it's like there now, or whether anything has changed.”
Translated from Ukrainianukrporto02.11.2026
“We just turned up, went to the security guard and said we needed to show them the child.”
Translated from Ukrainianukrporto02.11.2026
“And even before, Cascais didn't ask for all the documents Porto does: they only asked us for the child's passport and mine, because the child was on my temporary protection application.”
Translated from Ukrainianukrporto02.11.2026
As for how long it then takes to get the protection itself, the answers vary: some got it within a week, others have now been waiting seven months — "anything from three days to a year". While the application is being considered, all you have is an email saying it is being processed. The application website often shows an error, people complain in another chat; they suggest trying another browser or device. You cannot add documents to an application that has already been submitted.
“A friend got it within a week, as soon as he arrived, and we've been waiting seven months now.”
Translated from Ukrainianukrporto02.11.2026
Cars on Ukrainian plates clear customs tax-free, but the chat says only if the car was yours before temporary protection
In a chat for Ukrainians, someone asked whether anyone had cleared a car on Ukrainian plates through customs while holding temporary protection rather than a residence permit. One reply came from someone who has lived here for two years and has only just started the process through an agency. The agency says it has handled many such cases before; besides the car documents, it insisted on the owner's driving licence — and agreed to accept a Ukrainian one.
“After two years of living here, I literally started the legalisation today… The only good thing is that they know what TP is and, in their words, 'have already done lots of legalisations under temporary protection'. The non-obvious part: besides the car documents they also asked for the owner's driving licence and said it was mandatory and there was no way round it, but they agreed to accept a Ukrainian one.”
Translated from Ukrainiankit_pt02.11.2026
The person asking planned to transfer the car into their own name in Ukraine now, six months after getting protection. They were told this probably wouldn't work: to avoid paying the vehicle tax ISV (Imposto sobre Veículos), the car must be registered in your name before you get protection. But it is best to check with the agency.
A 2022 tax authority circular says that a car with Ukrainian plates can be cleared without ISV by an owner who has a temporary protection card and car documents in their name; it does not say since when the car must be yours. You apply on the Portal das Finanças with exemption code 174 or at your local customs office. To get Portuguese plates, you need homologation (confirmation that the car meets European requirements) and an inspection through the transport authority IMT. A car or motorbike can be cleared tax-free this way once every ten years.
When temporary protection ends, you will have 30 days to clear a car on Ukrainian plates or take it out of the country — otherwise it counts as illegal import.
A PhD at Instituto Superior Técnico takes 30–40 hours a week, and an FCT grant does not allow you to work alongside it
In a chat about universities, someone asked whether they could do a PhD at Instituto Superior Técnico in Lisbon without giving up their job, coming to campus a few times a week for a couple of hours. A PhD student replied that you don't need to go in every day and many people work from home, but the workload is heavy: in the first year about 20 hours a week went on lectures and homework alone, and now 30–40 hours go on papers and the thesis. In their view, combining a PhD with a job only works if the job matches your research topic.
“In my first year I probably spent about 20 hours a week in total just on lectures and homework. The courses are over now, but I spend 30-40 hours purely on papers and the thesis. On the whole it's a proper full-time job that's hard to combine with anything.”
Translated from RussianHigherEducationPortugal02.11.2026
PhD students usually live on a grant, but the state FCT grant (Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, the science and technology foundation) comes with a condition: you work only on your research and cannot hold a job alongside it. It has also become harder to get, people say: last year many strong master's graduates with publications were turned down.
“I mean specifically the state FCT grant. With that you sign up to an exclusive dedication regime, which bans working alongside it.”
Translated from RussianHigherEducationPortugal02.11.2026
“The FCT grant has somehow got really tricky to get. Lots of brilliant master's graduates with good publications got knocked back last year.”
Translated from RussianHigherEducationPortugal02.11.2026
As for the 20 hours a week that a student residence permit supposedly allows you to work, the chat called this a myth: there is no such official figure anywhere, and you can work the full 40.
“The 20 hours just comes from the myth about the student residence permit. As far as I know there's no such official figure anywhere.”
Translated from RussianHigherEducationPortugal02.11.2026
Caixa put a letter titled 'Termination of SDD contract' in its app, but inside were new terms for investment accounts
In a chat about banks, a Caixa Geral de Depósitos customer said they had received a text message about a new document that would be kept for two years, and that a letter dated 31 October had appeared in the app titled "DENÚNCIA DO CONTRATO SDD" — "Termination of SDD contract". The file would not open, the letter was not on the bank's website, and their personal manager could only see a letter about investments from the same date.
“I log in through the mobile app and see a letter dated 31 October (it definitely wasn't there before, it only appeared today) called DENÚNCIA DO CONTRATO SDD 😭 And the file itself won't open at all, it just shows an error.”
Translated from Russianbanksdeportugal02.11.2026
SDD stands for direct debits from your account, people in the chat explained, and asked whether the customer had cancelled any. They had not cancelled anything. Others found the same document; one managed to download it, and it turned out to be about changes to the terms of investment accounts: they can now be opened jointly by two people. The title, the chat agreed, is alarming.
“My document downloaded. And yes, it's about changes to the terms of investment accounts. As far as I can tell, the only change is that they now support joint investment accounts. But the document's title is scary, of course)))”
Translated from Russianbanksdeportugal02.11.2026
So if you have received a letter like this too and have not cancelled any direct debits, it is most likely the same notice about investment accounts. If the file won't open, try again in the app or on the website, or ask your manager.
At CUF, mother and baby stay together after the birth until discharge; a husband's second night costs about €60 extra
In a pregnancy chat, someone asked what the first hours after giving birth are like at the private CUF hospital and whether staff take the baby away so the mother can sleep: in Moscow, they recalled, their son was only brought to them the next morning. The answer was that things are different here: if mother and baby are both well, they are not separated until discharge.
“If mum and baby are fine, then right after the birth you're together the whole time, right up to discharge.”
Translated from Russianberemennost_portugal02.11.2026
After a caesarean, the father holds the baby during the "golden hour", the first hour after birth, and at night the baby stays in the room with the mother; nurses sometimes offer to take the baby so the parents can sleep. A mother who gave birth at another hospital writes that they don't take the baby away there either: for the first couple of hours, mother and baby lie in a shared observation ward with curtains, where a nurse watches over them and helps with breastfeeding; then they are moved to a postnatal room, where all the checks are done.
“They gave him to us straight away. I had an elective C-section, so the baby was given to dad for the golden hour, and at night the baby is in the room with you. The nurses did actually offer to take the baby so we could sleep, but I don't know if that was protocol or just kindness)”
Translated from Russianberemennost_portugal02.11.2026
“I didn't give birth at CUF, but as far as I know this part is no different. Right after the birth they don't take the baby anywhere (if everything's OK). For the first couple of hours we lay in the observation ward, it's shared with curtains, and then they moved us to the postnatal room. They came to the room to do all the checks on the baby and me.”
Translated from Russianberemennost_portugal02.11.2026
If you want your husband to stay in the room for a second night too, it costs about €60 extra, as one mother remembers it.
“By the way, if you want your husband to stay in the room on the 2nd night, you'll have to pay extra (as far as I remember, about 60 euros, maybe the girls will correct me).”
Translated from Russianberemennost_portugal02.11.2026
