State school is hard for teenagers with no Portuguese, Poland is risky without a residence card, and you can't rejoin ADSE
Reddit advises against state school for teenagers with no Portuguese: language classes for newcomers are patchy
A mother from South Korea plans to move to Portugal with her two teenage daughters in September 2027 and stay for five years, until the younger one finishes school. On Reddit she asked about state schools: whether they help with the language, whether there are classes in Portuguese as a non-native language (PLNM), and which year the girls would be put in. Most of those who replied were newcomers themselves, and almost all of them advised against a state school.
The main argument is that studying in Portuguese is far harder for a teenager than for a small child. PLNM classes, people write, aren't offered at every school, small towns are worse off, and passing the final exams takes not conversational Portuguese but the language of textbooks. A family who arrived with children aged three and five said the children picked up the language within a few months, but with older children they would have had to consider an international school. Others think that even if a child has to repeat a year, it's no disaster: a year is enough to learn the language and catch up with the curriculum.
“We moved when the children were three and five; for the first two years they went to a private Portuguese school. They got the hang of the language within a few months, they're doing well, and they've moved to a state school. If the children had been older, it would almost certainly have been much harder (we know other newcomers with older children), and we'd have had to think about an international school.”
r/PortugalExpats03.11.2026
“PLNM classes are inconsistent and depend on the school, and small towns are worse off. It's too big a risk to put teenagers who don't know Portuguese into a state school where you have to pass subjects in Portuguese to graduate. Conversational Portuguese and Portuguese for the national exams are two different things.”
r/PortugalExpats03.11.2026
“Nobody has asked the important question: what languages do your children speak? A change like this may mean repeating a year, but in my view that's no disaster in the grand scheme of things, and if the children are fine with it, everything will be fine. That year is enough to learn the language and catch up with the curriculum.”
r/PortugalExpats03.11.2026
There's also a middle option: semi-state Portuguese schools where teachers are willing to explain things in English. A family with a teenager chose the Catholic Salesianos de Manique near Lisbon: when their son struggled, the teachers helped, including by translating.
“We moved with a teenager. There are semi-state Portuguese schools, such as Salesianos de Manique, which is the one we chose. Many, if not all, of the teachers there could get by in English, and when they saw our son was struggling, they tried to help, including by translating.”
r/PortugalExpats03.11.2026
School in Portugal is compulsory until 18, for newcomers too. If you choose a private school, check it in advance: some schools with their own curriculum aren't recognised by the state, and studying there doesn't count.
“Not every state school has PLNM, and the same goes for private ones. And be careful: school in Portugal is compulsory until 18 for all children, Portuguese or not, and some private schools with an alternative curriculum aren't recognised by the state.”
r/PortugalExpats03.11.2026
Don't leave via Poland without a residence card: fly out of Schengen straight from Portugal, the chat advises
A mother with a three-month-old baby asked in a chat whether she could make an urgent trip to Kaliningrad via Poland: she has applied for a residence permit but doesn't have the card yet. Her plan was to show the AIMA (Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum) document and a medical referral at the border, and come back later with the card.
Until you have the residence card, people advise against leaving through another Schengen country: you could be deported at the border. Leave, they write, by plane straight from Portugal to a country outside Schengen.
“Don't do that. You could get deported on the way out. Only from Portugal by plane to a non-Schengen country”
Translated from Russianru_Portugal_pt04.11.2026
With a residence card in hand, though, getting into Poland has been no trouble for a couple of years now, the chat says: one person personally knows of about twenty such cases. Polish border guards only ask when the traveller will go to the country that issued their residence permit.
“No, no, no, for a couple of years now people have been getting in without any trouble with all sorts of EU residence permits, I personally know of a couple of dozen cases”
Translated from Russianru_Portugal_pt04.11.2026
Russia counts an account opened with a second passport as its citizen's; whether to report it depends on where you live
In a chat about foreign bank cards, someone asked about a person with Russian and another citizenship who has opened an account with the second passport, say in the country of that citizenship: do they have to report it to the Russian tax office? Formally, after all, the account wasn't opened by a Russian citizen.
The consensus was that the passport used to open the account changes nothing: until a person gives up Russian citizenship, Russia considers them its citizen. Beyond that, people write, it all depends on where the person lives: those who spend more than 183 days a year in Russia report the account; those who live abroad don't.
“The person has a Russian passport, so for the Russian Federation they're a citizen, and whether to report or not depends on whether they're a tax resident”
Translated from Russianrefugecard03.11.2026
“The account belongs to the citizen, not to the passport. If the citizen lives outside Russia for more than 183 days, they don't report it. If they live in Russia, they report it”
Translated from Russianrefugecard03.11.2026
Others added that the obligation lies with whoever counts as resident for currency control purposes, which isn't always the same as tax residence, and that a citizen of several countries must obey the laws of each of them.
“That's not how it works. Until you've given up the passport, you're a citizen of one, two, even five countries, it doesn't matter. And you have to obey the laws of all those countries.”
Translated from Russianrefugecard03.11.2026
ADSE takes 3.5% of your salary but never turns you down over illness or age. Those who leave can't rejoin
ADSE is the state health scheme for public-sector workers: people in schools, hospitals, universities and government agencies. According to the ADSE website, you can join at any age when you start working for a public body, whatever your contract; contributions are 3.5% of your salary, and children up to 26 who are still studying and, in some cases, a spouse can be added at no extra cost. On Reddit, someone asked why it is so highly valued and whether it would be better to put the same 3.5% towards private insurance.
ADSE's fans say it never turns anyone away over illnesses they had before joining or over age, and has no caps on payouts. Private insurance, people write, is fine for the healthy, but as soon as someone falls ill, the insurers ‘jump ship’. With ADSE, an operation with a hospital stay costs at most €500, and cancer treatment is covered in full. A woman who joined at 45 with chronic illnesses lists physiotherapy at €2 a session and glasses with almost the whole price refunded, and says she has already got back everything she has paid in contributions.
“Insurance is great for healthy people. As soon as you get ill, they jump ship. ADSE works out expensive, but it has no ceilings, and an operation with a hospital stay costs at most €500. Cancer treatment is covered 100%.”
Translated from Portugueser/literaciafinanceira03.11.2026
“Its main advantage is that it doesn't exclude pre-existing conditions and doesn't exclude people because of age. In many ways it's getting worse, but what I've mentioned is what decides it in the end.”
Translated from Portugueser/literaciafinanceira03.11.2026
“I joined ADSE at 45. I have two children, and I didn't even think twice. On top of that, I have serious chronic illnesses. I work part-time, so I pay next to nothing. Physiotherapy at €2 a session, glasses for everyone (they refund almost all of it), refunds for various appointments and appointments for under €10 — I've definitely got back everything I've paid.”
Translated from Portugueser/literaciafinanceira03.11.2026
Critics point out that the 3.5% is deducted from 14 salary payments a year, not 12 (in Portugal, holiday and Christmas pay come on top of the twelve monthly salaries), even though, people write, a court has already ruled this unlawful. On an above-average salary, by their reckoning, private insurance works out cheaper. Others complain that there are few clinics nearby with an agreement with ADSE.
“Note: ADSE contributions are taken from 14 salaries, not 12, and a court has already ruled that unlawful. But they keep doing it.”
Translated from Portugueser/literaciafinanceira03.11.2026
“I had to choose between insurance paid by my employer and ADSE, which I pay for myself. I chose ADSE because of the children. But 3.5% is noticeable... The worst part is that there are no clinics with an agreement nearby.”
Translated from Portugueser/literaciafinanceira03.11.2026
Once you leave ADSE, you can't rejoin, according to its website.
Lisbon shops have hardly any maternity clothes left: the chat advises ordering online and buying your usual size
In a pregnancy chat, a woman asked where to buy maternity clothes in Lisbon: she was planning to try H&M at the Amoreiras shopping centre and Oysho, as she doesn't like ordering online.
Replies said the choice in shops has all but disappeared. H&M in Colombo has dropped its maternity section, Prénatal inside Toys"R"Us has few clothes, Primark had only nightdresses and Kiabi has a few things. At Oysho and at the Vasco da Gama shopping centre, it's worth asking the assistants or at the till: they may bring out things that aren't on the shop floor.
“It's hard to find anything in shops. I managed to try on and buy a few things at H&M in Colombo. And then they removed the maternity clothes there. At Oysho you have to ask the assistants, then they might bring something out for you.”
Translated from Russianberemennost_portugal03.11.2026
“Oysho has maternity wear online, and at Vasco da Gama I bought leggings in the shop, but you have to ask at the till whether they have anything for pregnant women in store”
Translated from Russianberemennost_portugal04.11.2026
In the end, almost everyone orders online, from H&M, ASOS and Next, and Mango's denim dungarees get praise. People advise buying your usual pre-pregnancy size: H&M maternity clothes, they write, come up large — a size up will be too big, while your own size will fit closer to the seventh month. Returns to H&M, they say, are quick.
“Order online from H&M, they have loads for pregnant women. Try everything on at home and send back whatever doesn't fit, it's very quick. Just watch the sizes: if you were an S before pregnancy, get an S. I played it safe and got an M, and it all turned out too big”
Translated from Russianberemennost_portugal04.11.2026
“I ordered so much from H&M, but their maternity sizes seem to come up big. But closer to 7 months things started to fit and not fall off 😅”
Translated from Russianberemennost_portugal04.11.2026