Temporary permits allow six months away, poorer families are promised 80% of an EV’s price, and DIGI threatens to leave
A temporary permit allows no more than six months away in a row or eight in total. Longer absences need AIMA’s approval
A temporary residence permit can be cancelled if the holder, without good reason, spends more than six consecutive months abroad or more than eight months in total over the card’s period of validity. So says Article 85 of the immigration law. For a permanent residence permit the limits are more generous: 24 consecutive months or 30 months in total over three years.
If you need to be away for longer, the law requires you to ask AIMA, the migration agency, to accept your reason as valid before you leave. Once you have left, this is possible only in exceptional cases.
Nor is the permit cancelled if the holder proves they were working, running their own business or doing cultural or community work abroad. In the “Portugal from A to Z” chat, people add medical treatment, family circumstances such as funerals, and business trips to the list of valid reasons, but doubt that treatment or a funeral would be easy to prove with documents.
“Medical treatment, social reasons (funerals, for example) and business trips”
Translated from Russianru_Portugal_pt05.11.2026
“Documenting a funeral as the reason for a long absence will be extremely hard, I reckon, and with medical treatment it won’t be simple either.”
Translated from Russianru_Portugal_pt05.11.2026
The chat cannot agree on when AIMA counts the time spent abroad. Some think it happens at renewal: it is no accident, they say, that you are asked to upload every page of your passport. Others object that passports are no longer stamped at the border, but say absences will certainly be counted when someone applies for EU long-term resident status under Article 125 of the same law.
“they do ask you to upload all the pages of your passport when you renew”
Translated from Russianru_Portugal_pt05.11.2026
“They haven’t been putting stamps in for two years now.”
Translated from Russianru_Portugal_pt05.11.2026
Low-income families are promised 80% of an electric car’s price before VAT. Reddit works out how much they would still pay
The government’s draft budget for 2027 includes help for low-income families to buy an electric car: those on the social electricity tariff and those whose income is below 80% of the median, about €11,572 a year. The state will pay 80% of the car’s price before IVA (Portuguese VAT); the car itself must cost no more than €15,000 before tax, or €16,000 if an old car is handed in for scrapping. There will also be up to €1,000 towards charging. The programme covers 20,000 cars, and €50 million has been set aside separately for everyone else (Observador, Razão Automóvel). The scheme will start once the rules are published and applications open.
On Reddit the measure is criticised almost unanimously, and people have worked out how much buyers would have to pay on top: a car costing €17,000 including IVA is about €13,800 before tax, the state would contribute about €11,000, and the buyer would pay almost €6,000 themselves. For a family that struggles to pay its electricity bill, that is out of reach.
“Pure window dressing. Families so hard up that they can’t pay their electricity bill and get the social tariff won’t be able to benefit from this measure: the state pays on the price of the car before IVA. When buying, the person hands over a state voucher for 80% of the price before IVA and pays the difference up to the full price including IVA themselves.”
Translated from Portugueser/portugal05.11.2026
Others point out that a car also costs money to run: the state will not pay for tyres, servicing or repairs. And some think the same money would be better spent on solar panels for homes.
“And when the tyres need changing, the car needs servicing or it breaks down? Will the state help with that too? What a stupid measure.”
Translated from Portugueser/portugal05.11.2026
“Now if they’d said: we’ll run tenders for solar panels and put them on private houses, blocks of flats and shops so we don’t depend on gas and Russian fuel, that would be a good measure. But electric cars, and for the poorest at that? That’s completely absurd.”
Translated from Portugueser/portugal05.11.2026
DIGI threatens to quit Portugal unless rivals’ frequencies go to auction. Reddit praises its prices and doubts it will leave
The telecoms operator DIGI entered the Portuguese market in 2024 and brought prices down noticeably. On 23 October the group’s head, Valentin Popoviciu, said that leaving the country was “one of the possible scenarios”. The frequency licences held by MEO, NOS and Vodafone expire in 2027, and DIGI is demanding that the telecoms regulator Anacom auction them rather than renew them for the current holders (4gnews).
Signatures are being collected against renewal without an auction: a petition on Petição Pública asks Anacom to put the frequencies up for tender. According to a study commissioned by DIGI, its departure would cost customers up to €3.5 billion over 15 years. For now nothing changes for customers: the decision rests with Anacom.
On Reddit, DIGI customers describe how much they save: its unlimited mobile plan costs €5. One customer used to pay €15 for 10 GB of mobile data and now gets unlimited mobile, TV and 1 Gbps home internet for €16. Many doubt the company will leave after investing so heavily and see the threat as a way of putting pressure on the regulator.
“I used to have 10 GB a month for €15. Now I pay €16 for unlimited mobile, TV and 1 Gbps cable internet.”
Translated from Portugueser/portugal05.11.2026
“Thanks to them I have unlimited mobile for €5, thank you. And the service doesn’t let me down: 1 Gbps at home, the only limit is my own equipment, and there’s mobile coverage all over the country.”
Translated from Portugueser/portugal05.11.2026
“And I very much doubt they’ll leave after such a huge investment. At most, they’ll sell the business on to another international operator.”
Translated from Portugueser/portugal05.11.2026
A tax refund went to an old account despite a new IBAN. The chat’s advice: confirm the new IBAN on the portal before filing
In the “Portax: taxes in Portugal” chat, one member said the tax office had paid a €1,900 refund of overpaid IRS income tax for 2025 into an account they no longer use. They had entered the new IBAN on the Finanças website, but, they say, the tax office did not confirm it straight away, so the money went to the old account.
Others in the chat explain that for a refund to reach a new account, its IBAN must be both entered in the tax return and confirmed on the Portal das Finanças, the tax office website, and this must be done before the return is filed. Otherwise the money may go to the old account.
“The IBAN for the refund has to be entered in the return + confirmed on the portal, and definitely before you file the return. If you don’t do one of these before filing, you end up in a mess like this.”
Translated from Russianreciboverde06.11.2026
If this has already happened, the chat advises, you will have to sort it out with the bank that now holds the money.
“But either way, you now need to sort it out with the bank that has the money.”
Translated from Russianreciboverde06.11.2026
Job hunting after 60: people suggest the BEP public jobs board, town hall programmes and approaching employers in person
On r/EmpregoPT, someone wrote about a 61-year-old woman from Amadora who has been looking for work for more than a month without success. She applies for jobs through Indeed and Net-Empregos. She completed 12 years of schooling and has a secretarial course, a driving licence and experience in a hotel, packing fruit, on the till at a CTT post office and at INE, the statistics institute. She is looking for work as a chambermaid, kitchen assistant, cashier or warehouse worker.
People suggest looking on the BEP public sector jobs board: parish councils (juntas de freguesia) often advertise for people with this kind of experience, and age may be less of an obstacle in the public sector. Town halls sometimes have their own programmes for people of her age, including work in schools.
“It occurred to me that she might find something on BEP. Parish councils often post lots of vacancies for that kind of experience, and age may not be as much of an obstacle there as in the private sector.”
Translated from Portugueser/EmpregoPT05.11.2026
“Town halls have their own programmes for that age group, sometimes in schools, because they run the schools.”
Translated from Portugueser/EmpregoPT05.11.2026
Others advise tailoring the CV to each vacancy. Experience is her trump card: she needs to show that she will not need training and can help train others; hotels that are just opening are the best places to apply. People also point out that HR departments use AI software to screen CVs, so the CV should include the wording of the job advert. Some suggest approaching employers in person: a face-to-face conversation works better than a dry CV.
“For older people, experience is the key thing. For example, if she worked in a hotel for eight years, she can apply to hotels, but her CV needs to spell out what she contributed and what new things she can bring to the job. The idea should be: if they hire her, they won’t have to train her, and she will pass her knowledge on to the company.”
Translated from Portugueser/EmpregoPT05.11.2026
Others offer reassurance: after 50, finding a job usually takes months. A 59-year-old woman said that in 2013, after losing her job, she sent out a hundred CVs, got just three interviews and thought it would be very hard to find work. But she was wrong: three years ago she changed jobs again.
“I’m 59, and three years ago I changed jobs. When I lost my job in 2013, I sent out 100 CVs and was called to 3 interviews, and I thought finding work would be very hard. I was wrong.”
Translated from Portugueser/EmpregoPT05.11.2026
For first-trimester nausea, mums suggest salted crackers and small meals, and a doctor if even water won’t stay down
On r/MaternidadePT, a woman who is eight weeks pregnant wrote that she is vomiting bile and cannot eat, and that Nausefe, an anti-nausea medicine for pregnant women, is not helping. Other mums shared what had worked for them.
The main advice is never to let your stomach get empty. People suggest eating a salted cracker (bolacha de água e sal) in bed before you even get up, and then eating little and often throughout the day, whatever your body will accept, even if that means spaghetti and pizza. Ginger and ginger ale, cold water with lemon, sparkling water and sour sweets before meals are also said to help.
“Eat a cracker as soon as you wake up, before you even get up. I used to leave one on the bedside table the night before, and it really helped.”
Translated from Portugueser/MaternidadePT05.11.2026
As for medication, people say one Nausefe tablet is often not enough: one mum’s doctor allowed her up to three a day, and another takes two at night. Some found Bonjesta helped: it is noticeably more expensive but, they say, does not make you drowsy. The dose and any change of medicine should be agreed with a doctor.
“Eating crackers and cheeses like Babybel helped me. My doctor also said I could take up to three Nausefe a day; one did nothing for me.”
Translated from Portugueser/MaternidadePT05.11.2026
“Try Bonjesta, it saved me and doesn’t make you drowsy. Eat whatever you can.”
Translated from Portugueser/MaternidadePT05.11.2026
If you cannot even keep water down, it may be severe morning sickness (hiperémese gravídica): for one mum, only stronger medicines prescribed by her doctor worked. If there are signs of dehydration, people advise going to hospital, where you will be put on a drip.
“If it’s got that bad, I’d advise talking to your doctor. I had severe vomiting my whole pregnancy, and from eight weeks I couldn’t even drink water without throwing up. I had to take stronger medicines: Nausefe did nothing.”
Translated from Portugueser/MaternidadePT05.11.2026