Caixa refusals show up at every branch, an AIMA booking covers an expired visa, and beginners are told to buy global ETFs
Refused an account at Caixa? You can apply again, but you will have to explain afresh why you need it, the chat says
In a chat about Portuguese banks, someone asked how to open an account at Caixa Geral de Depósitos on a second attempt. Their family's documents are in order, but they hold one of the passports that banks check more strictly, and the department that checks customers (compliance) turned the account down. Now they want to go to a different branch and bring a letter from the outset explaining why they need the account and where the money paid into it will come from. They have already written letters like this for their visa and residence permit.
Replies say Caixa asks everyone where their money comes from: one person said the bank went through their whole history with a fine-tooth comb back in 2022. You have to answer the bank's questions, and writing such an explanation is not hard.
“These are standard questions when you open an account at Caixa. Back in 2022 they went through my whole history with a fine-tooth comb.”
Translated from Russianbanksdeportugal07.11.2026
A refusal is visible straight away at every Caixa branch, the chat says: you can apply again, but you will have to explain afresh why you need the account.
“Caixa has a shared database. If you were refused, everyone sees it straight away. You can apply again. You'll need a new reason for needing the account”
Translated from Russianbanksdeportugal07.11.2026
Opinions differ on whether to bring a letter nobody has asked for: some advise simply providing what the bank asks for, while others say never give more than is asked, but have every possible paper ready. What you need to open an account, and where people who have been turned down manage to open one, is covered in our guide How to open an account with a Portuguese bank.
“Never give more than they ask for. But have absolutely everything ready, right down to your cat's test results.”
Translated from Russianbanksdeportugal07.11.2026
A four-month visa and an AIMA appointment almost a year away: the chat says the booking makes staying on legal
A PhD student was given a four-month, double-entry student visa, but her appointment at AIMA, where she will apply for a residence permit, is almost a year away. She asked in the chat whether she really has to live without papers all that time and whether the date can be brought forward.
Replies say many people live like this: even after the AIMA appointment, the residence card takes months more to arrive. If your visa has expired but you have an AIMA booking, your stay in the country counts as legal, according to those who replied, although it can cause difficulties with banks and at the border.
“Living in PT without papers is normal😂 and that's just until the AIMA appointment, then you wait months for the card😁”
Translated from RussianRussosEmPortugal06.11.2026
“Yes, by the looks of it, this is the usual story. If your visa has expired but you have an AIMA booking, that counts as being in the country legally. It causes some difficulties with banks and crossing borders, but on the whole you can live with it.”
Translated from RussianRussosEmPortugal07.11.2026
How to travel abroad while your AIMA case is pending is covered in our guide Leaving Portugal while your AIMA case is pending — and coming back, and how to book an appointment and renew a residence permit in our guide How to book an AIMA appointment and renew your residence permit in Portugal.
Beginners on Reddit are told to invest in global ETFs, not just the S&P 500, and to keep rainy-day money separate
A student with a part-time job asked on Reddit how to start investing: she was thinking of opening an account with a broker, XTB or Trade Republic, and buying a fund that tracks the US S&P 500 index, but admits she knows nothing about investing.
The advice comes down to a few rules. Keep money for unexpected costs separate and off the stock market, and invest only what you will not need for several years. Buy an exchange-traded fund (ETF) holding shares from the whole world, not just the US, putting in the same amount every month rather than trying to time the market. Compare brokers on fees, on the cost of converting euros to dollars and on whether they give you ready-made figures for your IRS income tax return. When you sell a fund, you pay tax on the profit. And do not pay influencers for ‘courses’.
“Keep your rainy-day money as it is — to hand and off the market — and invest only what you won't touch for several years. For a calm start, it's easier to buy a global ETF (not just the S&P 500) for the same amount every month than to try to time the market. Between XTB and Trade Republic, compare fees, euro-to-dollar conversion and how they provide the data for your IRS return: at the start, that matters more than which index you pick.”
Translated from Portugueser/literaciafinanceira06.11.2026
“Rule number one: don't pay influencers for ‘courses’.”
Translated from Portugueser/literaciafinanceira06.11.2026
In another thread, a 20-year-old student is thinking of selling a flat he inherited for €200,000 and putting the money into such funds: the flat is let for €525 a month, but after taxes and costs it brings in about 2% a year, and it needs €20,000 worth of repairs. Some advise keeping the flat and investing the rent in funds; others say sell. Many also ask whether he could cope with losing thousands of euros in a day, as happened in the market fall on 5 November.
“If I were you, I'd keep the flat and invest the €525 a month in a global ETF. But of course there are no right or wrong answers here. Everyone has their own strategy.”
Translated from Portugueser/literaciafinanceira06.11.2026
“Think about this: at 20 and, I assume, without much investing experience, would you have the nerve to manage 200 thousand on the stock market? How would you react if you lost 10 thousand in a single day, like yesterday? Would you sell?”
Translated from Portugueser/literaciafinanceira06.11.2026
What deposits and government savings certificates offer without stock-market risk is covered in our guide Where to keep your savings in Portugal.
December slots for Portuguese visa appointments open around 25 November, the chat says. No direct flights from Yerevan
In a travellers' chat, someone asked whether you can apply for a Portuguese visa through the visa centre in Rostov-on-Don, whether there are appointments in December, and whether there are flights from Yerevan to Portugal.
As for Rostov, one reply said there had been earlier reports in the chat that fingerprinting was not working there, but it is unclear whether that is still the case; you can apply at any visa centre that is operating. December appointments, according to the same reply, will be released around 25 November.
“People wrote here that biometrics aren't working there, but whether that's still true isn't clear. You can apply at any visa centre that's working. December slots will be released around 25 November. There are no direct flights.”
Translated from RussianPortugal 🇵🇹 TravelAsk chat07.11.2026
There are no direct flights from Yerevan. In the summer people flew via Istanbul with Turkish Airlines, and there have also been flights via Frankfurt with Lufthansa. You can also fly via Morocco, or fly into Seville in Spain and take a FlixBus coach from there to Faro, which is about three hours away.
“Hello, in the summer we flew Yerevan - Istanbul - Lisbon with Turkish Airlines”
Translated from RussianPortugal 🇵🇹 TravelAsk chat07.11.2026
“Via Istanbul and Morocco. You could even fly into Seville for a couple of days and then take FlixBus to Portugal - it's about three hours from there to Faro.”
Translated from RussianPortugal 🇵🇹 TravelAsk chat07.11.2026
What documents you need and how to submit them through a consulate or visa centre is covered in our guide How to apply for a Portuguese visa through a consulate or visa centre.
Rehydration solutions for children need no prescription in Portugal, and mums explain which kind of lethargy is a worry
In a chat for mums of babies under two, people discussed what to do when a child has fallen ill only a few hours earlier. The advice is to keep an eye on them and give fluids little and often, a teaspoon at a time. Solutions that replace lost fluid and salts are sold in Portuguese pharmacies without a prescription, as in Russia: they contain sodium, potassium and glucose in the right proportions, and some are flavoured. But if you go to hospital on the first day of the illness, the chat warns, a mild case may be given a green wristband in A&E, meaning it is not a priority: you will wait about two hours and be prescribed the same solution.
Lethargy was discussed separately: if a child is simply lethargic because of a temperature, that is acceptable, but you should worry if they are lying there ‘like a rag doll’.
“Depends what kind of lethargy. If she's lying there like a rag doll, then yes. If she's just lethargic because of the temperature and the illness, that's perfectly acceptable.”
Translated from Russianpequenos_PT06.11.2026
If a child refuses to drink, responds less than usual and sleeps all the time, see a doctor straight away.
“So what should worry you is ‘pathological’ lethargy: refusing to drink, being less responsive, sleeping all the time”
Translated from Russianpequenos_PT06.11.2026
And if anything seems unusual, the advice is to play it safe and have the child seen by a doctor. Where to go with a sick child is covered in our guide Children and doctors in Portugal: where to go when your child is ill and how to get vaccinations.
“Generally, I think if something seems unusual, it's better to be overcautious and see a doctor”
Translated from Russianpequenos_PT06.11.2026
VAT-free EU purchases made with a VIES number do not affect IRS unless you claim them as expenses, the tax chat explains
In a chat about taxes, a self-employed person asked whether buying things for work, such as software, VAT-free from a supplier in another EU country using a VAT number (which is checked in the EU's VIES system) could cause problems when their IRS income tax is calculated — for example, whether they could lose the usual deductions.
The answer: unless you try to claim these purchases as work expenses, they have no effect on IRS at all. Questions may arise only if you have spent many times more than the income you declared. And whether you need to record such purchases as expenses at all depends on whether you have already reached the required level of expenses without them.
“If you're not trying to count these purchases as sole-trader expenses, they don't affect IRS at all (well, except when you've spent many times more than you declared - then, in theory, there may be questions)”
Translated from Russiantaxinportugal06.11.2026
“I can help with the wording. You want to know whether foreign purchases can be claimed as sole-trader expenses, and how to do it properly. What you're missing is whether you need any more sole-trader expenses at all, or whether you've already reached the maximum deduction and new expenses make no difference.”
Translated from Russiantaxinportugal06.11.2026
How to work as self-employed and what counts as an expense is covered in our guide How to open an atividade and work on recibos verdes.
