An IMT Jovem flat must be your main home for six years, an MOT in Porto costs €37, and BLS doesn't keep passports
A flat bought with IMT Jovem must stay your main home for six years, and the tax address won't change by itself
In a tax chat, a woman asked how she could move out without losing her IMT Jovem exemption. A year and a half ago she bought a small flat under this scheme, which exempts buyers under 35 from IMT, the property transfer tax. Now she wants to move in with her boyfriend in another flat, and she does not plan to let hers out officially.
People told her the flat must remain her main address for tax purposes, her domicílio fiscal, and gave the period as five years from the purchase. The law actually says six years. If the home stops being your main residence during that time, the tax office can withdraw the exemption. The tax office has made one exception: for a family that moves to a bigger flat after a child is born and lets the first one out for people to live in. We wrote about this in the article “IMT Jovem is kept if a family moves after a child is born”.
“If memory serves, you have to be registered at this flat as your main address (domicílio fiscal) for at least five years from the purchase.”
myptaxes27.10.2026
The tax address itself, the chat explained, does not change just because you sign a new tenancy agreement or live somewhere else. Only you can change it, on the Portal das Finanças (the tax office website), with a code sent by post to the new address. You can rent as many flats as you like, but official letters will go to your tax address.
“Only you can change the address. To do that, you request a code, receive it by post at the new address, enter it and so on. Nobody stops you renting as many flats as you like. But the authorities will contact you at your domicílio fiscal address.”
myptaxes27.10.2026
If a flat bought under IMT Jovem stops being your main home within the first six years, the tax office can demand back the IMT and stamp duty you were exempted from.
An MOT in Porto takes 15–20 minutes and costs €37, and Controlauto pays no attention to Ukrainian plates
In a chat for Ukrainians in Porto, someone asked where to get the compulsory vehicle inspection, the inspeção periódica obrigatória (IPO), Portugal's equivalent of the MOT. People shared the addresses of several Controlauto centres, a chain of inspection centres, and described how it goes: you drive up, hand over the keys, pay, wait and leave with a certificate.
One person who had their car inspected a week ago spent 15 minutes and €37. Another goes to the same centre every year without booking and is done in about 20 minutes if there is no queue. You can also book online, and people advise going to the nearest centre.
“Did it a week ago right here: 15 minutes and €37. Very quick, nothing complicated. We arrived, handed over the keys, paid, waited and left with the certificate. (translated from Ukrainian)”
ukrporto27.10.2026
Someone also asked about cars with Ukrainian plates, a Ukrainian registration certificate and a green card (international motor insurance). Controlauto, people replied, does not pay any attention to the plates. In mid-October the same chat discussed a car with Ukrainian plates that was fined €250 in Porto for having no inspection, and people argued then about whether a Portuguese centre would inspect such a car.
“No problem. They don't pay any attention to the plates. (translated from Ukrainian)”
ukrporto27.10.2026
You apply for a D visa at the BLS visa centre without handing in your passport, and the consulate adds the visa later
In a chat for people moving to Portugal, someone asked whether the BLS visa centre now keeps your passport when you apply for a national D visa, the long-stay visa for moving to Portugal: the centre's support team had told them it does.
Those who had applied said no: you hand in your documents at BLS, keep your passport, and later go to the consulate to have the visa put in. Passports were not kept in August either. To have the visa put in, the chat reminded, you do hand over your passport, but you collect it the same evening — perhaps that is what the support team meant.
“They apply at BLS, the passport isn't kept, the visa is put in at the consulate.”
left4portugal27.10.2026
“They take the passport to put the visa in and send you off for a walk until the evening, then you come back for the passport. Maybe that's what she meant.”
left4portugal27.10.2026
We described how to fill in the BLS form so that the website accepts it in our review “In the BLS visa centre form, people write MVD in Latin letters in the ‘issued by’ field” (the MVD is Russia's Interior Ministry, which issues passports).
The balance statement for AIMA is under "Documentos digitais" in the Caixa app, and a fresh one can be requested at a branch
In a banking chat, someone asked how to download a statement from the Caixa Geral de Depósitos app or website showing only the account balance, without transactions: they needed it for AIMA, the immigration agency.
People pointed to the path in the menu: Menu → Documentos → Documentos digitais → Extrato global. This combined statement also shows recent transactions, and a new one is not issued every day: for two people in the chat, the latest was dated 8 October. A fresh one, they say, can be requested at a branch, but it is not certain the branch will produce it.
“Menu — documentos — documentos digitais — extrato global.”
banksdeportugal27.10.2026
The person who asked found how to see the current balance in the app and download it as a PDF, but is not sure AIMA will accept such a document. They were advised to bring several different statements: according to the person who suggested this, AIMA is not fussy about papers from Portuguese banks.
“Get several different statements for AIMA. They're not fussy about their own banks.”
banksdeportugal27.10.2026
Documents from Porto take two to three weeks to reach Russia by CTT post, while couriers barely deliver there
In the Porto chat, someone asked which companies could send documents to Russia: in the parcels chat they had only found options departing from Lisbon.
The first suggestion was ordinary CTT post, Portugal's postal service. It is slow: to large cities, according to those who replied, it takes two to three weeks. Someone also suggested asking DPD, a delivery company that has not pulled out of Russia, but warned that it might not send there.
“Depends where — to the big regional cities they say it takes 2–3 weeks.”
chatporto27.10.2026
As for CDEK, a Russian courier company, one member of the chat found back in September that it does not officially carry parcels even from Russia: partner offices transport them, but their logistics are very complicated. The person who asked decided to keep the post as a fallback.
“CDEK doesn't officially ship from Russia either, I ran into this in September. Partner offices do carry things, but their logistics are very complicated.”
chatporto27.10.2026
A two-year-old with few words: mums on Reddit advise an ENT hearing check and talking to the child more at home
In a Reddit community of Portuguese mums, the mother of a boy just over two wrote that since his first words his speech had barely progressed: he says "mummy", "daddy", "yes", "no" and a few short phrases, and babbles as if he were talking, but does not repeat words after adults. The paediatrician said this is normal for a second child, especially a boy; his hearing test went well, and the speech therapist (terapeuta da fala) found no problems and advised working with him more.
Some mums were reassuring: one said her daughter spoke very little at two and started talking a couple of months later. Another said everyone had been sure her son's hearing was fine because he responded to his name. But the ENT (ear, nose and throat) specialist, the otorrino, found that the boy heard as if under water; after an operation to put tubes (grommets) in his ears, he started talking.
“Mine was just the same. And everyone around said: ‘He isn't deaf, we call him and he answers.’ And it's true, he wasn't deaf, but he heard badly. Very badly, as if under water. And he'd never had ear infections… We only realised when we went to the ENT and he had the tests. He had an operation, they put tubes in, and now he says EVERYTHING. (translated from Portuguese)”
r/MaternidadePT26.10.2026
A third mum described the whole process: the nursery noticed a delay, a developmental paediatrician wrote a report, then came a speech therapist and the local early intervention team, ELI (Equipa Local de Intervenção). One of its specialists now works with the boy once a week at the nursery itself. At home, people advise describing out loud everything you do, reading with the child, taking him to play with other children more often and cutting out screens.
“We got a nursery place when he was 2 years and 3 months. The nursery said straight away that, in their view, he had a delay. I went to a developmental paediatrician and she wrote a report. The next step was a speech therapist, and then he was referred to the local early intervention team (ELI), who also did tests: speech is his only difficulty. Now an ELI specialist comes to see him at the nursery once a week. (translated from Portuguese)”
r/MaternidadePT27.10.2026
“Don't teach him to talk as if it were a lesson. Say out loud everything you're doing: ‘Now let's put the clothes in the wash — trousers, jumper, more trousers’ or ‘I'm going to the fridge for a yoghurt’. And do it all the time. After a week, start asking him to name things or say what you do every day. Get the grandparents involved too. (translated from Portuguese)”
r/MaternidadePT26.10.2026
