Subject: Re: Best “escape” country for a US citizen
Couple comments about Portugal as a newer (April) immigrant than Rubic. The general experience on the FB expat group I follow is that it is becoming more and more difficult to establish a local bank account, mostly because regulatory compliance with US rules is increasingly burdensome on the bank. Several banks that were recommended in the past, like Millennium, are said to rarely if ever be issuing new expat accounts. I got an account at Novobanco through an attorney, which has been OK although I still have not figured out how to get my address changed in their records, or get the card validated for most online purchases or the "MB" finance system that is widely used here. I'd like to get a second account for redundancy but it seems best to wait until my initial residency card is issued, which could take many months yet. Also interested in moving assets into EU brokerages, and likewise.

The new government is discussing implementing a longer path to qualify for citizenship (10 vs. 5 years) and perhaps a language test requirement for residency card renewals in the interim.

The immigration bureaucracy is very overworked and opaque. Do not expect rapid turnaround on anything AIMA-related.

I've lost about 10 pounds since arriving due to walking 5-6 km/day. The more I walk, the smaller Lisboa feels to me :-) Starting to feel more at home, and have made the acquaintance of some handsome Portuguese Cats while out and about. The Marvila parish council really seems to like their outdoor cat population and has nice shelters put out here and there, one with little lace curtains in the doorways to cut down on the sun.