Most expats moving to Lagos think the hard part ended when they got the keys. It didn’t. The first 90 days are when you become an actual resident instead of a tourist with a mortgage – and the admin hits hard if you’re not ready for it. This is the checklist I wish every client had in their hand the day they landed.
I see the same thing every spring. A couple lands in May expecting to settle in before summer, books their AIMA appointment the week they arrive, and gets a date in August. By July they are living in limbo, can’t put the internet in their own name, and are starting to question the whole move. None of it was necessary. The appointment should have been booked from the UK, the week the visa came through.
Week 1: The Non-Negotiables
Before anything else, you need three things: a NIF (Portuguese tax number), a Portuguese bank account, and a registered address in Lagos. None are difficult on their own, but they are the keys that unlock everything else. You cannot rent long-term, register with AIMA, or put utilities in your name without them.
If you bought through me, you already have the NIF from before completion. If not, any accountant in Lagos can sort it in a day or two for around 50 to 75 euros. The big high-street banks (Millennium, Novo Banco, BPI) all do non-resident to resident account conversions, and most will run the full onboarding in English at their Lagos or Portimao branches.
Your address needs to be real, not a friend’s spare bedroom. The Junta de Freguesia (parish office) in Lagos is where you get your atestado de residencia, a certificate proving where you live. Bring a rental contract or property deed, a recent utility bill, and your passport.
Weeks 2 to 4: Your AIMA Appointment
AIMA (the successor to the old SEF) is where you formalise residency. British, Irish, and US citizens all now go through this route. Post-Brexit, Brits lost the automatic EU path, and Americans on a D7 or Golden Visa need to activate residency within four months of arrival.
The reality: AIMA appointments in the Algarve are still a bottleneck. The nearest office is in Portimao, and waiting times for first appointments can run two to three months. Book the day you land. Bring your passport, visa (if applicable), NIF, proof of address, proof of income or savings, and NIS (social security) if you have it. If you have read my guide on Golden Visa vs. D7, you already know which paperwork applies to you.
The First Month at Home
Utilities in Portugal do not transfer automatically when you buy or rent. You need to put electricity (EDP, Endesa, or Galp), water (the municipal supplier – in Lagos that is EMARP), gas, and internet (MEO, NOS, or Vodafone) into your own name, with your NIF on every contract.
It is tedious. Block an afternoon, gather your contract or deed, a recent bill showing the previous owner’s consumption, your NIF, and your IBAN, and go in person or submit online. MEO’s fibre rollout in Lagos old town is patchy, so ask neighbours what actually works on your street before you sign an 18-month contract.
Healthcare: Register Before You Need It
Do not wait for a medical emergency. Once you have residency, you are entitled to use the SNS (the public system) at your local Centro de Saude. Walk in with your passport, residency certificate, and proof of address, register as a utente, and you will be issued a numero de utente and assigned a GP.
The SNS is free or close to it, but wait times for non-urgent appointments are long. Most expats I work with pair SNS registration with a private plan – Medis, Advancecare, or Multicare – for faster specialist access and private hospital cover. My full breakdown of public versus private healthcare in the Algarve covers costs by age and what is actually worth paying for.
Before Your 90 Days Are Up
Your driving licence is the easy one to forget. UK and Irish licences need to be exchanged for a Portuguese one within 185 days of becoming a resident. Start on the IMT portal (imt-ip.pt) early – the process is slow and the window closes faster than people expect.
If you moved before June, you also have until 31 March of the following year to register with the Portuguese tax authority as a tax resident. That triggers your tax obligations here and, if you qualify, opens the door to the new IFICI regime (the successor to NHR) for up to ten years of favourable treatment on foreign income.
Kids in school: state schools in Lagos will take any resident child, but places at the popular international schools (Nobel and the Colegio Luso-Internacional de Lagos) fill up months ahead for September. If you are arriving in summer, apply before you leave home.
The One Thing That Actually Matters
The checklist above is not complicated – it is relentless. Most new residents try to do it all in the first two weeks, burn out, and drift for three months. The clients who settle fastest break it into batches: one admin morning a week, everything else is for living. Go to the beach. Learn where the good coffee is. Find a padel partner. That is what you moved here for.
If you are still in the planning stage and want a single resource that covers the whole buying process from NIF to keys in hand, grab my Portugal Buyer’s Guide – it picks up where this post leaves off.
Ready to take the first step? Fill out our Buyer form and let’s find your next home.
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