# Change of residency



## cruizes (Oct 9, 2011)

In the process of obtaining the residency visa in Portugal. My question is what if I go there, it doesn’t live up to my expectations, so I want to move to another Schengen country. Does it help if I have the residency visa in Portugal already or do I have to start all over again. Not saying if this would happen. Just want to know what my options are.


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## MrBife (Jul 26, 2009)

Portugal is going to be as wonderful or as tedious as you care to make it. I wouldn't consider moving anywhere with pre conceived expectations. Why not spend some time here and take a good look around as a tourist before even starting the residency paperwork?

The other countries that form the Schengen space each have their own rules and you would need to do an application separately for any other.


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## Italia-Mx (Jan 14, 2009)

Your EU visa is good for permanent residence in the country which issued it to you only, in this case Portugal. You can travel as a tourist in the EU with your Portuguese residency permit but you can't reside permanently in another EU country without returning to the US and applying at the consulate of the next EU country you're interested in residing in.


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## dancebert (Jun 4, 2015)

If you've lived legally in an EU country for 5 years and meet other requirements, there is a process to change residency to another EU country. Most countries participate in the process.

Overview http://ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/what-we-do/policies/legal-migration/long-term-residents_en

Overview, list of participating countries and the name of the program in their language. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long-term_resident_(European_Union)


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Italia-Mx said:


> Your EU visa is good for permanent residence in the country which issued it to you only, in this case Portugal. You can travel as a tourist in the EU with your Portuguese residency permit but you can't reside permanently in another EU country without returning to the US and applying at the consulate of the next EU country you're interested in residing in.


Actually if living in Portugal (or anywhere) with a resident visa, there is no need to return to the US in order to apply for a visa for another EU country. 

You can apply at the (Spanish for instance) consulate of whichever country you are legally resident (Portugal in this case).


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## travelling-man (Jun 17, 2011)

This could be an interesting/complex one because there's also the issue that EU law states that once a person is domiciled within the EU they have the right to remain.

I'm not certain but seem to remember it's part of the 1969 Vienna Convention (Acquired rights)?

Whether that also allows for right to move from EU member country to another is a different question & one that I don't know the answer to. lol


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## Italia-Mx (Jan 14, 2009)

travelling-man said:


> This could be an interesting/complex one because there's also the issue that EU law states that once a person is domiciled within the EU they have the right to remain.
> 
> I'm not certain but seem to remember it's part of the 1969 Vienna Convention (Acquired rights)?
> 
> Whether that also allows for right to move from EU member country to another is a different question & one that I don't know the answer to. lol


So what would be the point of citizenship? Why should any person born and raised in an EU country or with citizenship by bloodline be concerned with being a citizen of that country if foreigners with foreign passports can just come and go at will? It doesn't make sense to me.


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## Italia-Mx (Jan 14, 2009)

xabiachica said:


> Actually if living in Portugal (or anywhere) with a resident visa, there is no need to return to the US in order to apply for a visa for another EU country.
> 
> You can apply at the (Spanish for instance) consulate of whichever country you are legally resident (Portugal in this case).


For a British passport holder who is also a citizen of the European Union, yes this is correct. For a non-EU American passport holder, no, I do not believe this is correct. If that person wants to move to another EU country, he must return to the USA. An EU consulate cannot put a visa stamp in an American passport. This can only be done by a consulate in the USA.


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## travelling-man (Jun 17, 2011)

Italia-Mx said:


> So what would be the point of citizenship? Why should any person born and raised in an EU country or with citizenship by bloodline be concerned with being a citizen of that country if foreigners with foreign passports can just come and go at will? It doesn't make sense to me.


Nor me. 

If there's one certainty in life it's that a bureaucrat will always overcomplicate a simple process for no good reason. lol!


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