# Possible to obtain BI or Autorização de Residencia prior to arrival in Portugal?



## Emmis (Mar 21, 2010)

Is it at all possible to obtain the BI or Autorização de Residencia prior to arrival in Portugal without an address. I have a feeling this with be NO as of course you need an address to prove you are resident. But the BI?

We are EU citizens but I do know from both Italian and Spanish bureaucracy experience that it means diddly squat and that you still need to obtain residency and ID cards... but they do take time and I have a feeling it won't happen overnight. However it seems we might need them in order to register our children at an International School in Cascais, which we need to do before we arrive.

Any hints or advice would be hugely appreciated, as would any regarding obtaining them once we get there as I'm finding it hard to find any decent info online.

Am I being particularly stupid? (no need to answer that!)


----------



## MrBife (Jul 26, 2009)

Emmis said:


> Am I being particularly stupid? (no need to answer that!)


A bit  how can you get a card to prove you are a resident without being a resident? Well you can't.

Just speak to the school and tell them why you cant provide the card from day 1 and send a cheque for the first terms fees. I am absolutely certain they won't create any problems at all !


----------



## Emmis (Mar 21, 2010)

MrBife said:


> A bit  how can you get a card to prove you are a resident without being a resident? Well you can't.
> 
> Just speak to the school and tell them why you cant provide the card from day 1 and send a cheque for the first terms fees. I am absolutely certain they won't create any problems at all !


Yes, I thought so too, but thanks for confirming my stupidity, anyway!! However, it did seem a strange request seeing as they do know we're not in Portugal, so I thought maybe I was missing something! Luckily nobody knows me on this forum so I can blush in private! 

I've written to the school and hope they understand how impossible it would be to provide those forms.

Thanks again for the advice... and my intelligence rating!!


----------



## MarcoCarrico (Jan 27, 2010)

in order to get a residential permit you in fact need to live here already, if you want to put your kids on a public school you need to prove that you live in that place (residential permit) as by law your kids need to study in the school where they live or nearby. If its a private school it all depends on the school policy


----------

