When London-based doctor, medical aesthetics business owner and online personal trainer coach Kate Bennett-Brown booked a surfing holiday in Portugal, she had no inkling how much the break would end up impacting her life.
“I went to Ericeira, near Lisbon, for a surfing holiday and fell in love with the lifestyle and the local area,” recalls 31-year-old Kate. “Everything revolves around the ocean and spending time outdoors. It’s idyllic.”
Kate made up her mind to start a new life in the sun in Ericeira – known as the surfing capital of Portugal – after a second trip to the same area.
“Owning my own business gave me the freedom to explore the possibility of living in Portugal,” she explains. “Being near Lisbon means I can travel back for work regularly – it’s a really easy journey from there to London. And Portugal’s helpful visa options meant it was easy to work out the residency side of things.”
Kate used the D7 Visa to move to Portugal. The D7 provides residency status to non-EU citizens with a regular passive income who want to relocate to Portugal.
Kate comments: “I originally thought that I would need to get a job in Portugal to make the move, which wasn’t ideal, as I already run my own business in London. Then my lawyer suggested the D7 Visa to me. It was such a good fit for my circumstances, it was the obvious choice.”
Understanding which visa is best is something that many of those who attend the Moving to Portugal Show and Seminars are keen to discover. At the April 2025 Moving to Portugal Show in London, residency visas topped the list of information types that attendees were seeking, with 57% of those present keen to know more.
“Portugal has multiple residency visas,” explains the event’s organiser, Christina Hippisley, who is the General Manager of the Portuguese Chamber of Commerce in the UK. “Understanding the differences between them is a fundamental aspect of exploring a new life in Portugal. Our shows exist to help provide such information.”
For Kate, who began planning her move at the end of August 2024, things escalated surprisingly fast. She explains: “The speed of the visa process was unexpected. I put in my application at the start of September 2024, and it was approved by the end of October. Finding somewhere to live was also very quick and easy. I put a post in a Facebook group, asking about rental accommodation in Ericeira. Within 24 hours, I had found a property that was perfect for me.”
Kate is now feeling settled in Portugal, loving living right by the ocean and enjoying the outdoors lifestyle.
“I surf in the sea every day and go running along the cliffs. It’s a big lifestyle contrast to London. And when I do feel the need for some city time, having Lisbon so close to home more than ticks that box.”
The affordability of life in Portugal is another aspect of her move that has delighted Kate, who finds the cost of living there to be significantly lower than in London.
For others considering moving from the UK to Portugal, Kate recommends finding a bilingual lawyer – someone recommended by those who have already made the move. She also recommends taking said lawyer along to the AIMA interview that is part of the visa/residency application process.
Attending a Moving to Portugal Show is also hugely helpful when it comes to obtaining key information and making connections with visa, tax, relocation and other specialists. The next event takes place in London on October 16, 2025.
Tickets are free and can be booked online in advance at: https://London-MTP-2025.eventbrite.co.uk
For more information, please contact the Portuguese Chamber of Commerce in the UK:
www.portuguese-chamber.org.uk | www.movingtoportugal.org.uk | Tel 00 44 7463 689666.
