The main address for this site is http://expat.silvert.org. All other sites are mirrors and may be out-of-date.

Welcome to Expat - the page for expatriates

This is a personal site maintained by William Silvert. It is intended to be a resource for the expatriate community, primarily in Portugal, but there is material for all of those who find themselves living in countries where they are "foreigners". Furthermore, since I get a lot of queries and messages from people who want to visit Portugal, either as tourists or as prospective residents (potential expats!), I have recently added a section on tourism in Portugal.

If you cannot find the information you want here you are welcome to contact me, but PLEASE look over the site first - most of the answers I have been able to give people in the past are here somewhere. This is especially true if your questions concerns the notorious Portuguese bureaucracy!

Here is some information about the Portuguese language, strictly for newcomers. I'm no expert.

I have a section for relevant news and some useful links to other sites and organisations.

Here is where I put advice sent to me for posting.

While I have included information from various other sources, including both official (e.g., embassies) and unofficial ones (clubs and associations), I am the only one responsible for editorial content and therefore you should always go to the original source before accepting anything as gospel.

In light of the overwhelming impact of the terrorist acts of 11 September 2001, I have established a page dealing with the consequences of terrorism.

Why do I have this site? For 30 years I have lived outside the country of my birth, and I have benefited from the help and advice of other expatriates. This is my contribution.

I welcome information from any expatriate groups or individuals, and will be happy to post information that fits the purpose of this site. That covers almost everything of interest to the expat community - maybe not sex tourism, but if you can provide the material, I will try to post it. Here is more information on how to get your information on my web site.

Lots of people ask about the climate in Portugal, here is data - not always complete or reliable - on selected cities.

There is a page of links to relevant organisations and other resources. So far this page is pretty empty, but as soon as I hear from organisations that want to be listed I will include them, so this page should grow in the near future. Any special notices that I receive from embassies or other official sources will go here. Please note that none of the links on this site are in any sense checked or approved by me.

There is also a list of coming events, some sponsored by Expat organisations, some connected with foreign embassies and consulates, and others are there just for the fun of it!

Other information will be posted as I stumble across it and find the time. Here is information on finding something to read in Portugal (for those who do not read Portuguese).

I have several pages of my own personal advice on such topics as importing electrical appliances, bank cards, and food. All of this material, as well as my letters to the editor on issues that might interest other expats, can be accessed by clicking here. I also have some web logs (blogs) where I post random thoughts on dining in Portugal, with reference to restaurants, wines, and even some recipes. There is also a shared blog at http://expat-pt.blogspot.com/ where I welcome additional contributors so that we can pool our information about Portugal.

Some people have commented that this site is a bit heavy on the (N.) American side, but this does not reflect any attempt on may part to cater especially to Americans. There are basically two reasons for the emphasis:

Many of the problems that expats face are unique to N. Americans. These include electrical appliances (in the US and Canada the power is 110 v, 60 Hz, whereas in Europe and most of the world it is 220 v, 50 Hz), and bureaucratic issues arising from the fact that Portugal expects foreign documents like drivers licenses and birth/marriage/divorce certificates to be national and certifiable by the Embassy for the country of origin, while in N. America these are regulated by the States and Provinces and cannot be certified by the US or Canadian embassies. Lesser issues are also relevant, such as that in N. America most cars have automatic shifts, and the strange US income tax laws.

There is material on the site dealing with terrorism, which has only recently been discovered by the Americans, but is familiar to the rest of the world, and since I am not happy with the way in which the US is conducting its War on Terror, I have a section dealing with that. You don't have to read it.

The point of my writing this message is that I want to make it clear that the expat website is for ALL expats, not just Americans. After all, if I didn't want to help my colleagues from the UK, would I include information on how to import haggis and Marmite?

Here is the Table of Contents for the site.

This site is maintained by William Silvert, to whom all questions, comments and complaints should be addressed. You are also welcome to record your visit on the guestmap.