Your First Weeks in Portugal: Staying Reachable Before You Get a Local Number

Moving to a new country to start a fresh start (whether that be in the buzzing city of Lisbon, the coastline areas of Cascais, or the port city of Porto) is an exciting time. However, in the first few weeks, there is a huge amount to do. Almost everything that you do in the first few weeks involves sharing or providing phone numbers to people such as:

1. Real estate agents that set up get-to-the-door appointments;
2. furniture delivery staff that need to know when you'll be available;
3. internet installers wanting to know someone will be at home;
4. local government website with appointments info.

Having to provide your main address phone number will quickly get you into an expensive situation with lots of interruptions. With a flexible telecommunication solution like Get Temp Number, you can ensure that your arrival goes smoothly by having a special communication solution on your current device. It ensures that you are always reachable whilst keeping your home number private.

Communication Needs in Portugal

Before you have become a permanent resident in another country or opened a bank account, you will need to communicate with lots of local businesses. The first 14 days will involve:

1. Estate agents and property managers in popular expat areas sending you SMS messages or calling you to tell you when apartments are available to view.
2. Furniture and home delivery. It takes time to organise the delivery window with each store in the region, and the numerous delivery windows they will send you via SMS to the driver.
3. Internet providers, electricians and water companies will need to have the correct contact line to ensure that the technician is there.
4. Communication is a must during the transition of your apartment whilst you are on temporary accommodation/travel bookings.

You will likely get call drop issues, the SMS message will not be properly formatted, or you'll get charged for it on your monthly bill if you use your international number.

Solving the Telecommunication Issue

To get a local plastic SIM card, a Portuguese mobile provider will ask for a local ID, your NIF, or a local bank account. New arrivals will take longer to get these things sorted if they have just arrived from a plane. Using software-defined virtual numbers, you can easily bridge the gap:

1. Quick setup. Ensure you have a contactable number in place straight away without waiting in store queues or waiting for the hardware to be registered.
2. Keep real estate separate. Keep your real estate questions separate from your personal messages.
3. Affordable local contact. Delivery vans or utility workers can contact you without paying international roaming charges from your home provider.
4. Feel independent. You can manage your Portuguese communications from your current smartphone without needing extra SIMs or second phones.

When moving to a new country, you realise that providing your phone number on lots of forms (rentals, public boards, business inquiries, etc.) will mean it gets added to secondary vendors' databases. Once you've finally found somewhere to live and your walk has started to get going, it can get annoying receiving marketing SMS messages from different real estate companies or your previous delivery service.

Having a secondary virtual number to get you to your location will keep your transition communications in check. Once your first move has been done and your permanent local setup is done, your main personal number will be clear and private.

Ideally, when moving to Portugal, you want to get to know your new area, try the local food, and enjoy the relaxed lifestyle. However, before you even think about looking at apartments or setting up utilities, you will have organised everything. By adding special virtual lines to your move checklist, you can ensure that your move is smooth and relaxing. You can feel completely comfortable in your new house in Portugal.