Why I’m building Touchdown

Why I’m building Touchdown

For better or worse, on the 23rd of June 2016, the people of the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union. A historic decision, but one that very few people (on both sides) truly understood the effects of. 

One of the impacts immediately felt was, to move anywhere in Europe for more than three months, you would now need a Visa. Gone were the days when we could book a cheap flight, land in any union member state, and integrate legally and fiscally with a few simple forms.

Portugal’s solution to this was simple: the Digital Nomad Visa. If you earn more than 3,400 Euros per month, you’ll get expedited approval to move to Portugal. Not only did they have easy visa options (at least on paper), but Portugal also has one of the most competitive tax landscapes in Europe. 

You could also apply for something called the Non Habitual Residency scheme, or the “NHR” as the local technocrats called it. A very lucrative scheme indeed it was: pay no tax on income outside of Portugal for 10 years. Coupling this with Portugal’s general philosophy of not taxing crypto holdings, it quickly became a no-brainer for young and mobile entrepreneurs, crypto bros, tech workers, retirees, and everyone in between.

In January 2022, I decided to move to Lisbon. For many of the reasons above, but also so much more: Portugal has over 300 days of sunshine per year, has a rapidly growing tech scene and breathtaking nature. As a Product Manager working in the crypto space, this was a no-brainer. I took the plunge and booked a flight from London to Lisbon. 

But the problems came in thick and fast

Once I had moved, reality had set in a little too hard. As required for the Visa Application, I had rented an apartment with two co-workers during my time at MoonPay in Saldanha. A smart, relatively central neighbourhood in Lisbon bordering Parque Eduardo. I remember arriving in my unfurnished apartment to quickly find that the building was, in fact, new as promised. So new that the municipal water company in Lisbon: EPAL, had not even hooked up a water connection. 

I spent the next week trying to communicate with their customer service team in English, which in retrospect was a futile attempt at best. I ended up asking a Portuguese friend to help me set this up, and spent the rest of the week without water.  You can imagine that there was a similar story with electricity and the internet connection.

This was just the beginning of some of the hurdles I had to handle. Whilst I had started to make a habit of late dinners and weekly trips to the beach, my Visa application was progressing incredibly slowly. The agency I had chosen to work with hadn’t booked the appointments I needed for my Visa. 

Visa bureaucracy and structuring tax

To go through any Visa application in Portugal, you need to apply from your home country. For me, this was the UK, and I had a pre-qualification appointment to attend there. After that, there was another appointment at the Portuguese Consulate. And finally, they give you a temporary four-month visa, which lets you stay until you get your residency appointment in Portugal. These are generally randomly allocated, and you’ll be at the mercy of whatever dated system is in play to assign these (or maybe it’s a human, I’m still not sure). 

Anyway, I think you get the idea. I didn’t have any clarity on when or why I had to go to these appointments, whether they were even booked, or how long they might take. This was on top of the insurmountable amount of paperwork I had to prepare to prove that I fit the bill to  live in Portugal. 

This fiasco dragged on for over a year. The problem was a combination of the efficiency of the appointment bookings, the workload the relocation agency I was working with had, and the size of the immigration backlog that Portugal has and continues to have (over 500,000 people were waiting for Visas, last time we checked back in early 2024).

Finally, there was the tax planning. I received conflicting advice from different lawyers and specialists who all had their own interpretation of how things should be done. Coupling this with coordinating an exit from your home country, it’s no surprise that I ended up being double-taxed on my income for almost half a year. Basic things like updating my Fiscal Number address (think taxpayer ID) and filling certain forms hadn’t been done.

Overall, the process was far from smooth, but we got there in the end. Considering I had the flexibility to go to Portugal and the budget to hire an agency, the administrative side of the move was far from ideal. I wouldn’t wish the experience on anyone, and I think it can be done a lot better.

There must be a better way, right? 

I think the best problems we can solve are those we see for ourselves in our daily lives. Portugal is an exceptionally beautiful country with fantastic people, a strong regulatory framework, and pristine weather. Every year I’m here, I see more and more talented, hard-working, and creative people lay down their roots. 

This experience is why I’m building Touchdown - to ensure that nobody looking to make the move has to go through what I did, and to change how relocation to the Iberian Peninsula is done.

Introducing Touchdown

Touchdown is the platform I wish I’d had when I moved to Portugal. It brings together everything you need to relocate and build a life here - visas, tax, banking, and legal support - all in one place. 

By combining real human expertise with smart technology, our platform automates many of the most complex aspects of relocation, particularly those related to tax and business. This includes company formation, accounting and expense management, automatic enrolment as a self-employed freelancer, personal tax filing, and applications for incentive schemes like NHR 2.0. These automated processes sit alongside visa applications, banking support, and ongoing guidance for life after arrival. 

We’re constantly improving and looking for ways to evolve what we’re offering, but as of today you can access the following features: 

• Eligibility Checker: the only provider to offer a free Eligibility Checker, meaning that from a few simple questions, users can get a snapshot of their move and all the tax benefits in a matter of minutes. 

• Banking & Business Setup (and Freelancing): Help opening local accounts, structuring businesses, and complying with Portuguese regulations, including becoming a freelancer.

• Tax Structuring: Personalised advice on how to benefit from Portugal’s Non-Habitual Residency (NHR) regime and other local incentives.

• Visas and Residency: Legal guidance and application support for Portugal’s most popular visas - D7, Digital Nomad, and Golden Visa - led by expert immigration lawyers.

• Life After You Land: Going beyond arrival, offering ongoing guidance on local networks and maintaining tax compliance after you land.

Each journey is unique, but the goal is always the same: to help you secure residency, structure your taxes with clarity, and thrive in one of the most beautiful, forward-thinking countries in Europe. 

So, whether you’re a freelancer looking for flexibility, a family seeking a new start, or an entrepreneur building across borders, book a free introduction call with our team to see how we can help.