New members of the Portugal forum, introduce yourselves here - 2018

Hi my name is Dan. My wife Dee and I are young retirees currently travelling the US in our Motorhome. We have been looking for somewhere to retire to, and after researching different countries we have decided on Portugal. We think that we would like to rent a flat in Lisbon at first. That would give us time to seach for the right city to call home. We would love any information on banking options or any pros and cons to know about Portugal.

Hello everyone and welcome on board.

Thank you all for your introduction. Feel free to create your own thread on the Portugal forum with each of your questions so that you may get some feedback.

All the best,
Bhavna

Assalamalaikum afzal bhai
Myself Mohammed Shezaan from bangalore india.
Actually iam coming to portugal in few weeks bhai can you please help me get any job.
***

Good day to you all,  just joined this as my lovely wife and I will be moving in October 2019 to Portugal for "retirement".  I am a retired Navy Veteran who still works in Seattle Washington and am ready to rid ourselves of the rat race and settle down to a more relaxed life style to enjoy each other and our new found freedom(s).

Hope to interact with you all...

Lance

Hi Lance and spouse,

Coimbra is a wonderful city and central Portugal in general is a nice place to call home.  We've been here for over a year and have Portuguese and expat friends but one thing I'd suggest is to learn Portuguese before you come here, don't expect to live confortably here without an operational knowledge of the language. 
It's not all gold... and don't believe everything that you read about living here, it can be very wet (lots of rain) and rather chilly in winter (check the most reliable site in the country IPMA.PT), on average houses are not properly heated, and you get used to seeing people at work wearing boots and a coat.  Food can be good although not very varied, prices are increasing (electricity bill, some consumer goods and gasoline in particular). 

Come and stay here for a few months if you can before making a decision.   
Feel free to ask.
Have a good weekend

Hi everyone! I am New York born and bred. I am new to the site. I joined at the recommendation of a friend. I am looking to move to Portugal within the next year. I've been there many times before so I am pretty familiar with the country. I am trying to secure employment before I move but i'm finding that most companies wont even entertain the idea because of my current address. Anyone have any tips? I am fluent in English and Portuguese so the language wont be a problem. If anyone has any insights it would be greatly appreciated.

Hi there,

here are some news from the magazine "Visao", Dec 18, 2018: "Portugal teve um saldo migratório positivo em 2017, pela primeira vez em sete anos, com mais de 36 mil imigrantes a ultrapassarem as quase 32 mil pessoas que deixaram o país, revelou esta terça-feira o Observatório das Migrações".
This means that the net migration rate last year was positive by 4,000 people, that is 32,000 people moved abroad, and 36,000 people moved to Portugal, mostly pensioners who moved in as Non Habitual Residents, spending at least 6 months and 1 day in the Country.  And where did they go? "A população estrangeira residente não se distribui de forma equilibrada pelo país", concentrando-se, sobretudo, nas zonas urbanas do litoral, com maior impacto nos municípios do Algarve".  Most of them moved along the coast or to the Algarve, looking for a place in the sun and contributing to a real estate bubble there.

I'd say that Portugal is a fantastic place... for retiring, or if you have some solid income from abroad and wish to invest here your money; on the other hand, if you're young and well educated you might consider looking for a job abroad (thus joining the other 32,000 people). 
In fact, when it comes to work, the imigrants who are not pensioners, fill lower-level positions and get lower salaries, "Na dimensão trabalho, os estrangeiros, por comparação com os cidadãos nacionais, estão mais representados nos grupos profissionais de base e globalmente têm remunerações médias mais baixas, sendo que a sua inserção no mercado de trabalho "continua a não refletir necessariamente as suas qualificações".
Latest news: "Rendas, portagens e transportes mais caros a partir de janeiro. Estas são as mudanças de preços previstas para 2019": rents, motorway tolls, public transport, telecommunications, sales tax on vehicles and annual tax on vehicles + some consumer goods are due to inclease starting from January 2019.  Electricity bill is going down.  Hopefully.

Hi
I am coming to Portugal in May for a few months with a view to returning for a much longer stay.
I am attending the Swing Dance Festival in Lisbon in June 2019.
I am having a "mature age gap year" (or two) and want to explore different parts of the world.
Hoping to buy a bike in Portugal and do some scenic cycling.
Love live music, especially jazz.
Also love boating and sailing.
I don't speak any Portugese (only English).

Hope Portugal will be friendly and safe as I will be mainly travelling on my own.
Gaynor

Hi
I am coming to Portugal in May for a few months with a view to returning for a much longer stay.
I am attending the Swing Dance Festival in Lisbon in June 2019.
I am having a "mature age gap year" (or two) and want to explore different parts of the world.
Hoping to buy a bike in Portugal and do some scenic cycling.
Love live music, especially jazz.
Also love boating and sailing.
I don't speak any Portugese (only English).

Hope Portugal will be friendly and safe as I will be mainly travelling on my own.
Gaynor

Good morning all
Planning a move by the end of the year to Albufeira , Would appreciate any tips or suggestions to help settle in
Thanks
D

Hi and Happy New Year to you all!

I have recently purchased a small house near Caldas da Rainha and will be looking to carry out some small renovation and building work on it. Does anyone know of any competent and trustworthy contractors in the area that they have used in the past? My Portuguese is practically none existant.

Thanks,

Michael

Hi Dan,

My husband and I moved from Washington DC to Lisbon last month. I don't speak Portuguese yet. We hired a lawyer called  Sergio Catarino, [email protected] helped me with banks, fiscal ID, utilities, etc... His fee is very reasonable, unlike in US. Sergio is my good friend's family friend.

Thanks,

Sue Bowman

Hi Sue:

Thanks so much for this information. I just heard back from Sergio promptly. I will be arriving in Coimbra next Tuesday in order to find an apartment and get all my ducks in a row for moving, hopefully in April if the Visa gods are in a good mood.

All the best...
Michael

michaellloyd55 wrote:

Hi and Happy New Year to you all!

I have recently purchased a small house near Caldas da Rainha and will be looking to carry out some small renovation and building work on it. Does anyone know of any competent and trustworthy contractors in the area that they have used in the past? My Portuguese is practically none existant.

Thanks,

Michael

It's better for you to take a Portuguese speaking person to do the talking for you, otherwise, they will take you for a ride!

Thanks for your advice, I'll take that on board.

Michael

Hi, I'm Sue from Sacramento, California. Ready for a big change and seriously considering a move to Portugal. Interested in learning everything I can about what it's like to live as an expat there.

Hi Sue,

Welcome! We are from DC. We just moved to Lisbon and we are having fun!  Where in Portugal do you plan to move to?

Sue

Hi Sue,

Fact of the matter is, we haven't been to visit Portugal yet, so I really don't know. We're in the exploratory phase and are planning a trip later this year. We love Europe and read that Portugal is one of the best places for expats in Europe. It seems to have everything we're looking for, so... I'm trying to learn as much as I can before we go. Where are you and what's it been like for you?

Sue

I am is a seasoned senior manager who has spent his entire life in international marketing and sales working for major aerospace companies and had major responsibilities in two international joint-ventures:

I was Vice President Marketing and Sales at Saab-Fairchild promoting the turbo-prop regional airline aircraft SF-340.

I was also President and CEO in San Diego for the French-American Joint-ventures “APIC” promoting the Airbus APU developed and produced both by Turbomeca (SAFRAN Group) and Hamilton-Sundstrand.

While positioned in Paris for Garrett-AiResearch (Allied-Signal Group) I attended the French War College (CHEAr).

I hold LLM and LLB degrees from French universities and a master degree in political science from Sorbonne University in Paris. I am a fixed-wing and private helicopter pilot.

Additionally, I am the co-founder of APH, an watchmaking workshop & watches modding company established in downtown Paris. Atelier Parisien d'Horlogerie.
***

My hobby is a terrible disease: I cannot stop collecting and modding watches. It's an addiction. My preference is for no name & no logo bespoke watches.

We came from Mamaroneck (NY) where we spent 10 years. Since I was born in Provence I had that dream to return and live in Alix-en-Provence. It had changed so much that we decided to look for another country. We reviewed many countries and visited some of them. Portugal was number one on our list.

Hi,
I'm Hajnal and I'm seriously looking for a way to move to Portugal soon.
I wanted to move there since I was 12y, it's on my bucket list, having a house with a garden full of orange and lemon trees.
I don't speak Portuguese only English and Hungarian, but finally I'm going to Lisbon next week for a few days and then to Faro for like 2-3 weeks to see the country and try to figure out how can you rent a room and find a job.
I think I'm going to like it sooo much that coming back to Ireland will be a major disappointment.
Would be great to know if there's any hobby photography group either in Lisbon or Faro I can contact, so they can share some tips location wise. This trip will be a photography holiday for me, like a late Christmas present.

Hi Everyone
My husband and I live just north of Atlanta, GA on Lake Lanier.   We are beginning the discussion of where to retire. I could move tomorrow but Alan isn't quite there yet. He's about 70% but needs to feel confident that he can survive without knowing any Portuguese. We visit Portugal for the first time March, 2019 and I hope we decide that this is our future home. We have no kids and love to travel so a home base in a Portugal seems to be the perfect place. I think we are about two years out.

We have two dogs that we will not leave behind and funny thing, one can't fly. Haha so we will have to bring them on the Queen Mary 2.  We will be trying to figure out the visa, residency application process, vet process, banking in PT, renting and buying - so many questions, but time to figure it all out and looking forward to the quest.

We would love to find others, still in the US, that are beginning the process of moving to Portugal. If there is anyone near Atlanta and would like to share  the experience and what each has learned - pls do reach out. I would love some help convincing my hubby to make the move. 😉

Lynn and Alan Rees
[email protected]

Hi Lynn,

Did you mean you guys visited Portugal 2018 not 2019?

My husband and I are in the similar situation like yours except we don't have dogs. We live in Washington DC. We visited Portugal in August 2018 and bought a condo in Lisbon in January 2019 (I convinced my husband to retire in Lisbon). We are in our late 40s. Brent will get a new software programming job that will allow him to work any where around the world. My background is real estate and IT investment.

We both don't speak Portuguese. We don't have any issues to get around. We will take Portuguese language lesson in Lisbon. Portuguese people are very nice.

There are requirements that needed to be done for rental or purchase. We hired a lawyer [email protected] who helped us with everything. He did fiscal numbers (identification number), negotiated the condo price, created sales contract, bank, electronic/water/gas/internet, translation etc... Our experience went smoothly. He saved us $25K on the purchase. The lawyer rate in Portugal is way much cheaper than in the US.

We chose to hire a lawyer because we want less stress. I highly recommend to hire a good lawyer whether rentimg or purchasing. You can negotiate the lawyer fee.

I plan to do a blog on my experience on relocating from DC to Lisbon after we settle in.

Thanks,
Sue

We moved three years ago from Mamaroneck (NY) to Estoril! No regrets, although Portuguese is more difficult to learn than anticipated. But the good thing is that when you try to speak they switch to English, immediately. Erik

Hi, I am a British English teacher from London and have just moved to Lisbon with my girlfriend. I am trying to find work, either teaching privately or in a school for adults. If anyone has an idea on how I can find this please get in touch.

Hi Sue -

Thank you for responding - this is great.  Nope, our very first visit to PT will be in March of this year.  WOW, you guys are definitely "forerunners" in this idea.  I wish we had considered it 15-20 years ago. 

I am 61 in March and work for a virtual IP law firm as a Patent Specialist.  I should be able to work from anywhere but I haven't told my boss yet.  Alan is 54 and an IT guy.  He always thought he would retire at 65 but that would make me 71.  And not that 71 is old in this day and age but I'm not sure I will have the desire to move abroad in 5 or 10 years.  So now is a good time and the fact that I would be able to support us on my salary is huge - no tax at all and a lower cost of living puts my calculations at about 40-50% lower cost of living (since we live in GA, we have an add, 6% state income tax). 

Visited 6 mos. ago and bought a condo this year - CONGRATS!.  Thank you for sharing your experience with an atty.  I do think that would make Alan feel much more comfortable.  I think we are strongly considering somewhere between Lisbon and Porto. 

How soon do you think you will be moving to PT?  What a great adventure.  If you find yourself in Atlanta before the big day, please reach out.  And please feel free to call should you want someone to share the experience with.  (***).  I find some our friends think we are nuts. 

And i would love for Alan to begin to feel like this is truly something that we can do - if you get my drift.  He's a safety kind of guy. 

I look forward to chatting - thanks again Sue.  - Lynn

Hi Lynn

I can say some things about Porto because I live here. I learned to love the city! It's not a very big city, but we have good public transport, good food, beaches, airport. It's very comfortable live here.

I've already lived in Faro, Algarve, and I go every summer spend vacation there, because my husband's family is from there. But in my opinion, for sure Porto is much better because we have things to do the whole year, not just in the summer like in Algarve.

About the fact that you don't speak Portuguese, I can't see problem because you can learn.
I know some foreigners that are here one year and they are going very well with the portuguese

if you don't want to wait for your husband to retire, there are many job opportunities in IT here in Porto.
My husband works at a Business Center called Lionesa, where several companies are located, specially technology companies. Perhaps he could find some job there.

Gabriela

Hi Dan,

My husband (Brent) and I are living in Lisbon.  We came from Washington DC. I hope you and your wife have relocated in Portugal.  Banking system is easy and convenient.

Hello,
My name is Nadia from Morocco. I want some information about moving to Portugal. Actually I don't have a work permit and I want to know some company which I can apply for it for working there.
I hope that you can have an answer for my question.
I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Hello,
I can´t give You information about working in Portugal.
What i have learned in the last two weeks is, that is a big challange to find an apartement ore a house. Foreigners need a local guarantor. Otherways You have to pay 5 to 6 mounth rent in advance and also 2 to 3 times rent security. I recomand, to look for local friends over the expat homepage who can help You in Portugal with the authorities and accomodation. You need time an money untill You find an apartment.

Hi Michaelloyd55

a good way to start looking for builders (English speaking) is also on Facebook, there are several groups of expats sharing this type of practical tips&info, just browse, I'm sure you'll find some around Caldas.

Bom fim de semana,
Pat