Want to move to Portugal - any advice?

[NatashaP]

Hi! My husband and I currently rent in the UK and have two young children. We dont have much in the way of qualifications although I have years of customer service experience and my husband has worked in project management for the last couple of years. He is also studying CCNA which, hopefully, he will have completed successfully this september. He happens to be portuguese too so is obviously fluent in both portuguese and english, I on the other hand am taking portuguese lessons as my knowledge of the language is very basic.

Our children do not yet attend school (3 year old and a 6 month old) but they would need to be able to have access to a good education system - either an english speaking school or portuguese - and my daughter, who has just had a cleft palate repaired, has speech problems so we'd need very good speech therapists/healthcare professionals to help her.

Basically, in a nutshell, are we likely to get on well living in portugal, just as well as we do here (ie, just getting by lol!!)? And where is the best place to try? My husband comes from Madeira and came over to the UK when he was a teenager so he's not too clued up on the economy/education and healthcare systems etc over there. Any help or advice would be very much appreciated.

[Bevdeforges]

Hi, and welcome to the forum.

One good place to start for information about countries within the EU is the Europa/Eures website EUROPA - EURES - Living and working conditions

If you play around a bit with the selection options, you can find considerable information about the school systems and other factors of living in the country and (in some cases) a summary of the job market in each region.
Cheers,
Bev

[seo]

Hi. Portugal is a great place to live for you and your family. Be aware that life is a lot slower here and that it is difficult to find work that pays above the "getting by level". Apart from this, it is all good!

[guitaristinthesun27]

Hi NatashaP

I have been living in the Algarve for around 10 months now. I came here with a professional qualification in Technical Building Studies and one in Mechanical Engineering. Without wanting to biase your opinion, I have found it VERY difficult over here. Firstly, my qualifications (which I studied for 4 long hard years in the UK) dont really mean anything here unless you get your qualification certificates translated to a Portuguese equivalent at a cost of around 70€ PER CERTIFICATE. As you can imagine, if your qualification involves multiple certificates, this can be a very costly experience.

As the previous reply by SEO mentioned, it is very difficult to find work out here, moreso if you speak very little of the language. I had luck in finding an "ok" (huh!) paid job at one of the many rent-a-car companies near Faro airport (I use ok in quotes as I was only earning 500€ per month which, considering the hours I was working, worked out to be less than 3€ per hour.) Also, the company I was working for was only willing to employ me on a "green receipts" basis which is used for self employed people which means after I have earned over a certain amount, I am responsible for paying my own taxes and they can simply "get rid" of you for any reason without you having a leg to fall back on. If you consider this with the current beurocratical situation of getting almost ANYTHING done here, as you can image, it is a very confusing and worrying situation to be in.

Sure there are almost always opportunities open in the run up to the summer season (around march or april) but as most employers only employ on a 6-monthly contractual basis, most people (including the Portuguese) find themselves without work when the holiday season has died down and things are quieter.

Having said all this, Portugal, especially the Algarve I think, is a beautiful place. The beaches are fantastic, the region boast sunsihine nearly all years round, the food is superb and cost of living is relatively cheap.

I dont mean to smudge your perception and dreams of moving out here, but please do you homework before you come here, make sure you have a job to come to and somewhere to live!

[oddball]

Originally Posted by seo

Hi. Portugal is a great place to live for you and your family. Be aware that life is a lot slower here and that it is difficult to find work that pays above the "getting by level". Apart from this, it is all good!

Consider this your first red flag , all cannot be well if you find yourself on the 'Getting by ' level , 2 jobs any-one ? Good-bye a good family life , okay if it suits your life-style , red flag number two . Apart from this , it is all good ? That relates to me is what is left of family life . Colin .

[JayC]

Hi NatashaP,

I moved to central Portugal when my children were 11 and 12 so I can't offer much advice on primary education although there seem to be child-carers, kindergarden's etc. My most important advice is to do lots of research and visit as many different parts of Portugal to see which area suits you and your family best. Unemployment is high in this part of Portugal too although there seems to be plenty of construction going on so as your husband is Portuguese there might be job opportunities for him but the minimum wage is pretty poor (approx 450 euros per month).

A lot of people are renting before they buy so that might be an option for you. As your children won't be in permanent schooling for a few years yet at least you have the freedom to travel around.

Can't help on the speech therapy question I'm afraid.

Good Luck,

JayC

[Bainisteoir]

Hello, I have lived here for a few years in the Algarve with my partner. Portuguese or lack of it should not be a problem as most people do speak English, (it is good to learn though in the long run). The loule, Almancil area is only 15 mins from the airport...you will be doing ariport runs if you have family! There is good shopping near here, Faro and a good choice of restaurants, bars etc. Albufeira is more commercial and tends to be quiter in the winter. There is an excellent international school in Almancil also and medical facities are good around here. Property prices are slightly more expensive than the rest of the Algarve but that is because it is a nice place to live. Getting work here should be easy enough as the is a lot of work linked with property, hotel and leisure. You wont earn as much as in the uk but you wont need to. There are also many opportunities if you want to set up your own business. A lot of things you have in the Uk have not got here yet. On another plus note the sporting facilities and the beaches are the best in the Algarve too. I love living here after 3 years in Surrey and London it is paradise...no M25, speed cameras, council tax etc. Hope that helps...its a great place to live!

[Mamacats]

We are from America and love Portugal!
Been here 15 years with our son arriving at the tender age of 5,
he is happy with a good job in the computer bussiness and my hubby works in the automobile field.

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