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In retrospect, would you move again to Portugal?

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Christine

Hi all,

If you had to look back on your expat experience in Portugal, would you heartily say "let’s do it again"?

From the preparation stage to your actual everyday life in your new country, what did you enjoy the most?

Would you do certain things differently? Could you tell us why?

How would you describe the benefits of your expatriation in Portugal so far?

Thank you in advance for sharing your experience. We look forward to hearing from you!

Christine

See also

Living in Portugal: the expat guideTravel while waiting for new residence cardNew members of the Portugal forum, introduce yourselves here - 2025Exploring Portugal as American ExpatsRental proof for SEF appointment
MrKev79

Moving to Portugal has been, without a doubt, the best decision I ever made. Even better than the decision to leave the UK in the first place.

I definitely could have made the process easier for myself, had I anticipated how extraordinarily bloody cold and unpleasant the weather (esp at night!) is here.

I also wish I'd made a more concerted effort to get to know the language before arriving because, while you can do absolutely everything you need to do in English here, with no trouble, particularly in Lisbon, the language is TOUGH and is a huge barrier to actually making friends, as well as doing stuff in the countryside, which is one of the real beauties of being here.

But totally overwhelmingly, I am in love with this place, the language, the people, the sights, the food, the music, the sounds, everything. This is home.

carol-ann211

I love it here although I have not been able to make too friends mostly due to taking I'll in the 1st few years and spending 3years in and out of hospital and being in a coma, I found that although I was in hospital for long periods helped with the language when I was in the rehabilitation hospitals I mixed more with people and made to talk On the whole people are very friendly and want to talk. However I think it must also have something to do with where you live.

Dan Plute

We are new arrivals in Portugal.  We arrived on 3 October 2019.  We travelled to Portugal for the prior five (5) years and felt comfortable with the environment.  I had an EU passport (Ireland) , so the process of getting a resident and EU Union temporary resident certificate was easy as was the process of getting a public health certificate.   One issue is the slow or no response from Portugese companies and residents.  We have no regrets moving here.

Qay

Can one move in with family from Africa?

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