Why move to Portugal?

Portugal is one of our top three destinations from UPakWeShip in the USA, Canada and even Europe and the UK.

  I figured I would dig a little deeper to find out why.
This is what I discovered as to why people are moving in droves to Portugal right now.

VISAS
Portugal has some great opportunities for residential visas which can lead to permanent residency and even citizenship. Once you are a permanent resident you can move around Europe freely.
One of the common ways to relocate to Portugal is through its “Golden Visa” program when you have to invest in a property in Portugal in order to be granted a visa. The amount you have to invest can vary depending on the area but I believe the investment can start as low as Euros 280,000 or about $342,000.

After about 5 years you should be able to apply for permanent residency or even citizenship. Interestingly your investment needs only to be in place for 5 years and from what I can understand, you actually only need to actually reside in Portugal for a couple of weeks a year. Why anyone would want to buy a house in Portugal, apply for the Golden Visa program and then not live there is beyond me but there you go.
Another visa alternative for the digital nomads among us, if you are thinking about working remotely in Portugal, is the freelance / entrepreneur visa. Initially valid for a year it is possible to renew it numerous times and eventually reach the point where you can apply for citizenship. You will have to prove you are self-sufficient and earn enough money overseas to support yourself in Portugal.

THE WEATHER

  We ship most people’s household goods to the Algarve region of Portugal. I mean if you are going to live in Portugal you might as well reside in the sunniest area obviously, plus you have all those beautiful sandy beaches to discover. Highs in the summer in the Algarve region average 75 degrees and in the winter 60 degrees during the day although it can get a little nippy and night time in the winter but definitely no snow! Check out the world weather guide for more info

HEALTH INSURANCE
All permanent residents in Portugal qualify to use the public healthcare system. Private health insurance is also available to cover things not covered in the public system and shouldn’t cost more than $50 per month.
HOUSING
You can get a long term rental for less than $800 per month for a nice Condo or starting at about $2500 per month you can rent a lovely 3-4 bedroom villa with a pool.

INTERNATIONAL MOVING SERVICES
UPakWeShip’s most popular service is the U Crate 100. We ship hundreds of these U Crates overseas every month. This is the safest way to move your personal bits and pieces to Portugal. The all-inclusive door to door price from Florida to Portugal is currently $2324 for one and $3598 for two of them. ( International Moving Rates are all online, just enter the State in the USA and Portugal for the destination to see all pricing options) We ship them all across to our UPakWeShip EU office in Rotterdam Netherlands and then truck them down to Portugal. Customs Clearance is simple and straight forward. Alternatively many people choose a self-load 20 foot shipping container to ship all their personal items and furniture. This gets shipped into Lisbon and then trucked to your residence. Pricing on this route varies a lot depending where you are shipping from but budget at least $4000 on this route and customs is a little more complicated entering Portugal directly. You can get a custom quote door to door by completing the quote form here

Oh and the food…….. so yummy!

Fresh sardines served at a little restaurant on the beach while watching the sun set is amazing!

Egg tart, traditional Portuguese dessert, pastel de nata.