SonjaNTony

Hello everyone,

Any help or advice that you could give me would be great.

Me, my wife and 5 kids ( yes 5 ), would like to move to Portugal for good - it was initially Australia but after long story of ups and downs we failed on medical terms as my son has a growth condition.

Things I'd like to know are as follows -

Do we need some sort of visa

House prices

employment

schooling

health system

Any help would be widely appreciated by the Ashton family

Cheers

Tony

tinkerbell

Hi Tony,
followed your Australian story, can't offer any advice, but just wanted to wish you luck with your quest to Portugal.

good luck to you all

Traceyxx

Elkie 006

Dear Tony & family,

As Portugal is a member of the EU you have a right to live there, and only need a passport. For most of the basic questions I can recommend you to start with the European Union On-Line website http://www.europa.eu.int/index_en.htm.

You don’t say whether you speak any Portuguese. If you don’t it might be difficult to find employment, but maybe someone else can give you some information on that point.

For realistic house prices I found Remax (Website www.remax-portugal.com) to be the best of all the ones found online (I bought my property through them), but as my research dates back 3 years, there might be others now.

If you are looking for paid employment, you ought to find a job first before searching for property. The majority of jobs seem to be in the big towns and in the Algarve, where property prices are also higher.

I take it you have been to Portugal on holiday? It might be an idea to visit several regions if you can arrange for any job interviews there.

I would like to caution you that the cost of living has increased quite a bit in the last 3 years, while Portuguese salaries tend to be very modest from what I can gather.

I would strongly advise you not to relocate your whole family before you have sorted out and arranged for every single aspect. It would also help if you know someone in Portugal (ideally Portuguese) who can give you some help and support.

Sorry to sound downbeat, but I know of several Brits in my area that couldn’t make a go of it and had to return to the UK, mostly for financial reasons.

If I can help you with any of my own experiences about relocating to Portugal please just ask.

Elkie

SonjaNTony

Many thanks for your reply Elkie,

Unfortunately i don't speak portugPortugueset would definadefinitelymething i would remedy before going - at least the basics anyway.

Also thank you for the websites, i am going to check them out now - it's nice to have someone being realistic for a change so to me you weren't being downbeat. When we tried for Australia everyone said just carry on it'll be ok in the end - so i know to approach anything with caution.

Many thanks again

tony

SonjaNTony

Cheers Tracey,

Good luck on your Oz Relocation

stronghold

hi sonja and tony
message from stronghold
recantly had two holidays in portugal with my five kids one in a rented villa and the other in a bed and breakfast villa in silves which was cheap and great value for money.The owner was english and his potuguese.wages are very low in portugal compared with britain.looking to buy myself.must take your time and dont rush, property and land is becoming hard to find and will proberly be so exspensive in six months time as the eu pull out funding.schools are very good in portugal, lots for the family to do on weekends.if anymore advice is needed please reply .

stronghold :scared:

Poolguy

Tony

When you arive in Portugal there may or may not be opportunities fall into your lap- who can tell.

But I am trying to recrute people in Iberia to join me in the swimming pool industry. Already got some folk interested in Spain and would like to include Portugal and the islands in this push.

Contact me if your interested.

Andrew

pepsimax

Elki

cinderellahair

Hi, just joined the site even though we've been in the algarve for nearly 6 years!!

My daughters were 9 and 11 when we came here, portuguese schooling is great, they are both dyslexic and have been given all the help they need and more so from the system here. Yes there are occasional strikes etc, but its still better, more fun, and you end up with better kids for it!!

Diana xx

cinderellahair

I forgot to add the the health care here can be excellent, depending on where you are. Each area has a centro do saude (health centre) where they may or may not speak english) the hospitals are superb, both portimao (where my father in law was taken after breaking his leg) and faro (where I had my son, and also an operation) We pay €15 euros a month for a clinic which means we can see a doctor 7 days a week, but still have our health service cards (cartão do utente) and go to the health centre for baby vacines, x rays, semi emergencies etc. It just depends where you are planning to locate.

As a british passport holder, you dont need to pay for treatment, there is an agreement between the english and portuguese governments from 1911 which states they will treat each other. So as long as you show your passport, you'll be fine!!

No Visa required as its EU

Diana xx