AaronTravel

oh really! Well yes the call centre work would be something that in an ideal world I wouldn’t want to do! But it might be a worthwhile opportunity to explore as a short term option, so I could earn money for the first few months while I settle in there, and continue to look for other work during

I have heard Portuguese isn’t the easiest 😅 I did quite a bit of German at school and I know exactly what you mean!

Thanks again!

AaronTravel

Ah right ok! I’ll definitely check that area out

I’ll get on the furniture vocab straight away 😂

AaronTravel

Hi qianh,

Ok great, I’ll take a look at that, sounds good thank you

Yeah the plan is to try to get back out there next month for a week to get more info
I imagine trying to gain residence after Brexit on the 31st would be extremely difficult

thank you!

Red Eric

Sounds like a bargain, given that a very big chunk of the available accommodation near the centre is dedicated to accommodating tourists. You can check out the nightly rates on all the customary sites.

However, from your point of view what would matter would be how much extra you could earn above that to cover the rest of your costs. A lot of the work that might be readily available to anybody - let alone a non-Portuguese speaker - would be at or around the minimum wage mark. That currently stands at 635€ per month, out of which you'd pay Social Security contributions.

Unless you really fall on your feet in more ways than one, living and working in central Lisbon might be something of a pipe dream. I knew people who did, some years ago, but it was always a struggle for them and the wage / accommodation cost ratio certainly hasn't got any better since then due to the skewing effect of a huge increase in tourism.

AaronTravel

Hi Red Eric,

Does seem very cheap, also found a lot Of one bed apartment’s around the Cais do Sodré area currently for around 700euro per month.

The more research I do, the more unlikely it seems I could make this a reality. It’s amazing that people get by on the minimum wage there, and like you said I’d need another source of income by the sounds of things.

I’ll keep plugging away and no matter how unlikely it appears, a job may come up that works. I assume most expats go the Digital Nomad route

Thanks for the info! ✌️

Moses2013

Most people who manage are either couples with two incomes or they inherited a place and might be mortgage free. Otherwise it's just trying to survive on minimum wage. Of course this is a big problem in all cities across Europe but cities like Lisbon and Barcelona are extremely difficult due to low wages and the so called sunshine tax. They know young people will work for nothing and agencies sell you the dream of life in the sun. Sometimes you are better off working in a smaller sized Northern European country for 6 months and that money will allow you to spend the other 6 months in Portugal.

AaronTravel

Yeah that makes sense

That’s actually not a bad idea at all, problem is I’m so set on living in Lisbon for at least a year! Easy for emotions to cloud my judgement I guess.
Without speaking fluent Portuguese it seems too difficult to make a reality at this moment

qianh

It may be a problem after this year if you only have British passport tho

Moses2013

Well nobody knows and luckily it doesn't affect me personally but even now people from Non EU countries work in the EU. Especially in hospitality, countries like Germany, Netherlands struggle to find staff and it's not that hard to get a visum. We'll only know after Brexit but with Covid, Migrant Crisis in Moria etc. Brexit seems to be the last thing on the list.

Red Eric

Just as an aside to this, whilst it's certainly very commonplace (has become much more so of recent years) to encounter obviously non-EU nationals at work here in Portugal, I was quite surprised by estimates floating around at the time of a recent law change, of something in the region of 40,000 people working here without proper authorisation. That number would, of course, be exclusively non EU nationals and in addition to any who have the correct documents or those who have rights by descent or marriage.

Moses2013

Sorry a bit off topic but in Germany for example they have 40.000 + Senior Care jobs that can't be filled and it's one of the reasons Germany is quite open to take refugees and making things easier for anyone wanting to do this kind of work. With an ageing population it will probably only get easier for non-EU citizens (depending what job sectors).

scot47

With no abilities in spoken or written Portuguese and after 31.12.20 as a non-EU citizen, it will be difficult.

AaronTravel

Sounds as if I’m pretty up against it, but just thought I’d put the idea out there, appreciate all the responses so far

dmu

I don't know how it works in Portugal, but in France, landlords want proof that your regular monthly income is at least 3 times the rent, and one Minimum-Wage job wouldn't be sufficient. Savings in the bank are disregarded, as they can be spent from one day to the next.
Sorry to add to the gloom, but fore-warned is fore-armed....

Red Eric

Yes, I suppose that's one possibility on the general stage, too.

Another is that jobs not wanted for one reason or another by authorised residents continue to be filled by undocumented workers, living a precarious existence and trapped in terms of being able to do anything about it until such time as the government of their country of residence grants an amnesty (if it ever does), as opposed to turning a blind eye despite knowing full well how exploitation is filling the shortages.