
Portugal has for some time now, been one of Europe’s most available options with regards to looking for residency, because of a few visa programs proposed to foreigners who are non-EU residents (and furthermore not from the European Economic Area, called the EEA, and Switzerland). And with a new temporary-stay visa geared toward digital nomads, remote workers are more welcome in the country than ever.
Some Americans who’ve made the move say they’re looking for additional reasonable medical care and a haven from weapon brutality notwithstanding the lifestyle advantages of the southern European nation, including a more slow speed, gentle climate and enticing travel options all through Europe.
Well, if you’re dreaming of packing up your life (or putting their house on the market, along with everything inside it) for sunnier shores, then streaming off to reside in Portugal might be more agreeable.
About couple of people have passed on the U.S to own new homes outside the riverfront city of Coimbra in Central Portugal. As a matter of fact, several Americans moved in here because of a massacre that happened in 2012 in the US. But it was an intense one to take the action.
They applied for Portugal’s D7 visa together, and It’s a visa option popular with retirees since passive income sources can be used to meet the required earnings — 705 euros per month (about $705) for first adult applicants plus lesser amounts for additional family members.
Applicants can also benefit from a similar medical care benefits as Portuguese inhabitants and residents through the country’s National Health Service.
The D7 visa, which should be changed over completely to a residency application in no less than four months after it’s given and whenever you’ve shown up in Portugal, requires holders burn through 16 months out of the first two years in Portugal, for some conditions. This now paves the way to working in the country.
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They can also apply for Portuguese citizenship after five years. The D7 visa application process usually takes roughly six months.
Grace Veach and her family moved to the village of Sao Martinho de Árvore outside of Coimbra. The D7 is just one of just several visa options that can facilitate a move to Portugal right now.
Since launching in 2012, Portugal’s investment visa program, the Golden Visa, has offered a pathway to Portuguese residency through investments in the country that can be acquired through unrestricted real estate purchases of more than 500,000 euros (about $500,000), among other investment options.
For people who don’t actually want to spend a lot of time in Portugal, the Golden Visa only requires holders spend seven to 14 days of the year residing in Portugal while also offering them access to the National Health Service benefits and a path to citizenship after five years.
However, But restrictions that came into effect into 2022 limited the locations in Portugal where property investments can be made, making the prospect less appealing for some.
And Portugal’s latest temporary-stay visa, which launched on October 30 and is also being called the “digital nomad” visa, is making it easier for remote workers to relocate on a temporary basis to Portugal.
It grants them the right to stay for one year/12 months as long as they can prove earnings of at least 2,820 euros (roughly the same amount in dollars right now) per month working for a company outside Portugal.
“There is great excitement around this visa in the nomad community,” says Danish Soomro, founder of Visadb, a visa database that indexes more than 800 residency visas around the world.
Also the founder of a private digital nomad community on Facebook with more than 155,000 members, Soomro says Portugal is one of the most popular countries for remote workers (along with places like Greece, Spain, Croatia and Cyprus) thanks to factors that include “warm weather, good internet connection, and community.”
“Before, other Portugal visas were used as a workaround by digital nomads,” he says, as the D7 visa was primarily targeted to pensioners with passive income sources.
The D7 also requires applicants to register for a Portuguese tax identification number, while the digital nomad visa does not.
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Holders of the digital nomad visa, however, cannot benefit from Portugal’s healthcare system and must show they have their own insurance as part of the application process. The visa does not offer a pathway to Portuguese citizenship on its own, either.
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You can use your retirement savings, pensions and social security to meet the visa’s minimum income requirements.
Some international tourists moved to Portugal on the D7 visa in 2018 with their families ,and now they had reached a point where they had adequate means to retire, but not being old enough to qualify for Medicare. But they say they couldn’t afford health insurance.
While it’s entirely possible to apply for visas on your own, navigating the paperwork and bureaucracy in Portugal can be eased with the help of a visa application service.
Brazilians account for most of the migration to Portugal, by far. According to the country’s 2021 immigration report, Americans represented just 6,885 people among Portugal’s 698,887 official immigrant arrivals that year. By comparison, 204,694 Brazilians immigrated and 22,782 Chinese.
As per some immigrants, they love the feeling of safety in Portugal and being away from the “toxic political climate in the US” as well as having the opportunity to travel so much around Europe in her free time.