The best place to live in Portugal with family
I moved with my family to Portugal from Turkey two years ago. It wasn’t easy at all to take this decision, but we wanted to escape the political crisis that was making our country no longer safe for our children and my wife. We had heard that living in Portugal is the right choice for a family, is safe, studying here is not so expensive, and there is a strong community for expats. I didn’t think about all doubts I had in my mind at that moment, I just decided to jump on this adventure.
How to Move to Portugal for Non-EU Citizens
Finding a way to move to Portugal for non-EU citizens is really complicated. I found that obtaining a Golden Visa is the fastest way to get a residency permit.
I thought it was perfect for us, but I discovered that in order to have it, you have to invest an amount of money that we didn’t have at that time. There were other ways for us to legally stay in the country, such as creating a start-up or a business, studying, or working in the country, but the procedures seemed long, and I did not understand if we could register at university or how we could find work.
What Are Highly Qualified Professionals Work in Portugal?
I was giving up when I found a post on the expat Facebook community about a professional consulting agency based in Cascais with many positive reviews in the comments. Many people had the same problem and doubts as me, and they found their solution with MoveToCascais.
I decided to contact them and thanks to a specialist consultancy we found out the answer to our problems. I discovered that my job, I am an engineer, is recognized as a highly qualified professional work, and because of that, I can ask for a special Visa that allows me and my family to enter Portugal for work purposes and to establish there.
I needed to present a promise of work or a signed contract with national companies in order to ask for it. So after I easily found a job and presented the contract with all other requested documents, MoveToCascais managed our living in Portugal.
Is Better to live in Cascais or in Lisbon With Children?
I had many doubts about where to live in Portugal. Was it better to live in Cascais or in Lisbon? I thought Cascais was just a small fisherman’s village, far away from the urban center like Lisbon, and what characterizes it, such as the choice between different restaurants, the possibility to see many museums, and enjoying the nightlife.
I was worried about the distance from my workplace in Lisbon and Cascais, that I would need a car to go daily, having to struggle with traffic, petrol prices, and especially being away from my wife for any needs.
I had seen very good international schools in both Cascais and Lisbon, so I was most concerned about private life. Would my children have been able to integrate into the community not speaking Portuguese? Would the local community have welcomed us? And if they were sick, would the health insurance have covered us, or would it have drained my bank account?
MoveToCascais helped us once again by answering some of my questions, others were answered once I lived in Cascais.
Cascais Is a Good Place to Live With Family
We decided to live in Cascais because we realized that Lisbon would only give us more nightlife than what we were looking for at the time. In fact, I wouldn’t need a car to go to work because of the excellent transport links between the two cities. I would rather take an hour daily by train that runs along the ocean than spend my days in the traffic of a big city.
My wife had found the solution to the problem of remoteness and also of aggregation. She soon found a job as a language teacher and started to hang out with her local colleagues or expats like herself, with whom she became friends. We were welcomed into the community and created a group of friends ready to help each other in case of need.
The language difference was not an obstacle, my children studied in an international school where several languages were spoken and where they quickly learned Portuguese, for us, it also wasn’t difficult because many in Portugal speak good English. We started online courses for the basics and then improved with time through practice with our friends.
Cascais turned out to be a calm and safe city for a family, and after the first year, we were ready for our first big buy – an apartment.
We were looking for an apartment near Marina and found the perfect one. It was a two-bedroom apartment with a view of the ocean. We loved it!
The process of buying was very smooth. We worked with a real estate agent Viktoria, who helped us find the right place. We also had a lawyer who handled all of the paperwork. We are very happy with our purchase!
And again, thanks to the guys from MoveToCascais that managed to organize all this process.
So, my conclusion is very simple – if you want to move to a safe and welcoming country – Portugal is definitely the choice! And if you want this process to be as easy as possible – get professional help, and the guys from MoveToCascais are certainly the ones who can provide it!
