American Expat Story: Moving To Portugal But Leaving Porto
American expat story: moving to Portugal but leaving Porto? This is the question for Amber, an American expat living in Portugal, newly moved with her family from the Kansas City, Missouri area.
She sat down with Kalie from ExpatsEverywhere and spoke candidly about the entire moving process and why the sudden change.
Going from the United States to live and work in another country is quite a process, after all.
Check out the ExpatsEverywhere video “Why Porto Was the Wrong Fit (Why We Left)” here.
From acquiring a D8 visa, a remote worker visa, which had its challenges, to the ease of Wise money transfers, to paperwork preparedness, cost of living expectations, and choosing the right spot to land, there is a lot to tackle when moving to Portugal, as Amber found out.
Amber’s family fell in love with the northern half of Portugal after visiting, and upon making a decision to move here, they rented a car and traveled to eight cities in northern and central Portugal in two weeks.
A plethora of varied culture, cuisine, and sites greeted them!
Initially, they settled in Porto, which though it is not a big town, Porto is the country’s second biggest city.
Amber loves Porto and with its welcoming residents and the expat community, she felt it best to have a soft landing in the city, while continuing to explore to find a smaller town in Portugal that felt like home.
Amber came to Portugal on a D8 visa, which is accommodating as she continues to work and see clients via Zoom in the mental health industry.
The Portuguese requirements are nuanced, specific, and can seem overwhelming when it comes to paperwork and wait times, but Amber consulted with Kalie and felt, if anything, a little over-prepared at her visa appointment.
This is not a bad thing, especially when speaking to months of bank records.
You can contact Kalie here if you need some advice on the D7 visa or the D8 visa.
One of the requirements is for monies to be moved into a Portuguese bank account, so that living locally, and using Euros, is not an issue.
Amber attests to the ease of use and the reliability of Wise that helps with the necessary ability to transfer funds back and forth quickly online.
Get a fee free first transfer up to $600 USD with this ExpatsEverywhere special link: https://wi.se/expatseverywhere-october.
As you move outside of the bigger cities, rent can be significantly lower, and Amber felt that as a couple having a couple thousand Euro a month budgeted for living, traveling, private health insurance, and entertainment expenses was good.
Being fairly close to the train, Amber feels quite content to not own a car at this point, though she did invest in a scooter to ease the walk to the nearby stop.
And the biggest benefit of central and northern Portugal is always within reach . . . the Pastel de Nata!
Thinking of moving to Portugal?
Kalie is available for one-on-one consultations, or you can bundle a course and a consult.