Portugal is a country located in the southwestern Europe, enjoying a prime location, good climate and an immense natural beauty from sandy beaches and cliffs along the Atlantic Coast to mountains in the country’s inland.
With a lower cost of living than most of Western Europe and a good quality of life, Portugal proves to be well suited for families, modern investors, businesspeople and retirees.
Portugal’s ranked 4th in the 2022 Insider survey, as a country where expats can enjoy quality of life in a sunny and mild weather country, packed with history and culture.
Security levels in Portugal are high when compared with most countries in the World, including Western European countries.
Portugal ranked 5th most peaceful country in the Global Peace Index.
The Global Peace Index, created by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), measures “global peace” using three broad themes: the level of safety and security in society, the extent of domestic and international conflict and the degree of militarization.
POLITICAL CONTEXT
RECENT HISTORY
In the nineteen seventies, Portugal underwent a series of major political, social and economic changes. On 25 April 1974, a military coup overthrew the fascist dictatorship and colonial regime. Today, is a republic based on a parliamentary democracy with a semi-presidential regime.
EXECUTIVE POWER
The Prime Minister is the head of the government and holds the executive power. The current Prime Minister is António Costa.
António Costa, the Socialist Party (PS) leader, has been the prime minister since November 2015.
Far-right populism, surging across Europe, is largely absent in Portugal. The government has the support of the two far-left parties in the Parliament.
The current President of the Republic is Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, elected in January 2021.
LEGISLATIVE POWER
Portuguese legislative power is concentrated in a parliament called the Assembly of the Republic (Assembleia da República).
The Parliament has 230 seats. Its members are elected by universal vote for a 4-year term.
The executive branch of government is dependent on the support of parliament often expressed by a vote of confidence.
The Portuguese parliament is comprised of the following parties:
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The left-wing parties include the Socialist Party (PS), now in government, the Left Bloc (BE); the Portuguese Communist Party (PCP) in coalition with the Green Party, People Animals and Nature Party (PAN) and Livre.
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The main centre right party is the Social Democratic Party (PSD). Other right-wing parties include the Liberal Initiative and Chega, literally “Enough”, which seats further in the far right.
Portugal is a member of the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), EFTA (European Free Trade Association), and the United Nations.
Portugal is committed to European integration and transatlantic relations and member of the European Union, since 1986, and a founding member of the transatlantic defence alliance NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) since 1949.
Portugal has been part of the European Monetary System and the European single currency, the “Euro”, since its creation in 2000.
Portugal joined the Schengen Agreement, which is a European internal security and border control system that allows travelling across its members without any additional visas and no routine immigration checks when travelling to and from another Schengen country, allowing for faster and easier trips.
Other members of the Schengen Agreement include Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Italy, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Malta, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.
Portugal keeps close relationships with the remaining Portuguese-speaking countries and is a founding member of the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (CPLP, Comunidade dos Países de Língua Portuguesa), created in 1996.
CPLP is an intergovernmental organization for cooperation among nations where Portuguese is the official language. CPLP’s current members include Portugal, Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, São Tomé and Príncipe, Timor-Leste and Equatorial Guinea.
Portugal has diplomatic relationships with many countries around the world and historic relations with the United Kingdom, which goes back to 1373 with the establishment of the Anglo-Portuguese alliance, a treaty still in force, China, where the Portuguese arrived in 1513 and were allowed to establish a settlement where is now the city of Macau in 1554 (China regained control of Macau in 1999), and Japan, where Portuguese where the first westerners to arrive in 1543.
The currency in Portugal is the Euro, which is the currency of 20 European countries. The Euro is the second most actively traded currency in the World after the United States dollar.
The currency symbol is “€”. It circulates with seven banknotes and eight different coins: banknotes of 500, 200, 100, 50, 20, 10 and five euros, and coins of two and one euros and 50, 20, 10, five, two, and one cent. Banks are the most accessible places to exchange currencies. Generally, bank exchange commissions are between €3 to €5.
Debit and major credit cards (especially Visa and MasterCard) are widely accepted.
Portugal pioneered establishing a countrywide ATM network, which allows cash withdrawal, money transfers and other services across the country. Even in more remote areas, there will likely be a bank branch with an ATM machine.
The leading banks in Portugal are Caixa Geral de Depósitos, Millenium BCP, BPI, Santander and Novo Banco.
With its roots in the Latin language, Portuguese belongs to a group of languages called "Roman" or "Neo-Latin" that evolved from Latin. Since the fifteenth century Portuguese spread to America, Africa, India and Oceania.
Portuguese is now spoken by about 261 million in Portugal, Brazil, Angola, Mozambique, Guinea, São Tomé e Principe and Timor, making it the sixth most spoken language in the World.
English is spoken widely in Lisbon, Oporto, most of Algarve, and other main tourist destinations.
If you are visiting Portugal, learning just a few simple Portuguese words would surely facilitate your communication in more remote areas and with native Portuguese that are not fluent in English.
Although most Portuguese nationals do not speak Spanish, most people can understand Spanish. French is less spoken in Portugal than it used to be before it was replaced by English as the second language in schools. Still, French is spoken by some people.
FOREIGN NATIONALS’ ENTRY AND PERMANENCE
EU CITIZENS
Citizens of the European Union (EU) countries, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland or Andorra do not require a visa to enter Portugal for short periods of stay, it’s sufficient to hold a valid identification document. British citizens can travel to Portugal for holidays or short trips up to three months without needing a visa, holding only a valid passport which should be valid for the whole time one is in Portugal.
Citizens of EU countries, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland who plan to stay in Portugal for a period exceeding 3 months, should request a registration certificate (certificado de registo) from the municipal council (Câmara Municipal) of the area of residence.
Five consecutive years after holding the registration certificate, their holders may request a permanent residence certificate (certificado de residência permanente) from the Foreigners and Borders Service (Serviço de Estrangeiros e Fronteiras).
Citizens of non-EU countries who wish to live in Portugal should request a residence visa (visto de residência) at the Portuguese embassy in their country of residence. A residence visa is a long-term visa allowing holders to enter Portugal for four months to apply for a permanent residence permit (autorização de residência) from the Foreigners and Borders Services. Residence visas are issued if specific purposes of stay are met, such as:
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Working as a self-employed person, as an employee, or investing in Portugal as a private entrepreneur;
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Conducting research, teaching at a higher education institution or carrying out the highly-skilled activity;
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Studying, volunteering or doing an internship; and
- For purposes of family reunification.
Following the golden visa impulse, the Institute of Support to Small and Medium Enterprises and Innovation (IAPMEI – Agência para a Competitividade e Inovação) developed the “Start-Up Visa” program to promote the creation of business and innovative projects.
The program is intended for entrepreneurs who wish to develop their entrepreneurial or innovative projects in Portugal, even if they haven’t already set up a company or if they have business projects in their countries of origin and that wish to carry on their activity in Portugal. Candidates must fulfil the following requirements:
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Not to have a permanent residence in a country of the Schengen Area
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To have fulfilled their obligations before the Portuguese Tax Administration and Social Security (if applicable);
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Not to have a criminal record;
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To be of age;
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To possess the financial resources equivalent to 12 times the Social Support Indexation (IAS).
For the presentation of the application, the candidate must complete an online form with his identification and the other entrepreneurs involved and also the description of the project, accompanied by the following documents:
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Letter of motivation;
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Copy of the passport;
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Criminal record from their origin country;
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Statement from the bank that proves the existence of own financial means of subsistence and the possibility of transferring these funds to a bank operating in Portugal; and
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Curriculum vitae;