[sc_msls]

How to Move to Portugal as a Remote Worker

The small print: Portugalist may generate a commission from mentioned products or services. This is at no additional cost to you and it does not affect our editorial standards in any way. All content, including comments, should be treated as informational and not advice of any kind, including legal or financial advice. The author makes no representations as to the accuracy, completeness, suitability, or validity of any information on this site and will not be liable for any errors or omissions or damages arising from its display or use. Links to external websites do not constitute an endorsement. [Disclaimer Policy]
A person sits on a white cushion next to a turquoise swimming pool, working on a laptop. They are partially shaded by large green leaves. Two teal pillows are placed by their side, and white pebbles surround the wooden deck area.
Written by:
Last updated on June 4, 2024 | Est. Reading Time: 4 minutes

As remote work becomes more and more of a possibility of people, more and more people are looking at Portugal as a remote working destination. And, why wouldn’t you? Portugal, particularly areas like Lisbon and the Algarve, has great year-round weather with 300+ days of sunshine, a lower cost of living, and is easy to fly to from most of Europe. It also has several areas that are nomad hubs, particularly Lisbon but also places like Lagos in the Algarve, Madeira, Porto, Ericeira, and Costa da Caparica.

More importantly, Portugal is looking to attract remote workers. It is actively running tourist campaigns to attract remote workers and digital nomads and, as of the end of 2022, it has introduced a new visa for digital nomads and remote workers.

This is aimed at the two types of remote workers and freelancers Portugal attracts:

  1. People that want to spend a few months working somewhere sunny, but don’t want to move there
  2. People that want to move to Portugal and have it as their base

Both have slightly different implications.

Moving to Portugal as a remote worker

Over the past few years, Portugal has started to attract thousands of remote workers, freelancers, and digital nomads who want to move to Portugal, but continue earning from their remote jobs abroad. If you have a salary from somewhere like the UK, USA, or Germany, for example, Portugal can be a very appealing place to live.

In the past, many remote workers and freelancers did this by applying for the D7 visa (and sometimes the D2) but, as of 2022, Portugal has introduced a digital nomad visa aimed at remote workers and freelancers.

This is aimed at those from outside the EU, and will be of particular interest to those interested in having a base in Europe and also obtaining an “EU passport.”Those from another EU country like France or Ireland can already move to Portugal without requiring a special residency visa.

The next step is to find out how your company will feel about it. While many companies are fine with their employees working remotely in their own country, they aren’t okay with them working remotely in another country – especially moving to another country and working remotely. It can have tax and legal complications and, unless the company has an office in Portugal, they may not be willing to facilitate it.

There are workarounds. One option is that you become a contractor rather than an employee. The downside of this is that you lose certain protections and you may lose certain benefits, such as sick day cover or pension contributions. Another option is that your company works with an international payroll company, such as remote.com. This allows you to stay employed, however using the services of a payroll company such as remote means there are additional costs for your employer.

Visiting Portugal as a Remote Worker

As well as people who make a permanent or semi-permanent move to Portugal, there are also plenty of people that come for a few months and then return home or move on to another destination. Post-covid many companies are allowing their employees to do this, although it does vary from company to company. Many remote workers avoid getting a “no” from their employers by simply not telling them and not staying long enough in Portugal to create any problems.

Aside from getting employer approval, the biggest challenge is typically finding affordable accommodation. That’s especially the case if you want to go to a digital nomad hotspot like Lisbon, Lagos (or the Algarve in general), or Madeira. Airbnbs are becoming more expensive, although with a little forward-planning and research, it is possible to get a reasonable deal. It’s also worth noting that there are other accommodation sites as well, for example Flatio, Spotahome, HousingAnywhere and Booking.com. There are also co-living spaces which are essentially posh hostels with great wifi and co-working areas.

You don’t need a co-working space, but they are useful for being productive and meeting other people. Lisbon and Porto, in particular, also have lots of cafés, particularly the more moden hipster cafés, that you could work from as well.  Apps like Croissant allow you to buy credit that you can use at multiple different co-working spaces. It also allows you to try multiple co-working spaces before deciding to settle on one.

Portugal’s new digital nomad visa is also expected to have an offering for visiting digital nomads who want to stay in Portugal for a little longer.

Comments are closed.