The cheap European country with 30C weather that makes it EASY for Brits to move there… here’s how I did it
HAVE you ever dreamed of packing your bags and jetting off to find a place in the sun in Europe, but thought it wasn’t possible post- Brexit?
You might be surprised to learn how easy it is for British passport-holders to secure a visa to live in Portugal.
That’s exactly what I did last year, when as a 39-year-old singleton, I rented out my one-bedroom flat in London and moved to Lisbon to work remotely on the D7 visa.
Here's everything you need to know about why you should choose Portugal - and how to do the same thing I did.
Why move to Portugal?
When people ask me why I wanted to move to Portugal, I always say the same thing: the amazing weather!
I was thrilled to discover that temperatures reach 30C or more in July and August and rarely dip below 10C even in January, which makes a wonderful change from the endless rain and freezing winters that were really getting me down back home.
Plus, the nearest beaches to Lisbon are a 20-minute train ride along the coast at Carcavelos - or I can share an Uber with friends over the Tagus River to reach the stunning beaches at Costa da Caparica,
which is also a popular surfing spot.
I love having the culture and nightlife of the capital city on my doorstep.
But if you prefer a quieter life, you might want to head to the seaside suburb of Cascais, the picturesque former fishing town of Ericeira or the southern coastal region of the Algarve, which is particularly popular with Brits.
Wherever you go, the cost of living is much lower in Portugal than in the UK.
The rent for my modern two-bedroom apartment with a balcony and sunset views is around £1,100 a month - while I rent out my one-bedroom flat in London for £1,800.
Eating out is astonishingly cheap. I rarely pay more than £25 for two tasty courses and a couple of drinks.
A glass of delicious Portuguese white wine is around £2.50, and you can even get a whole bottle for the same price in supermarkets.
Taxis - a luxury I rarely enjoyed in London - are much more affordable too, with ride-hailing apps Uber and Bolt regularly applying automatic discounts of up to 45 per cent to try to attract customers.
My last trip back from the airport cost £6.50 for a 25-minute ride across the city.
Finally, it’s the slower pace of life that I love here.
The locals are friendly, it’s easy to make friends within the large expat community and the city is wonderfully walkable, so you don’t have to spend hours on public transport to get to work or meet up with friends (but if you do take the Metro or bus that’s super cheap too).
Since I quit my full-time job to go freelance and swapped dreary weather for sunshine and blue skies, my stress levels have plummeted and I couldn’t be happier that I chose to make Portugal my home.
What is the D7 visa?
Introduced in 2019 to attract foreign residents, the D7 is a passive income visa which requires you to prove you have an income of €10,440 (£8,825) a year from sources such as rental income, pensions or investment dividends - which works out to around £735 per month.
If, like me, you own a property in the UK and can make £735 a month in rent, you may be eligible for the D7 visa, which requires you to pay taxes in Portugal and stay in the country for eight months out of each year (or six months consecutively).
To apply for the two-year visa, you’ll first need proof of your passive income, such as a rental agreement, pension or investment statement.
You’ll need to obtain a NIF or Número de Identificação Fiscal (taxpayer identification number), open a Portuguese bank account and deposit savings of €10,440 (£8,825) for the first adult applying, plus 50 per cent of this amount for each additional adult and 30 per cent for each child, to prove you can support yourself or
your family financially.
You must show that you have secured one year’s accommodation in Portugal.
This could be a rental agreement or 12 months of Airbnb bookings, or if you happen to know someone who already lives in Portugal they can fill in what’s called a Term of Responsibility form to say you’ll be living with them.
You will also need six months of travel insurance and a DBS criminal record check issued by the UK government within two months of your visa application appointment.
Once you’ve ticked all these boxes, the next step is to make an appointment at the VFS Global centre Manchester or London to submit all your documents.
You will also have to hand over your passport, so make sure you don’t have any travel planned in the following 60 days, which is how long VFS Global estimates it takes to process a D7 visa.
However, my passport arrived back with my visa inside after just 22 days last May.
The D7 visa application process isn’t complicated but is time-consuming, so make a detailed to-do list that you can work through methodically.
I found Facebook groups such as ‘D7 Move to Portugal’ handy for asking questions whenever they cropped up during the six-month process.
For example, I learned there’s a branch of Portuguese bank Millennium BCP in London where you can open an account in person.
The hardest part for me was finding my apartment in Lisbon.
I viewed 17 flats during a 10-day trip, landing mine after applying for three flats in different neighbourhoods.
But now that I’m happily settled into my new life, I realise it was worth all the effort and admin.
My advice if you’re tempted to make the move and think you might be eligible for the D7 visa? Go for it!
