Advice on moving overseas with children and work in Portugal

[Emmaleigh77]

Hello all

Just looking for some advice if possible, or any other people who have done similar.
Myself and DH are wanting to move from the UK. The miserable weather, the cost of living and the lack of time we have to spend as a family is really starting to depress us now and we are sat thinking, we have one life, why be unhappy in the same place?

We are looking at Portugal as it's not a big commute back to UK if we ever needed to. I am a nurse and my partner is a builder. Are there any calling for jobs out there?

We have a house which we will sell and have a good amount of money gained, which will go into savings for the planned move.

We were looking at Bali, Thailand (big jump from Portugal, i know!) and my husband working away with FIFO but we are very unsure due to how far away they are.

We just want a happier and healthier life, in a country which has better weather. We also have two children aged 6 and 4.

Thanks

I would say look into the job market. See if there are any English hospitals. Many years ago it was my dream to move to Portugal to live but my husband didn’t want to do this. Sadly my husband died almost 5 years ago after an illness of some 5 years and I feel that this boat has sailed. When I was seriously considering this I believe I found an English Nursing Home - lots of ex-pats out there who get old eventually and need care. Unfortunately I can’t remember where this was. I too am a nurse and that was my interest in seeking some suitable employment bPossibly you could investigate this. This may be an opportunity for you. I loved the country, I never felt unsafe even if out on my own. The Portuguese are friendly people and they love children and the culture is “Matriarchal” - at least it was when I was there. Had a holiday 3 years ago in Lagos on the Algarve and nothing much had changed. I would say do try and learn the language - it’s not a difficult language and the people really appreciate if you make the effort. Wishing you every luck and I hope you make the move.

Go out to eg algarve for a month and make connections first
Look.into visa implications

I'd be more concerned about my visa options than the jobs market. Also surely for both those jobs you'll need to be pretty fluent in Portuguese?

Hi Emmaleigh77
I’ve just googled English nursing home Algarve and it came up. The Website is in English and if you click on the menu there is a section “we are hiring”.
Good Luck. I am envious

I lived in Portugal for many years and DD was born there. They are very short of medical staff but you would need to learn the language and also have your qualifications recognised there. I'm not sure how easy that is.
There are also a number of private hospitals in the Algarve who may have different requirements but your main issue is going to be getting a visa.
Another thing to bear in mind is that the cost of accommodation in the Algarve is very high. It is cheaper away from the tourist areas but then you have to consider the availability of work.
There are care agencies and retirement homes which cater for ex-pats. I'll try and find a link to the one we used to live near.
It would be worth getting on to ex-pat forums as things have changed a lot since I lived there.
Schooling is free but if your children have any SEN you will struggle. There are also international schools but they are not cheap.
Portugal is a beautiful place and I loved it there. We only really came back because of DD. As I said the SEN provision was non- existent.
It won't be easy but if you can do it I would.

https://retirementvillageportugal.co.uk/#slide-out-widget-area

Australia would be the obvious choice. Although a long way to come back to UK.
Getting a visa looks like it should be possible with your skills/jobs from my quick google search.

Do you speak Portuguese? because you won't get far if not.

Those advertised roles want applicants with Portuguese residency and to be bilingual. Great if you have the language skills and visa for residency. Not great otherwise.

It's very unlikely that you will be able to secure the necessary work visas.

The first thing to consider before anything else are visas…
If you have British passports this a huge obstacle
If you have Irish passports or can get Irish passports this will help.
Work is a whole other ball game 😵‍💫.
It’s not as easy as the pre brexit era to just pack up and leave anymore sadly.

We have looked into Portugal and it’s one of the easier places to get residency visas but the scheme we sate requires a certain amount of money, easier at our age as pension investments counted. To work you need fluent Portuguese generally and it’s not an easy language to learn, after 18 months I’m not getting far!

What countries are you and husband citizens of?
Do you have EU passports?
Will you be able to get visas to Portugal? Will you be able to work there?
Can you speak Portuguese?

Is it only your husband that will be able to work in Indonesia or Thailand?