Porto is one of the most beautiful European cities. It’s also home to a flourishing expat community. However, the city still feels – most of the time – as unexplored territory for foreigners living here. While you can see several tourists flooding its narrow sidewalks, it might be challenging to find your group of people or find your way through the Portuguese bureaucracy – especially if you’re coming from a country outside the EU.

This is why we decided to create this blog post – since we’re experiencing what it is like to live in Porto as expats – to go over everything you need to know about life as an expat in Porto – from what it’s like living here to how easy it is to find friends and a job in the city.

We’ll also cover topics such as housing options for living and how much it costs living here, your options for healthcare, and more. So if you want to know more about it all, keep reading!

Moving to Porto as an Expat

We’ve moved to Porto after more than 5 years of traveling the world as digital nomads, right in the middle of the pandemic, which didn’t make things easy.

However, one of the best things about Porto is that people are super friendly and open, so it was also easy to get around the bureaucracy of settling in.

Moving to Portugal as an expat might be tricky, especially if you’re not an EU citizen. Depending on your nationality, you might need to have a visa or get a residency permit.

In my case, living in Portugal as a Brazilian is fairly straightforward. I just had to register at the Portuguese tax office to get my NIF (the Portuguese fiscal number), open a bank account, register my business and apply for a residency permit.

To make my life easier, I found an accountant right away and got him to do everything for me. It didn’t cost me much, and he does all my taxes and helps me with any documentation I need.

Most foreigners end up opting to get legal help since we don’t know the laws really well. Getting an accountant or lawyer can help speed up your residency or citizenship process and save lots of money in taxes.

So, if you’re thinking about moving to Portugal, we’d recommend you to get assistance, especially if you’re an independent worker or want to open your business here.

If you talk to locals or ask around on an Expats Facebook group, you’ll find recommendations of professionals who speak good English and can help you. Mine was recommended by an Uber driver and costs only €20/month. But you can also find more experienced accounting firms that are used to assist larger businesses that charge around €200/month.