Moving to Setubal with children: my personal experience as an active emigrant in Portugal.
Anastasia, her husband and two children decided to move to Portugal despite numerous difficulties, including difficulties with renting accommodation, which were warned about in social networks. In this article we will tell you how the young family managed to solve all the problems and adapt to the new place.
Immigration
Having decided to move to a warm and friendly atmosphere with children, we initially considered Georgia, Turkey and Spain, but in the end we chose Portugal. Spain was not suitable because of the difficulties in obtaining a residence permit for the financially independent, and Georgia and Turkey were not suitable for other reasons. When we turned our attention to Portugal, my husband suggested choosing a city and starting the paperwork.
We decided to entrust the legal part of the process to an agent and took legal advice. We didn't want to bang our heads against the wall and make mistakes.
As for our practical life in a new country, we have been researching the topic ourselves. There are many chat rooms on Portugal where you can find a lot of useful information. People share their experiences, describe life in different cities, talk about the pros and cons. We chose a city to live in thanks to the advice and feedback from the locals.
Setubal is a port city on the peninsula of the same name, the center of the municipality and district, located near Lisbon. The cost of living in the capital is much higher than in Setubal. This city is close to Lisbon and is on the coast, and its bay is very beautiful: there are no strong waves and a lot of sea traffic. In many ways, Setubal is a comfortable city. The locals adore their city and speak of it only in the best light. And we are now among its fans too.
Obtaining a residence permit in Portugal requires careful preparation, especially if you are applying on the basis of doing business, as in our case. We had to prepare a lot of documents, including several years of declarations, a diploma and translations. All documents have been legally obtained and we are waiting to receive our residence permit.
We and our children are currently staying in Portugal on a Schengen visa, which is valid until the end of the year. This is due to covid rules that allow those who have entered the Schengen area to stay in Portugal until the end of the year. Residences are automatically renewed.
My husband has already received his residence permit, but we are still waiting for the card. The wait can last for months, and we are not alone in this - many of our friends have also been waiting for their cards since October last year.
I also plan to legalize my activities as an entrepreneur. The Portuguese are very loyal to this and give me the opportunity to recover after moving and then deal with the paperwork.
An acquaintance of mine who is a hair removal artist started working from home until she got her work permit. This has not caused any problems and she is now ready to apply for her residence permit. Portugal is very loyal and there is no need to worry about starting work before you get your work permit.
Previously, an acquaintance of mine lived in Poland, where she was harassed by her grandmother neighbor, reporting her for working without the proper visa. In Portugal there are no such problems. Naturally, you cannot find an official job without legalization, but you can work independently.
Housing
We searched for an apartment despite the messages in the chat rooms that there was no accommodation available. But our search was successful. It is important for an expatriate to be quick and resourceful, especially when looking for a place to live. We followed the ads and called the owners immediately to arrange a meeting. We chose an apartment by offering to pay several months in advance. We rented the apartment from a Chinese family who were neat and easy to communicate with in English. Our search took about three weeks, including renting temporary apartments. Housing prices in Lisbon are expensive, so we decided to rent an apartment in Setubal for €850 a month. In the end we spent €2,000 to buy the necessary things in Ikea to furnish our apartment.
Cost of living
Prices in Portugal are quite affordable, especially if you compare them with those in Moscow. The monthly expenditure on household chemicals and foodstuffs is about €860, and the authors of this article do not limit themselves in their choice of products, often buying meat, fruit, yoghurt and cheese.
However, by the standards of the city of Kirov, prices in Portugal may seem high. Nevertheless, the quality of products and services here is at a high level. You can buy amazing meat, fresh eggs and delicious bread in the stores.
As for services, the city of Setubal already has everything you need: hairdressing services, manicure-pedicure, waxing, etc. Manicures with a coating cost from €15 to €20, nail extensions from €25. A men's haircut costs only €5, but as the authors of the article point out, this is with the Indians. In Lisbon, prices for services are twice as high.
Kindergartens
We have two young children, so we are only familiar with daycare centers so far. Unfortunately, we were not able to enroll our children in public kindergartens this season, so we decided to keep them in the private kindergartens they already go to. We don't want to stress them by moving them to a new place, especially since they are already used to their current kindergartens.
We go to two different kindergartens. First, we found a place for our youngest child only through luck. Earlier my acquaintance had asked about places in this garden, but at that time there were none. However, we met new neighbors who had moved from St. Petersburg and were looking for a place for their daughter. I said that I also wanted to enroll my child in this garden, and the next day we went there together.
Our oldest child is now five years old and we have been looking for a daycare for about a month. We searched with our feet, because if you want to find something and find out, you have to walk a lot and call places. I would look for daycare centers on a map, then go there and ask if there were spots available. We kept looking and we were already desperate, thinking that we would have to wait to enroll in a public kindergarten.
One day I was chatting with an acquaintance about not looking at daycare centers that are farther away from home, since we hadn't bought a car yet and couldn't take our two kids around. The acquaintance told me about shuttles - buses that pick up and drop off children at daycare centers. She recommended one private daycare center near the elementary school. I went there and was pleasantly surprised. The place was amazing - everything there was cozy and homely, with lemon trees.
The classes are taught in Portuguese, which is a great opportunity for the children to learn a new language and culture. In private kindergartens it is possible to have classes in different languages, which is an advantage in an international environment, as in our case.
In addition, musicians regularly come and play for the children at our junior's day care center. Also, they do drawing and games, which is very important for children's development.
The cost of daycare centers in Portugal can vary from 250 to 700 euros per month depending on location, level of services and other factors. We pay about 400 euros a month for our children, which is the average price for private kindergartens in our area.
In general, we are very satisfied with the way our children are educated in private kindergartens. The children receive not only education, but also learn to socialize with other children, adapt in an international environment and learn about different cultures. We recommend parents who have children to find a suitable kindergarten and not be afraid to try several places to find the best option for their children.
Conclusion
The problem of language barrier is not a major issue in Portugal. The locals are very patient and are willing to listen, understand and help even if you don't speak correctly. If you have basic English, you will be able to communicate with the Portuguese, and if that is not enough, you can use a translator. The Portuguese are wonderful people, friendly and respectful of children. They are always smiling and ready to help. And although some optionality is characteristic of people in the south, you will quickly get used to it.
As for our community, we've been very lucky. We didn't know anyone in December, but now we have so many meetings we want to get to that we don't know where to fit everything into the schedule. We have found great people through chat rooms and now we have a wonderful and varied pastime.
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