Living in Portugal as an American is ANYTHING but easy.

Where ever you consider the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence, do try to keep in mind climate change impacts on where you choose to lay your hat especially as emissions climb ever higher and we also reach the Arctic tipping point of 1.6C....

Don’t come to the UK if you are wanting to buy a cheap hybrid RAV4. Never mind €44k, start thinking 15% more, £44k.
So that’s a plus point from a UK point of view.

Ancestry DNA will probably be able to tell you if you are Portuguese. They are the most detailed and have the largest data base.

It is always up to you, how you live. If it is USA, Portugal or wherever, if you try to take the positive points and take the negative not so serious there are many places you get happy. The most important: Wherever you go, you bring always yourself with you. And this is the major point. If you are in USA not happy, it will get difficult in Portugal and any country. All the points you listed may be negative, but hey, in every country you have negatives. I know many in USA and also in Germany where I come from. Regarding bureaucracy: You will love the Einwohnermeldeamt in Munich, there is not so much difference to Portugal.

Just had a six-month-wait appointment cancelled. There is no hope of rescheduling it in the next months. At this point, they are just forcing people to give up.

Look out Portugal this American is coming soon! Also I’d never buy a new car. It’s like flushing money away. I’m sure Portuguese come here so it all balances out.

American too enjoying your videos and your candid and honest takes about your new life in Europe. I also recently took dna test and found i have virtually no Mediterranean lineage (French but not the warm side) , but it's the region I'm most interested in visiting or possibly relocating to in the near future. Sadly not Portugal for me though i admire the country and people as my state Massachusetts has a very large Portuguese pop. and influence here.

I love bureaucracy, it keeps the foreigners the F out and honestly I would have wanted it to be even harder. As a local I know how to approach the civil servants and I tell them every time, when they see Americans, give them hell 🤣

To all Americans reading this... stay the f*** out of Europe 🖕

Its not only the Americans that have the problems thats what you are telling in your video. I am Dutch and have a lot of problems because of the portugese otganisations. Specially that office is telling tou this and the next day its changed. Wait 6 years on a citizencard, wait 7 months on a medical project. portugese are perfect in lying. Forget the word calme just tell them your not accepting it anymore and put a complaint.

WHAT YOU SAY AT THE END OF THIS VIDEO IS REALLY BEAUTIFUL AND TRUE! NOW, I AM A NEARLY 70-ISH CANADIAN WITH FRENCH CITIZENSHIP AND I WANT TO LEAVE CANADA, THAT I HATE, BUT AT MY AGE, ENTIRELY ALONE AND KNOWING NOBODY IN PORTUGAL OR ELSEWHERE IN EUROPE, PLUS I HAVE AN AVERAGE RETIREMENT PENSION, I AM REALLY SCARED OF MAKING A MISTAKE AND OF CHOOSING THE WRONG PLACE. SO, YOUR VIDEOS AND EVERYTHING YOU SAY ARE REALLY INVALUABLE TO ME IN ORDER TO MAKE THE RIGHT CHOICE! THANKS A LOT! LOVE AND TAKE CARE!

Thank you for making this video. That first point of the cost of living is so real. It's heartbreaking to see how many of my friends and family are being pushed out of our home because we just cannot live there. 😢 homelessness is also increasing substantially.

"They are not used to dealing with Americans"..... as they shouldn't!!! It's Portugal not America!!! I just wish you lot would just go back to America...

I live in Umbria and wouldn't change it for anything. The little towns, full of history and traditions that are very tangible and present, coupled with very affordable living make it ideal for me. I guess a place may be paradise for one and hell for another. I love Italy so much because it maintains a lot of genuine ways of living because outside the large cities it is quite fragmented into small medieval and historic towns. Please don't flock Italy like Portugal LOL!

As a portuguese, i can't wait to leave this crap hole.
We have oil on our shores, and you know what our govercancerment does?
NOTHING!
Because, who wants to have the ability to cut down costs of living, by tipping the most important domino piece, right?
Our healthcare...let's say, you better have good money to resort to the private sector.
The roads are worse by the week, you can't park in Lisbon, without being robbed by the park meters, or annoyed by the disgraceful roads, beggars here and there, etc.
Bureaucracy...Jesus Christ, hire an exorcist for that one!
My advice is...look where the portuguese are migrating to...
BUT, if you're a wealthy foreigner, besides contributing to inflation (yes, it's the portuguese bastards who actually increase the prices, along with govercancerment faffery) you can live quite decently.
Or if you're a hippie, who doesn't mind eating meat once a week, and cabbages from a small garden, living inside a shipment container in Coimbra, scorching to death in the summer...
Coimbra...ah, i lost the count of how many wealthy-ish foreigner hippies are there, just smoking weed and involving themselves with useless dramas, you wouldn't believe some of the communities.
Anyway, choose wisely.

The main problem is getting (very) old alone and without family in a foreign country. Don’t want this for myself. I saw this up close. At first her life was happy, she married a native, she had no children, but at 70 her husband died, 10 years later she also died, those who know her noticed her immense sadness in her last years.

dave great video you hit it right on point love the quote at the end of the day DONT compare places and enjoy the right keep up the great videos maybe someday i will make it to the algrave

Americans should ponder norway, if they want to live in the country that has the highest priced gasoline in Europe.

you could just asked us Portuguese aboard me and my family moved from lisbon to Toronto Canada bc there is very little opportunity there i hate to say it bc i love my country and am 100% proud to be Portuguese and funny enough we moved to Toronto to a area called little Portugal we came here in 2000 when it was actually affordable now the prices in Toronto are absolutely outrageous to the point you have to be making atleast 80k a year to even dream of buying a house in Toronto and get ready to pay 800k+ for a dam shoe box but i will always be greatul to this country and it people who accepted us with open arms which me and my family will never take for granted and will always be very much appreciative but ya i love my home land but career opportunities are not much and from my understanding its worse now then when we left

Bike easy or safe

Excellent message. Excellent attitude... on my way to Portugal !

Mutt... Tens que bazar... que puci

I'm moving to Portugal to not have to buy a car. So unrealistic expectations from Americans seems to be the problem.

PORtuguese

That's definitely a sign. A symbol of peace on the anniversary of one of the most horrific days in history.

I am an American and I understand why the Portuguese people don’t. Like us . Years ago my parents took us on a European trip. We weren’t fortunate enough to go to Portugal but we didn’t get to go to France either. At the time I didn’t understand but my father said that in many places around the world we are known as “the ugly Americans “. There is a sense of arrogance and entitlement from some of our citizens. Trust me when I tell you that there are ugly Americans just like there are ugly (fill in the blank) in this world. I would like to say most of us are not this way. Personally I want to check out Portugal, Spain, and many other options outside of the US. Our country is too crazy now with the violence, corruption, racism, division Christofascism, and list goes on. Many of us are uncertain and afraid living here. If I choose to make. Portugal my home I will assimilate as much as possible and give you all of the respect you deserve! I’m not a taker by nature and hope to give back to your beautiful country and it’s citizens. Hopefully I will see you some day 😊

with all the problems that Portugal has; the bureaucracy, tax, slow pace of life etc, it makes you wonder how they have survived as a country for well over 1000 years without descending into a lawless hell hole, where everyone owns a private arsenal, and there are mass shootings every day!
just saying.

Dearest Portugal, I’ll be back soon! Thanks, Dave for the information. It’s super helpful. 🇵🇹

Thank you for your straight up and clear information about living in Portugal. Much appreciated.

Having lived in Europe in a small country town, village,it made me appreciate so many freedoms as a american,and opportunity to have been able to travel to several countries. But people leave countries in Europe, the middle east,asia,India, africa,russia because they want more, opportunities,money,etc they cannot have,achieve in their countries for many reasons.the horrible lockdowns in those places solidified why I would not consider living abroad as it was horrible and un, world economic forum is working to take the world's freedoms away, freedom to travel,as Europe already cutting out flights permanently and will take your vehicle soon,so when you livecin the country,you will really be up the creek without a paddle,and your income,home too will evaporate,that's what you have to look forward to.where you are in the country is very similar to living in a small countryside in the us,the mountains,you would also have a much slower pace of life. When you live in the country,it is more peaceful, low crime,but a very small pool of people to meet, as it will get loney,and those winters,people mention they get paid 700 euros a month, once a month,can't imagine how that would pay rent,transportation, food,utilities. Good luck. It's going to be a bumpy ride for you

You can tell when the videos are of Americans because they always bring up the cost of living, taxes...I never know what they expect when they emigrate. Shangri-La? A fiscal Disneyland? They go to other countries and seem surprised that they have rules, laws, problems, needs, ugly things... I am Spanish, I watch videos of Americans living in Spain, but in a strange way, like on permanent vacation, talking about that in the USA you work 6 days a week, 12 hours a day, "not like in Spain" where everything is siesta and relaxation and there is no rush at all. I get up at 5 in the morning...why go on.

The Bureaucracy is RIDICULOUS there!!!

My story with the USA tax department, what a mission that was and yes I'm fluent in english, I went to tax professionals for advise, I followed their instructions only to discover it was wrong. I was shuffled from department to department, eventually out of desperation I phoned the head office in Philadelphia and I pleaded with the human that answered to just please point me in the right direction. it was from this one person that I received the correct procedure and documentation to present to register as a non resident alien in order to claim with held taxes, and even then I almost hit a wall when I went to the Social Security department to get a letter stating that I wasn't legible for a social security number, the front desk human said "we dont have such a letter", I politely informed her that I was informed that I must get this letter from them, from the back of the office a elderly human said to the young human, "look under file xyz and you'll find the template", if the elderly human hadn't been there I would've been turned away due to sheer incompetence of the young human at the front desk. I've lived in a few countries and the bureaucracy has been terrible in all of them. Then there's the time I was almost detained at Alaskan immigration due to a "irregularity" with my passport, The nice Native Alaskan female officer in charge of the ex USMC immigration official pointed the dumb badge in the right direction, if not for her I would've been deported, the arrogant prik didn't even apologise. I did get a nice smile from the Native American officer.

Hello Dave. I am portuguese and I am from Lisbon. I really love your videos. I think you just got our lovely and unique way of living :)

I am Portuguese and I need to tell you the problem with bureaucracy is not because of the unusuality of Americans moving to Portugal. The whole Portuguese system doesn't work even for locals or Portugueses. Good video btw.

How's the dating?

I think the trick to not being disappointed is just not overly idealizing the new country you are moving to. Pretty much all countries on earth are a work-in-progress. The housing crisis is a global issue and it so far has not been properly addressed for example, and is particularly bad in portugal for the forseeable future.

Rebuttal by Polly Positive with the Rose Colored Glasses
aka Cynthia Wilson

I'm going to break this video down point by point. It is yet another American blathering on about the agony of living in Portugal for those who might get the idea that Portugal is all rainbows and unicorns.

1: Portuguese people don't like Americans and don't want them here. I will have to break that to my dozens of Portuguese friends, who I feel fairly certain love us very much, a thing that has been well demonstrated by their warm welcome, generosity, and kindness.

2: It's Americans' fault that there is no housing available and the prices have risen. 1a) Americans make up about 4% of the immigrants to Portugal. Nothing we do affects anything. 1b) He talks about AirBnBs and AL (holiday) housing. Immigrants are not allowed to use this kind of housing, but must be in long-term apartment with a one year lease or own their home, so that doesn't apply to us or any other immigrant. Also, where in the US can one get a gorgeous 1800 square foot home like ours for under $700/month?

2: New cars are expensive. Yep. Which is why we didn't buy one. We bought a low-mileage used Fiat for 4000 euros that has given us no trouble at all and doesn't use a lot of gas. The insurance for it is ridiculously cheap by American standards.

3: Yes, there are tolls. But those highways are the most beautiful and well-maintained highways I've seen in the world and, unless you're in a big hurry, you don't have to take them. We prefer the little winding roads through villages so we can enjoy the sights. Also, using the highway saves about 20% on gas, so it really evens out.

4: Medical is practically free by American standards if you pay for it yourself. If you use the public system and you are over 60 or under 18, it is free. This alone is a huge reason to love Portugal. When I can buy an Epipen for $35 dollars instead of $400, you can see how much people who use medications would save over the course of the year. Plus, Medicare Part B was going to cost us something like $275 out of our Social Security check. We opted out since it can be used here and pay less than $200/month for private insurance for both of us. We will go into our dotage knowing that we can get the care we need without choosing between that and eating.

5: Income tax: He's flat wrong on a couple of points. The NHR scheme does last ten years, but he's wrong that it's only available to those with Portuguese jobs. It is 20% flat tax for those who earn income in Portugal and 10% for those, like us, who make their income outside of Portugal. And Craig's military pension and disability isn't taxed at all. For us, we still won't be in a high bracket because our retirement income is lower. If we get rich in the next nine years, we'll muddle through somehow.

6: There are those who struggle being away from their families and I get that. For us, though, it's different because we've seldom lived around our families. I left home for Hawaii at 18 and Craig joined the Marines at 17, so it really doesn't make a difference if we live in Portugal or Wichita. Also, our families, like so many other, don't all live on the same block in Mayberry; they live all over the country.

7: The bureaucracy can be annoying, but so can American bureaucracy. I've seen people on FB telling horror stories of trying to get a replacement part or an insurance payment for months and even years. So much of it here is brought on by the people themselves who make mistakes in their paperwork or miscommunicate because they haven't learned Portuguese and don't bring a Portuguese friend with them to help. We have gotten everything fast and efficiently. It also helps not to barrel in to a government office like an entitled Karen and piss the workers off with demanding arrogance in a language the worker doesn't know and doesn't need to know. How many drivers license offices in the US have workers who speak Portuguese?

8: The seemingly arbitrary holiday and strike closing thing is true. One never knows and it can be annoying, but it's not the end of the world and all will be sorted when the holiday is over.

9: As for errors on the paperwork, the onus is on us to check the paperwork before we leave the offices, so that corrections can be made immediately. How hard is that?

Uma pergunta para os portugueses que estão aqui. Sou americano, mas falo português europeu a um nível avançado e atualmente estou a estudar para o exame de CAPLE para nível C2. Tenho considerado mudar-se para Portugal em algum momento no futuro. É muito mais fácil mudar-se para Portugal sendo um falante da língua? Não consigo deixar de pensar se pelo menos alguns dos problemas que as pessoas têm quando se mudam são causados por mal-entendidos devido à barreira linguística. Toda e qualquer opinião é muito apreciada.

Good job.
You are a special person.

Dave, hello and thanks for your videos. I’m currently in Portugal exploring the country to possibly move here. Do you have an immigration lawyer or firm you recommend? What health insurance do you use? Does the insurance cover dental and vision and prescriptions? I’m interested in living in the mountains/countryside. Is there any areas I should visit? Thank you

You forgot to mention US taxes while living abroad.

Americans should go to Germany, it's the county of apple pie, chamomile tea, garden gnomes and bikers. Oh, burgers, pretzels, steak...

A theme of socialist countries…

Man that last part was really beautiful, truly appreciated ✨️

thank you for talking about the price increase because i was thinking about moving there but im broke asf lol

I'm living in Japan, another of those "dream locations". I worked in relocations for 9 years, and the bigger the sight-unseen dreams, the swifter and deeper the disillusionment. When you move outside your home country, you may be trading your membership in the accepted majority, the majority privilege, for minority and foreigner status... which is different. Jordan Peterson is right, a lot of what is decried as "white privilege" is actually "majority privilege".
Then comes the bureaucracy. Japan runs on a very good, very functional bureaucracy, that does not forgive non-compliance. Their bureaucracy also has century-old roots, and the local variances you mentioned - plus, as a foreigner, there is something existenially "wrong" with you, which they will attempt to uncover. Be patient, be respectful of the stress and difficulty that you are imposing on them simply for being so irregular, and life will be easier.

A lot of people of British ancestry get some iberian, just like a lot of Iberians get some northern European in their results. I am mostly of Spanish and Portuguese ancestry and got a 2% English result, but I have seen some Spanish and Portuguese get much more like in the teens and 20s...

The British apparently mingled with the Iberians a bit.

It sounds funny to read about Americans ( white anglos) living the us and trying to adjust in another country. Now you know how Spanish people running from their corrupt countries feels when must of white anglos have been discriminating us for many years just because we speak a different language or have darker skins.
Usa is been getting destroy by its own people and we can always get the hell out of here and live better with little money .
Good luck