Lisbon and Brasilia — A group of Brazilians who are hopeless about Brazil are getting ready to work and live in Portugal. Plans to move to the other side of the Atlantic are based on changes made to immigration laws by the Portuguese government. The new rules approved by the Assembly of the Republic, the Portuguese Parliament, and sanctioned by President Marcelo Rebelo de Souza, include special visas for citizens who are part of the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP). The authorization will be valid for 120 days, and can be renewed for another 60. During this period, holders of these visas will be able to remain legally in Portuguese territory looking for a job.
The new rules will also benefit digital nomads, who can work from anywhere in the world. Most of them work in a highly disputed field, information technology. They will be able to apply for residency in Portugal, a benefit that will be extended to their family members, as long as they prove a fixed income, in order to remain in the European country, which is getting more and more expensive. Renting a simple one-bedroom apartment in Lisbon costs no less than 800 euros (about R$ 4,500). “Rent is today the biggest problem for Brazilians living in Portugal”, says the president of Casa do Brasil in Lisbon, Cyntia de Paula.
With the easing of laws, those interested in working in Portugal will be able to apply for special visas directly at Portuguese embassies and consulates in Brazil. Today, this process is extremely bureaucratic and time-consuming, as it is done through the Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF), a body that has lost hundreds of employees in recent years and has more than 160,000 processes under review. It is important to point out, according to Patrícia Lemos, a specialist in relocation in the Portuguese market, that those who are already in Portugal will not have access to the new visas. Job search permits are quite different from tourist visas.
The facilities brought about by changes in Portugal's immigration law come, however, with certain requirements, warns lawyer Renato Martins, CEO of Martins Castro. In addition to the mandatory return tickets, those interested in enjoying the benefits offered by the Portuguese government will have to prove financial resources to sustain themselves over the 180 days of validity of the special authorization and present the place where they will reside, travel insurance or document issued by Social Security in Brazil, the PB4, which guarantees care in the Portuguese public health system, and a valid passport. Persons sentenced by the Court to more than three years in prison will not be accepted.
Safety
According to the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs of Portugal, Ana Catarina Mendonça Mendes, the goal is to attract manpower to boost the country's economy, which retreated 0.2% in the second quarter of this year compared to the previous three months and suffers from the rapid process of ageing population. There will not, however, be a visa spree, as it is sold through social networks and by those who offer facilities, but are specialists in scams. “There is little care when planning to work and live in another country”, says lawyer Joana Nunes, a specialist in migration. “Everything must be planned so that nothing goes wrong,” he adds.
Master in law and specialist in migration at Martins Castro, Michelle Passos da Silva points out that the new visas are a guarantee for workers who wish to relocate to the Portuguese market. “When they find vacancies and are hired, people will not be helpless, as they will have formal contracts with the employing companies, following the same rules in force for the Portuguese”, he explains. This means that all will have to contribute to the Social Security System and will be taxed by the Federal Revenue. “No one will be able to receive less than the Portuguese minimum wage, currently 705 euros (R$ 3.7 thousand)”, he amends.
Those who are hired for more than the total period of 180 days provided for by the new visas will be able to remain in Portugal, with the right to apply for residency in the country, says Renato Martins. After five years, always with proof of employment, there will be the option of obtaining Portuguese citizenship. For the lawyer, this is a great advantage, because it will not only give greater stability to workers, but also allow them to move freely through the countries of the European Union as tourists and, who knows, in new jobs.
The lawyer also points out that, despite not having the right to new visas, Brazilians who are in Portugal and entered the country as tourists, but managed to get a formal job, will be able to apply to the government to legalize themselves. There is an instrument provided for by law called expression of interest. Through it, interested parties can reside in Portuguese territory. The problem is that the result of the request is taking more than two years to come out, making many people anxious. The good news is that, while the process is running, foreigners can continue working without the risk of being deported.
Opportunities
Job opportunities abound in Portugal. There are vacancies in sectors that do not require as much qualification, such as commerce, cleaning services, tourism and civil construction, and in those where more solid training is needed, such as nursing and medicine. Public hospitals in Portugal, by the way, are on the verge of collapse due to lack of skilled labor. It should be noted, however, that in these areas, diplomas must be validated, which requires a lot of patience to overcome the bureaucracy and obstacles imposed by corporations.
Regardless of the difficulties, Patrícia Lemos, a specialist in relocation in the Portuguese market, says that Brazilians are very interested in working in Portugal. He points out, however, that most of them believe that all they have to do is buy airline tickets, put 200 euros (R$ 1,100) in their pocket, get on the plane and a new life will begin. "It's not like this. Many people believe that, because Portuguese is spoken in Portugal, everything is easier, that we are talking about the 27th Brazilian state. In fact, it is another country, with very different rules from Brazil, where the cost of living is in euros”, he stresses.
The same caveat is made by the president of Casa do Brasil in Lisbon, Cyntia de Paula. Portugal suffers from very high inflation, close to 10% per year. Interest rates also point upwards. Today, it is possible to find thousands of foreign workers, especially Brazilians, living in sub-human conditions. As they don't earn enough to have decent housing, they rent space in beds to sleep. That is, those who work during the day pay to sleep at night. And vice versa. It is also common to see foreigners begging in the streets, unable to return to their countries of origin. “For this reason, formal employment is important”, says Michelle Passos da Silva, from Martins Castro.
According to the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Ana Catarina Mendonça Mendes, the new law will give more dignity to foreigners working in Portugal, as everyone will be in good standing. But, as she has highlighted, there will be intense supervision by the State, in order to avoid abuses or distortions in employment contracts. This was strongly emphasized by parliamentarians allied with the government during the vote on new visas. They fear a loose labor regime. Another concern is that new foreign workers are victims of xenophobia, a crime that is on the rise in the country. “The new law is based on three fundamentals: welcoming and taking good care of those arriving in Portugal, ensuring more agility in granting visas and encouraging the dynamization of the Portuguese economy”, she says.
Seduction and new life expectancy
The interest of Brazilians in Portugal has grown a lot in the last six years. More recent data from the Foreign Border Service (SEF) indicate that, officially, the total number of residents from Brazil already totals 252,000, an increase of 23.1% in relation to data at the end of last year. In the first six months of this year alone, 47,600 residence permits were issued for this public. Brazilians are the largest group of foreigners living in Portugal, representing a third of the total.
Therapist Elisangela Cristina Mendes, 48 years old, works with digital marketing and specializes in ayurvedic clinic, a profession she exercises, above all, to help her autistic son Caio, 18. She heard about the bill recently approved by the Portuguese government, which facilitates visas of work for foreigners in the country. Under the new law, interested parties can stay 120 days in the country looking for a job, a period that can be renewed for another two months.
Elisangela will arrive in the European country on September 20, with her son, her 5-year-old stepdaughter, and her partner, Raffael, who works as a bartender. “This measure will make our lives much easier, bring peace of mind so we don't get lost in the country,” he says. The therapist already has a tourist visa, but is in contact with a lawyer to get the new benefit in time. The expectation is that the Portuguese consulates will be agile in granting the documents.
The option for Portugal, says Elisangela, was due to the ease of the language, the cost of living and proximity to other countries in Europe. “Once there, it is easier for us to go to any country on the continent”, he says. In addition, she wants to provide Caio, her autistic son, with quality education and new experiences that will help stimulate his development.
The prospect is that, if everything goes well, Caio will finish high school in Portugal and then start a technical course in gastronomy in the country, since his dream is to be a chef. Elisangela participated in the painting “The Wall”, from Caldeirão do Huck, a Globo program, on April 3 of this year, world autism awareness day. There, she managed to raise almost R$ 274 thousand, money that she will use for the trip.
students
Data analyst Luca Sousa, 24, has been living in Portugal since 2019. He moved to the country to study economics and, today, having graduated, he works in the area. “I had an abstract idea about living abroad, I had never thought of a specific place. Portugal emerged due to the ease of immigration and the more affordable cost of living”, he says. About the process of issuing the visa, he says it was smooth. “Some unnecessary bureaucracy during the process, such as personal contacts, for example, is what causes headaches”, he points out.
The analyst claims to have plans to permanently settle in that country and start a master's degree in data science as early as September. “It's nothing concrete yet. It depends on how my professional development will be, my personal life around here”, he points out. For him, the flexibility in work visas for foreigners, “despite being late”, is very positive and will help to integrate immigrants, who are very important for Portugal.
Student João Marcelo Abbud, 21, also decided to move to Portugal, where he arrived in 2019, motivated by the possibility of access to high-quality education. After taking the Enem test in 2018, he got the grade he needed to enter the University of Lisbon. The following year, he began to organize all the documents necessary to obtain a student visa, a process he considered quite bureaucratic, both on the part of public bodies in Portugal and also in Brazil.
In addition to proof of income and declarations of all sorts, says João, a health plan and the apostille (international authentication) of all documents was required to, only then, acquire the residence card. “This whole process takes months to complete. I only got the visa a month before traveling”, he says. The student highlights the possibility of learning as one of the positive points of living in the country.
“The exchanges, the aggregate of experiences and the academic part are worth a lot”, recognizes João. He points out, however, that there are many Brazilians surviving on underemployment in Portugal, with exhausting working hours and wages well below average. “In these cases, quality of life is lost, there is not much money left and, here, the minimum wage is one of the lowest in Europe”, he concludes.
job search
Actor and kitchen assistant Bernardo Mendes, 34, was also one of the Brazilians who chose Portugal as an alternative destination. With a trip scheduled for this Sunday, Bernardo is one more to say that getting a visa for the European country is not an easy process. “Since my cousin lives there, I managed it more easily, but around here this procedure usually takes time”, she says. Mendes claims to have received the news about the new measure approved in Portugal with optimism. “With this measure, the country will be able to attract more people and guarantee a greater circulation of income”, he presumes.
Mendes also decided to go to Portugal due to its proximity to the country's language and the lower cost of living than in Brazil. In addition, because he already has Portuguese relatives who live there, he obtained dual citizenship. Mendes is due to land this Monday in Faro, capital of the Algarve, where he intends to boost his acting career. “I intend to work in a restaurant in the city and, on vacation, direct my play 'At sea level'”, he emphasizes.
Sales manager Ana Rosa Brandão, 56, also intends to benefit from the new measure approved by the Portuguese government. Brandão plans to travel to Portugal in May 2023, along with her husband, economist José Luiz de Mello Brandão, 58. The couple has been preparing well in advance, since the beginning of the year. For both of them, living in the homeland of poet Fernando Pessoa is a medium and long-term life project. “There are several ways to enter the country but, in my case, I'm trying to get Portuguese nationality”, says Ana Rosa.
José Luiz, who has already visited Portugal a few times, says that he feels at home in the country. The economist claims that, in ten years, the country has changed a lot. “In addition to the cultural identity, the proximity I have with the local culture, the quality of life was a major factor that influenced my choice”, he says, also emphasizing that the Portuguese are not friendly, but that this problem is circumventable.
Initially, the couple intends to live at a friend's house as soon as they arrive in Lisbon. “I'm still in that 'dating phase', looking for a place that isn't too touristy to live,” says José Luiz. As it is a booming area, the economist adds that he will work in the technology segment.
Actress and model Caroline Melgaço, 34, joins the list of Brazilians who plan to travel to Portugal. She says she is getting organized for the trip and considers that the new measure by the Portuguese government came at a good time. “I think it's great that the government has approved this law, which will certainly make it much easier when applying for a visa,” he says. Graduated in theater, Caroline works in an audiovisual production company specialized in making off. In addition to acting, she produces and also directs.
She says that the language is also one of the advantages when deciding the destination. “Portugal ends up being easier due to its proximity to the language and culture, which makes it easier to work and express yourself”, he defends. The fact that she has friends who live in the country, she says, was another decisive factor.
The actress reports that her goal, as soon as she settles down there, is to work with cinema and audiovisual, since art and culture are very undervalued in Brazil. “It's hard to make a living off of art around here, mainly because culture is so undervalued by the government. Opportunities are reduced and the artistic class loses out a lot. Therefore, many choose to try their career abroad”, he points out. As she already has a structure and a career in Brazil, Caroline says she wants to experience and understand Portugal so that she can settle down.
By Vicente Nunes