Josef arrived in Portugal three months ago. He always had the objective of going abroad and chose Oporto since Portugal is a country with a relatively low cost of living, plus he already had family living there.
Josef speaks fluent German and English and has already signed up for a Portuguese course for foreigners.
At the Bank
He recently signed a work contract at a Portuguese technology company and is temporarily living with a cousin. His intention is to save some money so he can rent an apartment for himself in a few months.
Despite being very excited about this new chapter of his life and being in love with the city, Josef has faced some difficulties, namely, of a logistical and bureaucratic nature.
“I never thought it would be so difficult for a foreigner to deal with such basic things as, for example, opening a bank account. For starters, the information that exists online is unclear. I started by trying to open an account online, but I gave up because I didn’t understand more than half of the information they asked for and I couldn’t figure out which account was best for me. I chose to go to a bank branch, but after waiting an hour they told me that they couldn’t help me that day, because the employee who knew how to speak English had already left. They asked me to come back the next day, but they didn’t want to schedule an appointment. I gave up.
The next day I went to another bank and was very well received. Everything was going well until I was asked for proof of address – an invoice or receipt in my name – which I don’t have because I live at my cousin’s house. I showed my employment contract, but it wasn’t enough either. On top of that, the contract had not yet been signed by the employer, because I still had to fill in the information regarding my IBAN. The solution was to take my cousin to the bank for him to testify that I really live in his house.”
At the Health Center
One morning, Josef woke up with a burning eye and on the recommendation of his cousin, he went to the health centre. However, as he was not yet enrolled and had no assigned physician, he could not be seen. In order to take advantage of the fact that he was already there, Josef tried to register, but was unable to. Once again, he had to present proof of address, which he did not have.
That same day, with the help of his cousin, he tried to book an appointment online. “I had been told about a very good doctor and I wanted to make an appointment with that doctor specifically, but there was the issue of language. I couldn’t find out which languages he spoke. I ended up letting a few more days go by in the hope that the problem would go away, but after five days it got a lot worse and the eye started to swell. I ended up having to go to an emergency room, and was hospitalized in need of urgent surgery.”
I knew that the early days were not going to be easy and that I was going to miss my family and my home. But these small adversities caused me a lot of anxiety and frustration. It made me doubt whether I had made the right choice.
Look Deeper
According to the provisional results of the 2021 population census, the number of foreign residents in Portugal increased by 40% between 2011 and 2021, amounting to 555 299 people.
Data from the Foreigners and Borders Office (SEF) have already documented the growth of the foreign population residing in Portugal, and now these census findings confirm the trend.
The presence of People who come to look for better opportunities has direct and indirect impacts on host countries economy. Portugal is no exception: “Immigrants can stimulate demographics, contributing to a slower population ageing” says the expert. However, the contribution is not only brought by the number of new births but rather by the growing number of people in the labour force, since the foreign population is mostly younger and more skilled than the Portuguese.
This also contributes to the positive balance of the Social Security, adds Jorge Malheiros.
Another positive impact is that immigrants, especially in cities, represent a “generation of new ideas,” explains Jorge Malheiros. “Their creativity, innovation and the diversity of their ideas also stimulate the economy”.
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