Golden beaches overseeing the Atlantic, colorful cities of rich architecture against a background of fado beats; a series of walks and hikes through history, mixing with the smell of salted cod and freshly baked nata (custard tarts). Portugal is a special mosaic of beauty, combining landscape, culture, friendly locals and a great infrastructure for digital nomads.
Portugal has a year-round warm weather and a competitively low cost of living compared to its European neighbors (maximum of $1,000/EUR 880 a month all inclusive). The country also has one of the top 20 WIFI speeds in the world, and the 1st digital nomad village in the island of Madeira; all these factors make Portugal a digital nomad top destination.
However, the effects of the financial crisis of 2008 are still visible in Portugal, and the COVID-19 pandemic effects didn’t help the recovering economy. The population is shrinking, many of the qualified youth emigrated, and the economy needs a push.
That’s where digital nomads come in. Portugal understood that it can be a win-win deal, as it has everything digital nomads need and as a country, Portugal is in need of nomads who pump money into the economy and bring ideas, startups and innovation.
Portugal then took steps to attract digital nomads with initiatives like the digital nomad village in Madeira islands and the Non-Habitual Resident (or NHR) program, through which Portugal is aiming to attract high skilled professionals and remote workers to live and work from there. Digital nomads can now benefit from the NHR program in the easiest way, thanks to Rebase.
What is Rebase?
Rebase is platform created by Nomad List, one of the top platforms for digital nomads, for remote workers who would like to move to Portugal and benefit from the NHR program.
The platform makes moving less bureaucratic and reduces the complexities involved in filing the paperwork to get residency in Portugal. The service offers immigration and tax consultancy and help through the process of registration, filing taxes and other obligations.
The platform acts as an “Immigration as a service” provider. Nomad List is planning to expand the platform to cover all the countries that are trying to attract remote workers and offering them benefits. This way, they can connect digital nomads and remote workers with interesting destinations that offer valuable opportunities for them.
Rebase is open to everyone, from all over the world, as long as they have a high-skilled job that they can do remotely.
What are the benefits of moving to Portugal with the NHR program?
Getting residency in Portugal through the NHR program has a lot of benefits. First, you will benefit from many tax breaks, as your foreign income will not be taxed, income from Crypto will not be taxed and neither your wealth. Freelance or self-employment is subject to a 20% tax.
Secondly, after 5 years in Portugal, you can apply for permanent residence and then a Portuguese citizenship.
Last but not least, living in Portugal has also non-material benefits. Apart from the weather, the landscape and the cost of living; Portugal is safe, has a location that is sure to make your life easier whether you work with Asia or the US, and has a 94% vaccination rate, which may alleviate at least some of your Covid-related concerns.
Who is eligible?
For starters, you have to not have lived in Portugal for the last 5 years and you must stay in Portugal for 183 days a year or have your primary home there, and you also need to have a high skilled job.
The high skilled jobs include architects, engineers, different types of artists, medical professionals, teachers, and freelancers.
Freelancers can include anything from programmers to designers to content creators. You can find the full list of high skilled jobs here.
How do I apply?
You can fill the application on Rebase, then you will be redirected to the payment page where you will pay the onboarding fee.
The fees are $100 for EU citizens and $400 for non-EU citizens. After the payment process, you will have a video call with immigration and tax advisors to analyze your status, explain the process and answer your questions. The fee is non-refundable.
There are other services offered by Rebase for a fee like setting up your residency and registration, filing your taxes annually and helping you set up as a freelancer.
The process for applying is different for EU, Non-EU and US citizens. For EU citizens, you don’t need to rent a house prior to your arrival, you can just register your residency at city hall.
For Non-EU citizens, you will need to rent or buy a house in Portugal, you will submit the application at the embassy and you will need to be in Portugal for 6 consecutive months or 8 non-consecutive months every year for the 1st 2 years of your residence.
You will also need to have an income of $15,000/ year minimum. Your income should to be reliable and regular for the period of your stay. You will also need to submit a clean criminal record.
For US citizens, the only thing they need to consider is that they are always subject to taxes in the US.
In the application on Rebase you will fill in your personal information, like name, email, phone, birthdate…etc. They will also ask you about your job, current location and income source.
You can also add whether you want to include your family in the residency request so that they can be covered by the service as well.
Then you will submit the application and pay the fee before expecting your video call. The calls for EU citizens will take place in February, while for non-EU and US citizens, they will take place in March.
What do you think of the service offered by Rebase? Would you try it?
Let us know!
