Accommodation
Visa and residence permit
Insurances
Cost of living
About Lisbon
Learning Portuguese
Contacts and useful links
     General
     Citizen Information
     Services
     Culture and Events

Accommodation
One of the main concerns of students is where to stay when arriving in Lisbon for the first time. Since the number of vacancies for foreign students at the university residences belonging to SASUL is quite limited, here is some useful information to help the students with this task.

University Residences

Private accommodation
Private accommodation in Lisbon can cost around € 250,00 /300,00 per month or more. The price depends on the location of the room or on the size of it. The rent may include electricity, gas and water bills but it depends on the landlords. The prices of the apartments (studios or rooms) vary between €400,00 and €500,00.

Save in the case of the University residences, contracts and agreements are made strictly between the student and the proprietor.

Here are some tips for finding accommodation:

Water, electricity, gas; Internet ;other services such as heating, the use of common areas, other equipments (microwave, etc); possibility of having guests without paying extra.

1. Check the public transportation proximity;
2. Choose a furnished apartment;
3. Ask if the price of the rent includes:
4. The nearer areas from FCUL are Campo Grande and Cidade Universitária but any place with underground will be very close.

Websites to search for accommodation:

• Easyquarto
• Bquarto
• Erasmushouse
• Classificados universia
• Coisas.com
• Lisboa4you
• Myplacetostay
• Want.com
• LisbonLx
• Wimdu

Private Student Residences:

• Global Plaza
• Sociedade Promotora de Residências Universitárias S.A
• Erasmus Organization Lisboa Residence

Temporary Solutions:

• Pousadas da Juventude
• Flash Hostels Network
• Lisbon Old Town Hostel
• Albergues em Lisboa
• Lisbon Hostels

There are also support organisations to help finding accomodation:

• ERASMUS Lisboa
• ERASMUS Student Network

Visa and residence permit

Foreign Students coming from countries outside the European Union can only start their studies in Portugal if they hold a valid temporary study visa. This document can be obtained at the Portuguese Embassy or Consulate of the country of origin.

If you enter Portugal by a non controlled border, you should address yourself to The Foreigners and Border Control Service – SEF in order to declare your entry in the following three working days in one of SEF’s delegation. 

Students coming from an European Union country, Switzerland, Norway. Iceland or Liechtenstein do not need to obtain any visa; a valid Identity Card is sufficient. Nevertheless, for those who wish to stay in Portugal for more than 90 days should register at the city hall of their residence area.  

Foreigners and Border Control Service Contacts:

Direção Geral do SEF de Lisboa e Vale do Tejo
Address: Av. António Augusto de Aguiar, 20, 1069-119 Lisboa
Telephone: 213 585 500
Fax: 213 144 053
Opening hours: 8h30-16h30

Insurances

The most common insurance for EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Lichtenstein citizens is the European Health Insurance Card which gives access to all public health units in Portugal. This card is freely issued by the Social Security services of your home country. 

For non-European students there are several insurance companies that offer several international health insurances. The Global Health Insurance establishes a comparison between several insurance companies at a world level.
In order to obtain the visa it is necessary to have a travel insurance acquired at the country of origin or at an international insurance company.  This insurance may be acquired at a travel agency along with your transportation ticket or independently.

All students enrolled at FCUL are also protected by the school insurance which covers personal accidents as long as part of the academic activities, including permanent disability or death. 
 

Cost of living

Euro (€) is the Portuguese currency. There are €5, €10, €20, €50, €100, €200 and €500 bills and €1, €2, €0,50, €0,20, €0,10, €0,05, €0,02 and €0,01 coins.

The prices in Portugal are generally the same as in the rest of Europe, a bit lower when it comes to food and eating out. Even so, you’ll need at least €400 a month to live in Lisbon. So you can have an idea about life cost in Portugal, the minimum salary in 2011 was €485.

The Value Added Tax (VAT) on essential goods, like food, is 6% and on intermediate goods is 13%, but the normal value is 23%. The following board will help you understand better the cost of living in Lisbon, although these prices may vary slightly through the year and according to the places where you shop.

About Lisbon

Touristic Information

Transportation

• CP- Portuguese Raliway Company
• Lisbon Underground
• TAP- Air Portugal

Learning Portuguese

The Faculty of Letters of the University of Lisbon (FLUL) offers several Portuguese Courses for foreigners courses through the year in the Department of Portuguese Language and Culture (Departamento de Língua e Cultura Portuguesa).

For Erasmus students, FLUL lectures intensive and semester courses of Portuguese (initial and elemental levels).

For other international students who wish to learn Portuguese at FLUL, there are Summer courses (€540) and Annual courses (€1240), but you must have some knowledge on a Latin language to be accepted. You may apply for a scholarship to these courses by contacting Instituto Camões (Camões Institute).

The Erasmus Lisboa Association also has intensive Portuguese courses (€460, €250 for Erasmus students) and normal courses (€325, €125 for Erasmus students), beginning a new one every first Monday of the month. This website has also some useful conversation phrases to use on your day-to-day life in Portugal.

The CCL- Centro de Cursos Livres (Free Courses Center) organises Portuguese Language Courses regularly throught the year.

Contacts and useful links

Generals

Citizen Information

Services

Culture and Events