Portugal
Lisbon
2.9 million people in the metro
The gist
A warm, affordable, safe city with a strong family culture and genuine openness to foreigners. Portugal offers a 3-year path to citizenship by marriage. The catch: local salaries are low, so it suits remote earners far more than local job seekers.
The score, in four parts
The pool
How many people you could realistically meet, and how balanced the odds are.
Singles 25 to 34
239,000
Never-married people in their late twenties and thirties, estimated
Never married
58% / 52%
Men / women age 25 to 34 who have never married
Balance
More single men than women
108 single men per 100 single women, age 25 to 34
First marriage
33 / 32
Median age for men / women
The scene
Whether people here actually get married, and how open the city is to someone like you.
Want to marry
60%
Single adults who say they want to marry
How fast people marry
20 per 1,000
Weddings per 1,000 unmarried adults each year
Marrying foreigners
12%
Marriages between a local and a foreigner
How people meet
Apps 7/10
Matchmaking and singles events 4/10
The costs
What dating, marrying, and raising a family costs here, against what people earn.
Date night
$60
Dinner for two, drinks, a movie
Family rent
$1,700/mo
A 2-3 bed apartment, city-wide
A wedding
$15,000
Typical total cost
The reality
Safety, stability, and what daily life is like after the honeymoon phase.
Safety
Generally safe
70 out of 100
Divorce
Moderate divorce rate
1.7 per 1,000 people a year
Healthcare
72/100
Quality of care
English
Widely spoken
Everyday usability for a foreigner
The culture
Not scored. Whether these are features or mismatches depends on you.
- Open to marrying foreigners
Marriage payment custom: None.
Marrying in Portugal
What the law says if you marry a Portugal national. Reviewed 2026-08-17. Informational, not legal advice.
- Spousal visa difficulty
- 4 out of 10, where 10 is hardest.
- Marriage process for foreigners
- Civil marriage at a Conservatoria. Foreigners need a certificate of no impediment, birth certificate (apostilled and translated), and proof of residence. Process takes a few weeks once documents are in order.
- Path to citizenship by marriage
- 3 years
- Property regime
- Default is community of acquired property (comunhao de adquiridos). Couples can choose full community or separation of property by prenup.
- Prenup enforceability
- strong
- Worth knowing
- Portugal is one of the easier EU countries for marriage-based residence and citizenship. Document translation and apostille are the main friction points. Informational, not legal advice.
* Some numbers come from national statistics and might differ from the city itself. Last updated August 22, 2026.