Dating Portuguese Women: Step-by-Step Guide on How to Date Women from Portugal

Here, we’ll tell you all the most important things to know when dating a Portuguese woman. Most prominent Portuguese woman traits, dating tips, do’s and don’ts, a guide on meeting real girls from this country—here, you’ll find all you need.

What are Portuguese women like?

Let’s talk about some prominent Portuguese woman characteristics. What are Portuguese girls like? How are they different from women from other countries? What do you need to know about them before you start dating them? Here are the answers.

• Portuguese brides are flirty and they may look approachable. But in reality, Portugal stands out from the crowd of Hispanic countries in this regard—it’s a Catholic country where lots of people are quite conservative socially (on a personal level). It’s not that they are too old-fashioned when it comes to dating, but this surely affects their mindset and expectations: for example, an average Portuguese lady would expect a man to make the first moves, pay for the date, take her home, etc.
• Their culture is one that values family. We can say this about most countries in the world, but when it comes to Portuguese, it’s just another level: they maintain close contact with their family (extended family, too), they always help their family members, and they value the opinion of their relatives. You will have to make a good impression at a family meeting in order to get parental approval, but once you’re accepted, you’re family, too.
• They are quite emotional. That’s something most South European girls have in common—but we can’t say that it’s a bad thing. In most cases, it will make your relationship more interesting and spicy. But taking precautions is still advised, of course.
• Portuguese ladies are incredibly family-centered. They depend on their families in times of need, they help each other, and they tend to get together with their relatives at every opportunity. So you’ll probably spend a lot of time with your in-laws!
• They are straightforward. This is really a nice thing, especially when it comes to serious relationships—a Portuguese girl you’re dating will not play games with you, she’ll express her feelings freely and explain her emotions in detail. They are direct, and they love talking about how they feel (and about other people’s feelings, of course).

That’s not all you need to know about Portuguese girls. Now, we’re going to show you some facts and numbers that will help you understand them better. 

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5 interesting facts about Portuguese women

• They do not get married early. In fact, Portugal has an incredibly high average age at the first marriage for women—it’s 33.7 years old, and it’s one of the highest results in the European Union. For Portuguese men, this number is even higher (35.1 years old).
• And they don’t have kids early, either. The mean age of Portuguese women at the birth of the first child is higher than 30 years old, too, and it slowly increases year by year. Well, that’s not surprising, taking into account the previous point.
• There’s an incredibly high divorce rate in Portugal. The “divorces per 1,000 inhabitants” rate is not that high, though—it’s only 1.7 divorces per 1,000 population (almost any country in the EU has a higher rate). But when it comes to the “number of divorces per 100 marriages rate”, the number is extremely high there—92% of marriages in Portugal ended in a breakup, according to the survey of 2023.
• Portuguese wives do not have more than 1-2 children typically. The total fertility rate in this country is only 1.35 children per 1 woman (but it slowly increases).
• They speak English quite well. Around 27% of Portuguese can speak English, and we can assume the number is much higher for young Portuguese ladies living in large cities. So, the language barrier is not a problem you need to worry about when dating these women.

How to meet a Portuguese woman?

Now, that you know what Portuguese women are like, let’s talk about how to actually meet Portuguese ladies. Should you go online or offline?

Well, you can do it offline, of course. Here’s how it works:

• You buy tickets from the US to Portugal (a round-trip ticket is around $600)
• You spend around 1-2 weeks in this country and try to approach women on the streets, in bars, night clubs, and wherever else (2 weeks in Portugal is around $1,000-$1,700)
• Then, you find the right girl, spend some time with her, meet her parents, propose to her, bring her to the US, and pay for her K-1 visa and her green card (around $2,025)

There are lots of things you need to be aware of if you’re going to meet Portuguese ladies offline. First of all, it’s not that cheap, as you already see—a 2-week trip will cost you at least $1,600 while dating sites are typically much more affordable. Second, approaching women on the street is fun, but the real chances of finding a girl who would be ready for a serious relationship with a foreign guy this way are pretty low, to be fair. And third, it’s time-consuming—spending 2 weeks in another country because you may find a girlfriend there is not the best option for most men, let’s be honest.

Online dating websites are a better option. They are more affordable: you can spend around $150-$200 per month and chat literally for hours there. They are convenient: you don’t need to leave your home, let alone cross the Atlantic Ocean, to date a Portuguese lady online. And they offer a better choice than offline dating: you can choose among thousands of Portuguese singles if you go online, and most of these girls would be genuinely interested in dating a foreigner.

Process of dating Portuguese woman online: All you need to know

Let’s talk about dating a Portuguese woman in more detail now. Let’s assume you’re going to meet a Portuguese woman online—here’s a short guide that will help you find a right dating site, use all of its potential, and do everything right.

Do’s and don’ts of dating woman from Portugal

Let’s talk about how to date Portuguese brides successfully now. It doesn’t matter if you meet that girl on an online dating site or on one of those Algarve—you still need to read this short guide in order to do everything right.

✅ Do: Give her a ring (even if you’re not ready to marry her yet)

The thing is, in Portugal, they give each other “dating commitment” rings. If you give her such a ring, this doesn’t mean you’re engaged, but this certainly means you have serious plans and is going to marry her in 1, 2, or even 5 years.

✅ Do: Be loyal

Of course, Portuguese women want their partners to be loyal; that’s not a Portuguese-only thing. But if you think that this means “do not cheat on your Portuguese girl,” well, it’s not that simple.

What you need to understand about dating in Portugal is that these ladies are incredibly emotional. If you want to know how are Portuguese women different from American women, this is probably the first answer that comes to mind! Portuguese women tend to feel and show a lot of strong emotions and feelings, but that’s not all. They can also be more short-tempered sometimes, and, what’s the most important part is, they are completely intolerant when it comes to their significant others flirting with other girls. Just don’t give her reasons not to trust you; you’ll be fine.

❌ Don’t: Be too shy in public

Unlike ladies from some other parts of the world, women from South European countries are much more relaxed when it comes to public expression of affection. It’s ok to hug her or kiss her in a park or on a beach, so don’t be shy.

❌ Don’t: Expect them to be fun and optimistic 24/7 

The point is, although they are quite passionate and generally have an optimistic outlook on life, they are sometimes called “Scandinavians of the South”, and for a good reason. Even their national music (Fado) is characterized by mournful tunes—compare that to traditional Spanish flamenco or South American bachata/rumba, and you’ll see the difference. It’s ok for Portuguese women to be a bit cold on the first date: this doesn’t mean they don’t like you; this is just how it works there. A Portuguese woman may not be incredibly flirty and passionate on the first date, but it’s because she is serious about the relationship and because it’s not that common for Portuguese ladies to make the first moves. But after a few dates, she’ll be much more passionate and caring if she really likes you! 

❌ Don’t: Compare Portugal to Spain 

Just don’t. And don’t assume that their language is Spanish, please. They are proud people, and they hate it when people think Portugal belongs to Spain like it was 900 years ago.

How to bring your Portuguese girlfriend to the US?

Now, when you know more about the benefits of dating a Portuguese woman and about the reasons why Portuguese women dating is a good idea, let’s talk about another important thing: bringing your Portuguese girl to the United States.

In fact, it’s 100% legal. You can either bring a Portuguese lady to the US and marry her there (K-1 visa path) or marry her in her country and bring her to the US after that (CR-1 visa path).

• These two visas are almost equally popular—in February 2023, for example, Portuguese people issued 1 K-1 and 1 CR-1 visas. Well, in our estimation, K-1 visas are slightly more popular because the processing time for the K-1 visa is slightly faster. So, here’s a short guide on getting a K-1 (fiance(e)) visa.
• File Form I-129F, it’s the visa petition. The filing fee is $535, and the processing time can be anything from 4 to 15 months.
• Once your petition is processed, your bride will need to file Form DS-160 (visa application). Then, she’ll be invited to a visa interview where they’ll ask her questions about your relationship to make sure everything is legit and “bona fide”. The DS-160 form will be processed within 2-3 months, and the visa fee is $265.
• Then, your bride will be able to enter the US. You’ll have to marry her within 90 days.

After that, she’ll be able to apply for a marriage green card, and in 3 years, your Portuguese bride will be able to become a US citizen. If she has kids, they’ll be able to enter the country on a K-2 visa and they’ll become US citizens after 5 years.

Conclusion

Editor’s notes

Michael Krakowski

European Countries Expert

“If you’re thinking about dating Portuguese women, the only thing I can say here is “go for it”. They are incredibly attractive, they make great wives, they are very loyal—and if you want to meet Portuguese women, you don’t even need to go anywhere. Just choose a good dating site and start chatting with them; it’s really that simple today!”

F.A.Q. about dating Portuguese women

Our Editorial Team

Written byMichael Krakowski, Author

Michael has been using online dating apps for more than 5 years, but his main strength is that he knows literally everything about Slavic women. He knows how to date them and what problems to expect in American-Slavic relationships, he understands what Slavic women like and what they don’t like, and he is certainly an expert at Eastern European dating.

Edited byPhilippe Berry, Contributing Editor and Travel Expert

I've been to 33 countries, and I'm going to expand this list; I was pleased to date more than 100 ladies from other countries while traveling (not bragging; maybe just a little), and I'm pretty experienced in both building relationships and understanding cultures different from my own. I love having fun, exploring new places and cultures, and helping people who are as interested in international relationships as I am.

Learn more about our Editorial Team