Filipino Nannies & Housekeepers in Portugal

A Filipino nanny in Portugal is a live-in domestic worker who holds Spanish nationality, so she can work for your family without a work permit. Mimucama Intermediación, SL is a domestic-staff agency based in Madrid, and we have been selecting domestic workers since 2010.

Portugal is one of the countries where we place most often. We are a placement agency authorised by the Spanish Public Employment Service (SEPE, no. 1300000335), with our office at Avda. Guadalix, 7, 28120 Santo Domingo, Madrid. You tell us what you need, we preselect candidates, you interview them by video and you choose.

In short, the salary is agreed net, in 12 monthly payments, from €2,600 net per month. Our fees are one month’s net salary plus Spanish VAT, and the guarantee lasts six months from the start, with one replacement at no extra fee. Each point is explained below.

Why Families Choose a Filipino Nanny in Portugal

English is the first reason. Many households in Portugal are international: expatriates, couples from different countries and families where the children grow up speaking two or three languages. They want English spoken naturally at home, and Filipino domestic workers are known for it. The second reason is reputation. Filipino domestic workers also have a worldwide name for their dedication in the home.

For years, most of our clients abroad were Spanish families living outside Spain. That has changed. Today most families who contact us are German, French or Swiss, with no link to Spain, and they find us online. In Portugal we work from the Lisbon area to the Algarve.

Our candidates are mostly Filipino and sometimes of other nationalities. All of them hold Spanish nationality, which is what simplifies the move for your family.

Spanish Nationality: No Work Permit in Portugal

A Spanish citizen is also a citizen of the European Union, so she enjoys the free movement of workers. A Filipino nanny in Portugal who holds Spanish nationality therefore takes up a job like any other EU worker, with no work permit and no sponsorship from the employer. The official Your Europe page on working in another EU country sets out these rights.

During her first three months in Portugal, her passport or identity card is enough. Once those three months are over, as for any EU national, she has 30 days to ask the municipality (câmara municipal) for a registration certificate, the certificado de registo. AIMA, the Portuguese agency for migration and asylum, explains the procedure on its page for EU nationals.

Filipino citizens can obtain Spanish nationality after two years of legal residence in Spain, as set out in article 22.1 of the Spanish Civil Code. The candidates we present to you already have it granted.

What She Does in Your Home: Nanny and Housekeeper Tasks

A live-in nanny or housekeeper shares the daily life of the household, so the role needs a clear shape. The mix of tasks depends on your family, and we ask you to define it before we start the search.

Tasks of a Live-In Filipino Nanny in Portugal

• Cleaning and ironing
• Cooking
• Childcare, when agreed
• Caring for older people, when agreed
• Keeping a second home in order, when agreed

Some families need a nanny focused on the children. Others, for example with a house in Comporta or the Algarve, want a housekeeper who looks after a home used mostly in summer. Both are possible, as long as the tasks are clear from the start.

What We Ask You to Define

Before the preselection, we ask you for five things:

• How many people live in the household
• The size of the home or homes
• The daily schedules
• The rest periods of the worker
• Whether she will travel with the family between homes

With that information we propose candidates who suit your household, and the video interview confirms whether they do.

Agreeing the Working Conditions

When you hire a Filipino nanny in Portugal, the post works best if everything is clear from the first day. Before the start, we recommend that you and the candidate agree the points below. They then go into the employment contract that your adviser prepares:

• The daily schedule
• The weekly rest and the days off
• The main tasks and the people she will look after
• The salary and the payment date
• What happens when the family moves between homes

Portugal has specific rules for domestic work. According to Decree-Law 235/92, the normal working week may not exceed 40 hours, and she is entitled to at least 11 consecutive hours of night rest and one weekly day off. Treat these figures as orientative: your adviser will confirm what applies to your contract and check that it complies with Portuguese employment rules. Respecting what you agree also matters for the guarantee, as explained below.

How to Hire a Filipino Nanny in Portugal with Mimucama

The process is the one we follow in Spain, with a single difference. In Spain it ends with a face-to-face interview. For Portugal that is not possible, so every interview is held by video, and our preselection is more thorough as a result. This is how it works for a Filipino nanny in Portugal:

1. Tell us what you need: the tasks and the profile.
2. We preselect candidates who match it.
3. Interview them by video.
4. Choose the candidate you want to hire.
5. Pay the first 50 % of the fees when the hiring agreement is reached.
6. Send her the flight tickets.
7. She starts, and you pay the remaining 50 % no later than the start day.

You pay nothing for the search or for the interviews. Fees only accrue once you reach a hiring agreement with one of the candidates we present.

What You Receive Before the Interview

Before each interview we send you the candidate’s profile sheet, with her age, experience and skills. The sheet leaves out her surname and contact details, and we arrange the interviews ourselves.

A video call shows you how she communicates, how she answers your questions and how she reacts to the routine of your home. We recommend that every adult who will live with her takes part.

Questions to Ask a Filipino Nanny in Portugal in the Video Interview

The video interview with a Filipino nanny in Portugal is short, so prepare your questions in advance. Choose the ones that matter most for your household and pay attention to how she answers, not only to what she says. Open questions that start with “tell me about…” work better than questions answered with a yes or a no.

Decide beforehand who asks what, so the call does not feel like an interrogation.

Experience and Care of Children

Ask for real situations rather than a summary of her sheet.

• What ages of children have you worked with, and what did each age need from you?
• How did you handle the school run, homework and bedtime routines?
• Describe a time a child was ill or upset and the parents were not at home. What did you do?
• How do you encourage a child to speak English, and how would you support a child who also learns Portuguese?
• What would a previous family say about your work with their children?

Daily Routine, Tasks and Rest

Describe a typical weekday in your home, then check that she understands it and is comfortable with it.

• Which tasks do you enjoy most and which do you find hardest?
• Are you comfortable cooking for a family every day, and could you learn our recipes?
• How would you organise cleaning and ironing around the children’s timetable?
• How do you understand weekly rest and days off, and how would you like to spend them?
• If the household moves between a town house and a beach house for the summer, how would you manage that?

Settle any doubt now. The schedule, rest and tasks you agree are also the conditions the guarantee expects you to respect.

Living as a Filipino Nanny in Portugal: Language and Distance

Moving abroad to live in a family’s home is a big step. She will be far from her own family, so ask openly and give her space to answer honestly.

• Have you lived or worked abroad before, and how did you settle in?
• Which language will you use with the children and which with the adults? How comfortable are you in English and Spanish?
• Would you be willing to learn basic Portuguese for shopping, school and daily errands?
• How will you stay in touch with your family, and how do you feel about being far from them?
• How would you feel about a coastal home that is quiet in winter and busy in summer?
• What do you need in a home to feel comfortable, such as privacy or time on your own?
• What would you like to ask us?

Leave time for her own questions and take notes during the call. Afterwards, compare impressions with the other adults in the household before you decide.

Salary: Net and in 12 Monthly Payments

We agree the salary net and in 12 monthly payments. In Spain, salaries are usually quoted gross and in 13 or 14 payments, a system little known elsewhere in Europe. One net figure is easy for the family and for the worker to understand.

The salary starts from €2,600 net per month.

What Net Means

Net is what she actually receives each month, after social security contributions and taxes have been deducted. Your local payroll adviser (a contabilista certificado or a payroll service) works out the gross salary needed to reach that net figure under Portuguese rules.

The Portuguese National Minimum Wage

The national minimum monthly wage in Portugal is €920 gross in 2026 on the mainland, according to DGERT, the Portuguese labour authority. It is a floor, not a target. Your adviser checks that the agreed pay respects it for the hours worked.

Fees for a Filipino Nanny in Portugal: One Month’s Net Salary

Our fees are one month’s net salary, calculated on the 12-payment basis, plus Spanish VAT, currently 21 %. It is Spanish VAT even though the job is in Portugal. With the starting salary, the calculation is:

• Net salary: €2,600
• Spanish VAT (21 %): €546
• Total fees: €3,146

The total is paid in two equal parts: €1,573 when the hiring agreement is reached and €1,573 no later than the start day. There are no registration fees.

The fees do not include the flights. You pay her flight, and also the flight of a replacement if you use the guarantee. All the conditions are in our terms and conditions, which you accept before the interviews.

Six-Month Service Guarantee with One Replacement

Outside the Community of Madrid, our guarantee lasts six months from the start, with one replacement at no extra fee. That makes two starts in total, counting the first.

If your Filipino nanny in Portugal leaves the post permanently, whether you end the relationship or she resigns, we select a new candidate with the same profile without charging fees again. Keep these points in mind:

• You must notify us by email at info@mimucama.es within fifteen days of the departure.
• The guarantee requires the fees to be paid in full and the agreed conditions to be respected: pay, working hours and registration with social security.
• There are no trial days. The protection is the guarantee.
• If the job is later moved permanently to another place, the guarantee ends.
• Temporary stays with the family in a second home do not count as moving the job.
• If the candidate does not start for reasons that are not your responsibility, we run a new selection at no extra cost.

You can read the exact wording in the terms and conditions.

What You Arrange in Portugal as the Employer

You are the employer. You sign the employment contract and register her with Portuguese social security (Segurança Social) with your local adviser. Mimucama does not handle Portuguese paperwork and does not advise on Portuguese law. What we do is present candidates whose nationality avoids work permits, and give you a clear salary, fees and guarantee before you choose.

The table summarises the main points when you hire a Filipino nanny in Portugal. It is orientative: rules can change, so check the official source.

Ask your adviser to explain the registration with Segurança Social and the payroll steps. Mimucama does not take part in them.

Families in Portugal We Work With

You can hire a Filipino nanny in Portugal wherever your family lives. The process is the same for the Lisbon area, including Cascais and Sintra, for Porto, for the Algarve, with places such as Quinta do Lago and Vale do Lobo, and for Comporta. Distance is not a problem, because the interviews are by video and you send the flight tickets.

If you also need a live-in worker in Madrid, see our page on the live-in domestic worker in Madrid (in Spanish). To learn more about the candidates we select, read our page on Filipino domestic staff (in Spanish).

Filipino Nannies in Other European Countries

We also select live-in Filipino nannies and housekeepers with Spanish nationality for families in these countries:

• Filipino nanny in Germany
• Filipino nanny in Switzerland
• Filipino nanny in Austria
• Filipino nanny in France
• Filipino nanny in Belgium
• Filipino nanny in Luxembourg
• Filipino nanny in the Netherlands
• Filipino nanny in Italy

Frequently asked questions

Does a Filipino nanny in Portugal need a work permit?

No. All our candidates hold Spanish nationality, so as EU citizens they can work in Portugal without a work permit. After the first three months she asks the municipality for a registration certificate.

Who signs the contract and registers her for social security?

You do, with your local adviser, because you are the employer. In Portugal the registration is with Segurança Social, before she starts. Mimucama does not handle Portuguese paperwork and does not advise on Portuguese law.

How much does a Filipino nanny in Portugal earn?

We agree the salary net and in 12 monthly payments, from €2,600 net per month. Net is what she receives each month after deductions. Your adviser works out the gross salary for that net figure.

How much are your fees?

One month’s net salary plus 21 % Spanish VAT. With €2,600 net, that is €3,146, paid in two halves: the first when the hiring agreement is reached and the second no later than the start day. The search and the interviews cost nothing.

What happens if she leaves?

During the six months after the start, we select one replacement at no extra fee, as long as the guarantee conditions are met. You pay the replacement’s flight. The details are in the terms and conditions.

Are there trial days?

No. We do not offer trial days. The protection is the six-month guarantee with one replacement.

Who pays for the flights?

You do. You send the flight tickets to the candidate, and you also pay the flight of a replacement if you use the guarantee.

Can I hire a Filipino housekeeper instead of a nanny?

Yes. The tasks are the ones you define: cleaning, ironing, cooking and, when agreed, childcare or caring for older people. A housekeeper follows the same process, salary basis and guarantee as a nanny.

Looking for a Filipino Nanny in Portugal? Contact Us

Send us a short description of your household, the tasks and the profile you need. We will preselect candidates and arrange the video interviews, and the search costs you nothing. Contact Mimucama whenever you are ready.