Portugal’s immigration rules have been changed through a decree by the new government. Through a new decree, the residence permit regulations have been made stricter on 3 June 2024 for undocumented migrants. The long-implemented mechanism of “manifestation of interest” has come to an end.
The new Portuguese government wants to tighten the immigration rules to reduce the number of migrants in the country who use the most liberal and open immigration system and instead promote skilled immigration routes.
“While the immigration doors remain open, they will not be wide open (for everyone). “We need people in Portugal willing to help us build a fairer and more prosperous society.”
The Prime Minister of Portugal, Luis Montenegro stated.
The main aim and need of the hour through newly made changes is to attract skilled immigration like other EU countries, though the impact of this in a country facing widespread labor shortages remains to be clarified. The plan was announced on 3 June 2024 Reuters reports.
The new plan will outlaw the widely used “manifestation of interest” system based on which the migrants enter Portugal without a visa, find a job, pay social security for a year, and apply for the visa to be regularized.
The citizens of South Asian countries have especially been benefiting from previously implemented rules. Following are the last available numbers of applicants who were legalized in 2022:
| Country | Number of People Legalized in 2022 | Percentage Increase from 2021 |
| India | 34,232 | 12% |
| Nepal | 23,441 | 9% |
| Bangladesh | 17,169 | 64% |
| Pakistan | 11,385 | 66% |
| Sri Lanka | 134 | N/A |
Historical Policy on Immigration (2007-2018)
Since 2007, Portugal permitted foreigners with valid visas, allowing them to work anywhere in Europe, to regularize their status. In 2018, the former socialist government broadened this policy to include those entering the country without valid visas. This longstanding process has been terminated by the new government.
Recent Legislative Actions
On June 3, Portugal’s cabinet introduced a decree aimed at tightening immigration policies. This proposal was abruptly approved by the country’s president and subsequently published in the official gazette. The government unveiled 42 new measures designed to manage migration flows more effectively.
Under the “Immigration Law 59/2017 Articles 81, 88, and 89”, which allowed immigrants who had been employed for at least a year and were contributing to social security to legalize their status, were repealed. Consequently, the legalization process through these articles is no longer possible. Anyhow, the applications submitted, and files locked before this date will be considered under the old law.
Who is allowed to immigrate to Portugal now?
As per authorities, according to new plans, the immigrants must hold a work contract when they enter Portugal. This will make sure that their reason for entering the country is working as skilled workers and not using immigration as a tool of settlement without any skills. These new rules may combat the country’s thousands of immigrants each year who enter without a visa, find a job, and get regularized.
Entry of qualified professionals, students, those from Portuguese-speaking nations, and people seeking family reunions will be prioritized.
Regulations for CPLP
There are no clear explanations of the new regulations available for the CPLP (Community of Portuguese Language Countries) visa route. Additionally, it is urgent to facilitate the renewal of documents for approximately 150,000 immigrants in this category, the majority of whom are Brazilian. The most common pattern among Brazilians is to disembark and then seek regularization in Portugal. This has been the main cause of the backlog of 350,000 pending residency processes, most of which are related to Brazilians.
About 800,000 migrants live in Portugal now, almost double the number from ten years ago. They make up about 14% of all taxpayers and contributed over 1.6 billion euros to the economy in 2022, while receiving about 257 million euros in social benefits.
Backlog at AIMA
The Agency for Integration, Migrations, and Asylum (AIMA) inherited most of these processes from the Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF) in October 2023 and continues to accumulate thousands of cases in its seven months of existence.
At AIMA in Porto, the legal demand overwhelms employees, who work with a reduced team given the large volume of accumulated cases. These legal processes oblige AIMA to provide urgent responses, which may affect the progress of other residence permit applications.
At the Lisbon Administrative Court, the number of cases now reaches 3,200, compared to 1,400 at the end of March. The president of the Supreme Administrative Court, Dulce Neto, revealed that the Lisbon Administrative Court receives around 100 requests per day.
Though facing a tough time, the country has still been able to regularize about 180,000 immigrants in 2023.
Files from Visa-Guru.com, schengenvisa.news, Umer Rasib, Reuters, and SEF.