Portugal News

Brussels: 04 June, 2026 — Brussels has sent a formal notification letter to Portugal, the first step in an infringement procedure, which now has two months to "respond and correct the shortcomings identified by the Commission".

The European Commission today opened proceedings against Portugal for failing to guarantee legal aid for suspects and defendants as stipulated in European legislation, specifically by restricting it in the case of foreigners without a valid residence permit.

Approximately 10,000 cards were returned by the Post Office after attempted delivery to immigrants.

Four branches of the Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum (AIMA) will be open on Saturdays this month to deliver residence permits returned by the Post Office. Immigrants with pending documents will be contacted by email .

Lisbon May 26, 2026 — A new European Union directive concerning residence and work permits has officially entered into force, but experts say it does not automatically allow immigrants living in Portugal to freely move and work in another EU country. 

The new legislation — Directive (EU) 2024/1233 — aims to simplify administrative procedures, reduce bureaucracy, and strengthen rights for non-EU citizens legally residing in the European Union. However, each EU member state will still retain control over who can live and work within its territory. 

Paxlegal, Liberty Legal, RME Legal and Fieldfisher Portugal are the founding firms.

Four law firms have joined forces in a consortium to defend immigrants affected by changes to the Immigration Law and the Nationality Law: Paxlegal, Liberty Legal, RME Legal, and Fieldfisher Portugal. “At a certain point, we realized there was an alignment between several firms, obviously with the same concerns. The clients have the same problems, and so we decided to join forces,” lawyer André Miranda told media .

Lisbon 18 May, 2026 — Portugal has officially published its new nationality reform today in the Diário da República as Lei Orgânica n.º 1/2026, de 18 de Maio, formally amending Law n.º 37/81, the Portuguese Nationality Law.

The law enters into force the day after publication, meaning the new rules are expected to start applying from 19 May 2026. 

One of the biggest changes is the increase in the residence period required for naturalisation:

Portugal’s parliament is preparing to vote on what critics describe as a “disproportionate detention” proposal, marking the final phase of the government’s broader anti-immigration legislative package that has reshaped migration policy in the country over recent months.

Lisbon May 14, 2026 — AIMA have now carried out more than 763,000 consultations and decided over 525,000 immigration cases, with approximately 473,000 receiving favorable decisions, according to Minister of the Presidency António Leitão Amaro. 189,000 Manifestação de Interesse cases were still left unprocessed at the time of the statement.

Lisbon, May 13, 2026 — Although Portugal’s revised Nationality Law has already been promulgated by President António José Seguro, constitutional scrutiny of the reform may not yet be over.

Under Portugal’s constitutional framework, the government must now prepare a regulatory decree-law within 90 days to define how the new nationality regime will be implemented in practice. Legal analysts note that this regulation will return to the President for promulgation, reopening the possibility of presidential intervention if constitutional concerns remain unresolved.

Lisbon May 12, 2026 — A proposal allowing the loss of Portuguese nationality for naturalized citizens convicted of serious crimes may still advance in the Assembly of the Republic, but constitutional experts say it would require approval by a two-thirds parliamentary majority due to potential conflicts with the Constitution.

Lisbon, May 4, 2026 — A note of caution now shadows Portugal’s newly approved nationality reform, as President António José Seguro warns that the changes must not undermine trust or fairness—particularly for those already navigating the system.

In his statement accompanying the law’s promulgation, the President stressed the “importance of ensuring that pending proceedings are not effectively affected by the legislative change,” cautioning that any retroactive impact could amount to “an undesirable breach of trust in the State, both internally and externally.”