Portugal News

Portugal election exit polls show Lisbon, Porto too close to call,

The far-right Chega party is expected to take over city halls in the country’s interior, but has failed to win outright in major cities.

Exit polls for Portugal’s nationwide local elections on Sunday show the top candidates neck-and-neck in Lisbon and Porto, with the far-right Chega party failing to conquer any major cities.

According to projections from the Catholic University of Portugal published by state broadcaster RTP, Chega has failed to win outright in the country’s largest cities but is well-positioned to act as kingmaker in several municipalities.

New border control system goes into operation today

The new European border control system for non-EU citizens comes into operation today in Portugal and other Schengen countries, replacing traditional passport stamps.

SAccording to the Internal Security System (ISS), the new European automated external border control system, the Entry/Exit System (EES), "applies to all non-EU citizens entering the territory for short stays (up to 90 days in a 180-day period), regardless of whether they require a visa".

Assaulted Immigrant: "I worked in agriculture for three years. I never saw a young Portuguese person there."

Rachhpal Singh, 29, has lived in Portugal for six years. He's legal, works, and pays taxes. On October 5th, he was attacked by a group of men, some of whom wore neo-Nazi 1143 t-shirts, at the Aveiras service station on the A1 highway. He hasn't yet been contacted by the authorities and only wants to recover his stolen phone.

Requests for residency renewals must be made by the 15th. The decree-law will not be renewed

The deadline is for the immigrant to keep proof of application. This issue applies to documents that expire after June 30th, which are valid for another six months according to the law.

According to sources, Immigrants with residence permits that expired before June 30, 2025, should apply for renewal as soon as possible. The decree-law that renews expired documents expires on October 15 and will not be renewed, reports media. 

Discussion on the Nationality Law to resume soon

The ruling party made it clear before the summer recess that it would agree to hold hearings, but that the matter should be resolved by the time the State Budget, which will be presented today, is discussed.

The recent approval of the new Foreigners' Law raised questions about possible changes to the Nationality Law, as both were announced jointly by the Government. However, they are distinct laws . The Nationality Law is currently undergoing hearings—or hearings—with professionals and entities involved in the matter.

Portugal's Parliament approves government's anti-immigration package of laws

The initial proposal was withdrawn after being rejected in August by the Constitutional Court.

The Portuguese Parliament approved the anti-immigration bill package presented by the government on Tuesday (30) by 160 votes to 70. The more restrictive bill was rejected in August by the Constitutional Court. Therefore, the proposal is now considered more 'lenient'.

PS wants to eliminate deadlines for reunification of minors, spouses and dependents

The Socialist Party (PS) wants to eliminate deadlines for family reunification of minors, spouses or dependents in the foreigners' law and proposes that the general rule be one year, instead of the two years advocated by the Government.

These proposals were presented today at a press conference by the vice-president of the PS parliamentary group, Pedro Delgado Alves, on the eve of the parliament's debate and vote on the general, specific and final amendments put forward by the PSD and CDS for the re-evaluation of the law on foreigners.

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