The Migration Agency only accepts family reunification applications from children up to 18 years old who already reside in Portugal. In May, there were 4,300 applications under analysis and almost 8,000 approved
The only form of family reunification available to immigrants legally residing in Portugal applies only to those who have minor children already living in the country. All other foreign citizens who wish to bring their family from their country of origin — even if they meet the income and housing conditions defined by law to be able to do so — continue to be denied access to vacancies at the Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum (AIMA) for the assessment of their applications. Although this is a right enshrined in the Immigration Law, the European Convention on Human Rights and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, the Government has no intention of extending family reunion process.