The government wants to ensure that labour immigration in Portugal is "regulated and responsible". Luís Montenegro's government has proposed a cooperation protocol to employers' confederations, which aims to speed up the hiring of foreign citizens with employment contracts, according to a statement from the office of the Minister of the Presidency released on Monday.
The issue at hand is a new operational channel, which does not create new legal entry points for immigrants, but which at the same time ensures faster procedures and greater responsibility and regulation of migration flows. The Government explains that it "clarifies and implements the controlled and responsible recruitment procedure for foreign citizens with an employment contract". The document adds that entry visa requirements are not "changed or reduced".
"From the discussion that took place it follows that the way forward cannot be to return to the old regime of expressions of interest (abolished on 3 June), but to streamline the regular channels currently provided for in Portuguese law", he writes.
In implementing the Action Plan for Migration, which was presented on June 3, 2024, Luís Montenegro's Executive met this Monday with employers' confederations to discuss the functioning of labor migration in light of existing legal rules, in order to meet the needs of the national economy.
"The Government thus continues to implement its new policy, in which regulated and responsible immigration replaces the deregulation and facilitation of illegal immigration as a result of the so-called “expression of interest”, combined with the dismantling of the Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF)", concludes the statement.
This Monday, the president of the Liberal Initiative (IL), Rui Rocha, assured that immigration is necessary for Portugal, for example to fill the labor shortage, but that it must be regulated, in defense of the interests of both immigrants and the country. “What we have defended is that there should be an entry whenever there is an employment contract, a work visa, and, therefore, that there is a job for the people in question. When people have a job, they have an income, this prevents them from falling into the hands of trafficking networks, illegal immigration and all situations of exploitation”, he said.
The coordinator of the Left Bloc (BE) accused the government of hypocrisy and of having an “opportunistic view” of immigration, by intending to facilitate the entry of immigrants into the country to complete works under the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP). “The government decided on an immigration policy not because it is fairer for people, not because it is better for the country, not because it respects anyone, but to go after it, respond, and dispute ideas with the far right and Chega. That is why Luís Montenegro decided to put an end to expressions of interest and basically prevent the regularization of immigrants in Portugal”, she criticized.