Portugal News

With the proposal for a referendum on immigration on the table, Chega insisted this Monday and Tuesday on the need to create quotas for immigrants during the Parliamentary Conferences in Castelo Branco. This idea was widely opposed by the secretary-general of the Confederation of Farmers of Portugal (CAP), Luís Mira, and the president of the Confederation of Tourism of Portugal (CTP), Francisco Calheiros, two of the speakers on the panels on the Portuguese economy and the rural world, who warned of the lack of labor in both sectors and the losses to the economy.

All foreigners who registered with Social Security before June 3 and are contributing will be able to regularize their situation, if the proposal is approved.

What should be done in these cases? What documents ensure that no sanctions will be applied? Is the passport valid? Is the NIF (Taxpayer Identification Number) valid? Can people be expelled from the country?

Metro will provide buses between Telheiras and Campo Grande and between Telheiras, Alvalade and Lumiar/University City. 

The Government announced this Monday the end of the exceptional regime that allowed a foreigner to enter Portugal and only then apply for a residence permit.

The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, promulgated this Monday the change in the law on foreigners that ends the exception regime that allowed immigrants to regularize themselves in Portugal, through the legal form of expressions of interest.

The Office of the Minister of the Presidency considers that "the degradation of the migratory situation has been worsening over the last few months".

The Government stated, this Thursday, that it was following the protest by citizens of Bangladesh, Pakistan and India at the door of the Agency for Migration and Asylum Interaction , in Lisbon, to complain about delays in the attribution of residence authorization cards.

More than two hundred immigrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan and India demonstrated in front of the headquarters of the Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum, in Lisbon. At issue are delays in renewing or issuing the first residence card. The waiting time can be over a year.

The concentration began at around 10:30 am and a representative of these citizens explained to journalists that the discontent has mainly to do with the waiting time, which in some cases exceeds nine months.

The amendment to article 15 of the Nationality Law approved in Parliament and published in the Official Gazette last month is valid from today. In this way, thousands of immigrants are now able to apply for Portuguese citizenship.

With this change, the so-called “years lost” by immigrants are now counted.

Immigrants demonstrated this Monday

“We have been waiting for 8 and 6 months. We don’t want to wait any longer”, tells the participants while talking to media in front of the Agency for Integration, Migrations and Asylum (AIMA) in Sao Sebastiao Lisbon.

At issue are the long waiting times to obtain residence cards, without which these immigrants cannot return to their home country.