Portugal News

Lisbon June 26, 2026 — Parliament approved, in general and in a final overall vote, the bill authorizing the Government to create the Single Social Benefit (PSU), following an agreement between PSD/CDS-PP and PS. The benefit unifies non-contributory subsidies, such as the social insertion income or various pensions.

The Single Social Benefit (PSU) proposed by the Government was approved this Thursday in Parliament, with abstentions from the Socialist Party (PS) and the Liberal Initiative (IL).

The United Nations on Saturday deeply regretted the European Union's (EU) new legislation on the "return" of rejected migrants, stressing that European countries cannot transfer their obligations to third countries

"EU countries cannot simply pass their human rights obligations on to third countries," said the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, in a statement.

Lisbon, 19 June 2026 — Portugal’s Parliament has rejected the government’s proposed labour-law reform after Chega joined opposition parties in voting against it.

The proposal, presented by the centre-right PSD/CDS-PP government, aimed to change more than 100 articles of the Labour Code. The government said the reforms were needed to improve productivity, strengthen competitiveness and create better job opportunities.

BERN, Switzerland, June 14, 2026 — The radical right's proposal to limit Switzerland's population, with the clear aim of restricting immigration, was rejected in the country following the elections held this Sunday.

Swiss voters rejected a far-right initiative to limit the population to 10 million by 2050 in a referendum on Sunday, with national projections indicating a victory for the "no" vote, according to state broadcaster SRF.

Lisbon June 12, 2026 — Portugal’s Parliament has rejected Projeto de Lei 293/XVII/1, a proposal authored by the Joint Action Group against Racism and Xenophobia (GAC) to strengthen the Penal Code against racism, xenophobia and other forms of discrimination.

The proposal aimed to make racist and discriminatory conduct a more serious criminal offence, including cases linked to ethnic or racial origin, nationality, religion, colour, language, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and disability.

Lisbon 12 June, 2026 — Portugal’s centre-right Democratic Alliance government has succeeded in approving a bill that ends the granting of residence permits to foreign students who arrive in the country without a prior visa.

With the support of the far right, which abstained, the government secured parliamentary approval to end the regularisation route for foreign students who do not hold a long-stay study visa.

Lisbon, June 11, 2026 — Portugal’s Parliament discussed today two Government proposals that may bring important changes to the country’s asylum, border control and return procedures.

The proposals are linked to the European Union’s Migration and Asylum Pact and aim to update Portuguese law in line with new EU rules on migration management, border screening and international protection.

Lisbon 11 June, 2026 — Portugal’s Parliament is voting today on a new immigration law package that may bring important changes for immigrants, foreign residents and new arrivals.

One of the biggest proposed changes is the end of “deferimento tácito” for residence permit renewals. Until now, in some cases, if AIMA did not decide within the legal deadline, the renewal could be treated as automatically approved. The new proposal aims to remove this automatic approval mechanism.

Lisbon 09 June, 2026 — The Government’s proposed changes to the Foreigners Law would remove “deferimento tácito”, a legal mechanism used when AIMA fails to decide renewal requests within the deadline. The measure is not yet law and is expected to be voted in Parliament this week.

Portugal’s Government is moving to end the automatic approval mechanism currently available in some delayed residence-permit renewal cases, as part of a broader tightening of immigration rules.

Huelva: 06 June, 2026 — Portugal opposes return centers outside the European area and is trying to moderate the radical measures of the EU immigration agreement in the final vote.

The Minister of the Presidency responsible for migration, António Leitão Amaro, criticized the regulation on the return of immigrants agreed upon between the main EU institutions. His statement was made yesterday in Huelva, Spain, during the Ibero-American Forum on Migration and Development.