Portugal News

António Leitão Amaro, Minister of the Presidency, confirmed this Saturday

The Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum (AIMA) will begin notifying 4,574 foreign citizens next week to voluntarily leave the country within 20 days, the Minister of the Presidency, António Leitão Amaro, confirmed this Saturday.

“The Government was informed this week by AIMA that it is issuing 4,574 notifications for foreign citizens in an illegal situation to leave national territory,” said Leitão Amaro, in statements to journalists, at the Government headquarters, in Lisbon.

The coordinator of the Left Bloc (BE ), Mariana Mortágua, criticized the "policies of hate" against immigrants and stressed that "they are not enemies" and contribute almost half a million euros to Social Security. "They are not enemies. Just because they have a different skin color or because they come from another part of the world. 

Leitão Amaro says that "the time when people turn a blind eye to the lack of criminal records in immigrants' countries of origin is over", warning that immigration policy has changed and is regulated.

The Minister of the Presidency responded this Wednesday to the immigrants who demonstrated in Porto demanding “documents for everyone” with the phrase documents for “all those who comply with Portuguese law”.

Lisbon – The Chega party has included proposed changes to Portugal's Nationality Law in its electoral program for the upcoming May 2025 elections, emphasizing cultural integration over specific residency duration.

According to the program, Chega aims to grant nationality only to applicants demonstrating a "real connection" to Portugal. This would involve assessing knowledge of the country's history, identification with Portuguese culture and traditions, and proficiency in speaking and writing Portuguese.

The protest was attended by more than 50 immigrants, in protest against delays of AIMA. Demonstration was promoted by the association Immigrant Solidarity.

Azis is one of the immigrants who participated this Wednesday morning in the demonstration with the Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum (AIMA), in Porto. It held a sign that read: “we are immigrants not criminals.” Azis is a “worker”, has been in Portugal for more than three years and says that on the first day he arrived got a job. Still, its regularization process is not completed.

It is the same action carried out in Lisbon recently, organized by the immigrants themselves, with the support of associations such as Solidariedade Imigrante.

Porto will be the scene of an immigrant protest on Wednesday morning. The event will take place in front of the city's Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum (AIMA). The demands are the same as those of the protest held in Lisbon a few days ago.

8,000 cards issued and not delivered, at least in gross or general terms

President of AIMA admits that one of the reasons may be the existence of old emails from people who have been waiting for years to be called.

The president of the Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum (AIMA), Pedro Portugal Gaspar told Lusa on Monday in Porto that daily, for almost a year, 15% of immigrants scheduled to regularize their situation in the country do not attend.

With the repetition of stereotypes that show a country as the victim of an invasion.

The authors of the Immigration Barometer believe that the media in Portugal are accentuating the bad image of immigrants, with the repetition of stereotypes that show a country as the victim of an invasion.

The authors of the extended survey by the Francisco Manuel dos Santos Foundation, in an interview with Lusa, consider that the media are jointly responsible for the poor image of immigrants in Portugal, one of the conclusions of the study itself.

The now-defunct Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF) granted, in 2023 and 2024, more than 120,000 residence permits to immigrants from Portuguese-speaking countries without checking the criminal record of the country of origin, as required by law. "It was a serious mistake," says Leitão Amaro, who revoked the regime in February.

The via verder for immigration, a new way of issuing visas for foreign workers, came into force this Tuesday