Is Portugal Changing Its Immigration Laws?
Elections have consequences...
I wrote before “elections have consequences”. At the time, I was writing about the US.1 Today, I write about Portugal.
Recent Election
Portugal had another snap election on 18 May 2025. This was the third legislative election in less than four years.2 Election onlookers predicted that another minority government was likely.
With no faction likely to win a majority of seats in the parliament, and neither the center left nor the center right eager to forge pragmatic agreements, Chega is once again poised to play kingmaker. Montenegro has avoided collaborating with the ultranationalist group, but some members of his party — such as former PM Pedro Passos Coelho — favor coming to “an understanding” with Chega. — Politico.eu
Sadly, in my opinion, Politico got it right. The center-right Democratic Alliance3 headed by Montenegro garnered 32% of the vote, winning 91 seats — less than the 116 seats needed for a majority. The center-left Socialist party (PS)4 actually lost share winning only 58 seats. Chega5, the far right party, surged winning 23% of the vote and 60 seats.
The first item of business when the new government was formed was immigration. While as I write this on 27 June 2025 nothing has passed, it appears changes to the immigration and citizenship rules are coming.
Proposed Changes
I have gotten several emails asking me about the proposed changes. First, let me state the obvious … I am not an expert. Google, other Substackers and English language newspapers are my primary sources of information. Permit me to recommend the most recent Friday Briefing on Portugal Decoded. You might also want to read articles on Portugal Resident and The Portugal News. Here are some of the proposed changes:
D7 and D8 visas are NOT being changed.6 Job seeker visas will be restricted to “highly qualified professionals”. Changes are also expected for family reunification visas … extending the time required to apply and requiring integration efforts (e.g. language learning). The family reunification changes, if passed, will likely be challenged by the courts.
The length of time required to apply for citizenship may be extended. The proposal is to extend it from 5 to 7 years for people coming from Portuguese speaking countries (ie. former colonies), and from 5 to 10 years for all others.
When applying for citizenship expect a stricter language requirement as well as testing related to Portuguese history, government and culture.
Babies born in Portugal will not get automatic citizenship. Instead, at least one parent must have been a legal resident for 3 years and formally express interest in their child being granted Portuguese citizenship.
Citizenship may be revoked for naturalized citizens by the courts for some serious crimes.
A new police unit will be dedicated to border control and immigration enforcement.
When Will Changes Take Effect?
As Denise and I were only 6 months away from applying for citizenship, the proposed changes are something we are watching. At the same time, we have no plans to leave Portugal … the EU passport was simply handy if we wanted to travel for longer periods outside of the country.7 8
We have 5 young, working neighbors living in a 500 square feet, former dance studio. I suspect the residence is not “legal” … the place is pretty basic. They moved from Nepal, Pakistan and India on work visas, hoping to secure a Portuguese passport so they could move to another EU country and make more money. We also have American friends in Vila Real de Santo António … the husband was born in Portugal and his wife is American. They are currently applying for family reunification … the proposed changes may be a significant change.
For these folks the big question is when will these changes take effect. Will current legal residents be “grandfathered” under the previous rules? Or will these changes, which some suggest have been in the works for over 1 year, take effect immediately. No one knows for sure … but you can watch the video above to learn more.
O que é que acha, beijinhos…
Nanc
Note this was written in July 2022 … not 2024.
In 2023 allegations of influence peddling forced Prime Minister Costá from office. BTW he was elected to President of the European Council, one of the three most important leadership posts of the European Union, in June 2024. Prime Minister Montenegro faced a similar scandal last year. He owned a data protection consulting firm prior to his life in politics. He transferred interest in the firm to his wife and children, upon taking office but many questioned if he continued to benefit as the company had many government contracts. After the latest snap election he resumed his role as PM.
The Democratic Alliance/PSD is most akin to the traditional (pre-Trump) Republical party in the US or the Torys in Britian.
Think the Democrats in the US or Labour in the UK.
Most like Orban in Hungary.
However, I will note that the review process at AIMA seems to be tightening up. I shared our experience in 2021, when SEF only required a few forms and our meetings were over in under 15 minutes. I spoke recently to an American couple here under a D7 visa. They reported that every form on the list was reviewed at AIMA.
If our citizenship is delayed we could apply for Permanent Residency. This extends the time frame between renewals to 5 years (from 3) and also allows one to be out of the country for longer periods.
Finally, to be 100% honest, on my part it was a bit of a f-you to what is happening in the US. Is this logical? NO! Am I planning to pay to give up my US passport? Not at the current time. Hope springs eternal that a functioning democracy w!ll be restored.
Being Portuguese and knowing how these things work, I can assure all you that the target is not the expats or the immigrants from first world countries.
The target are the immigrants from hindustan, that come in flights full of men, just men, no families, just men of working age, arriving in PT saying that they are tourists. Many are brought by human traffickers and migrant smugglers. (I don't need to explain that.)
[We know that many just want PT documents and will disappear asap going to other economically stronger European countries, but being PT residents or even PT citizens... Their aim is not to integrate, it is just to get documents and move on.]
On people from PT speaking countries (Africans, mainly) and Brazilians, the problem is mainly because some are criminals and enter PT with no criminal background check - I believe that people should be able to start again, but many just want to expand criminal activities, and - worse - violent habits.
On «you» being affected by all that, fear not, new laws are not retroactive. That would be illegal to change the rules and affect previous ongoing processes. New ones, however, may become more restrictive and more scrutinized.
Nancy, thanks for a helpful post about something important to me as well. I am also approaching the five year mark as a resident, and have been hopeful of an effort towards citizenship. I really want a full connection to Portugal, which I feel is my country that I believe in. With the new immigration proposals, plus the backlog at AIMA, it all looks like a moving target. "Just a dream some of us had", from Joni Mitchell. A reoccurring theme in many lives. Thanks for having eternally springing hope!