Regarding the next measures, the government spokesman, António Leitão Amaro, anticipated that next week the amendment to the Nationality Law, which is currently being evaluated by Parliament, will ‘be approved’.
The government warned this Thursday (16) that the amendment to the Foreigners Law, promulgated by the country’s president, and which limits, among other things, family reunification, will not be the last immigration reform. With the promulgation of the new version of this legislation, this is “a very important day for the country, it is a very important chapter of change in immigration policy, now regulated, with more control, more security, but also with more dignity for those who arrive”, said government spokesman, António Leitão Amaro, in a press conference after the weekly meeting of the Council of Ministers.
The spokesperson warned that this “is not the first nor the last chapter of this change in immigration policy” and recalled that, in 2024, the government has already closed the “open doors” of the so-called “expression of interest”, a system that allowed requesting residency and legalizing the situation of foreigners who had at least one year of contributions to Social Security.
Regarding the next measures, Amaro anticipated that next week “the amendment to the Nationality Law will be approved”, also promoted by the government of Portuguese Prime Minister, Luís Montenegro, and which is currently being evaluated by Parliament, which has not yet set a date to debate it in plenary or to vote on it.
Some modifications to the proposal are the end of citizenship by birth and the increase in the minimum period of legal residence to apply for nationality from five to seven years for nationals of Portuguese-speaking countries and 10 years for citizens of other nations. Amaro added that in November “the conditions will be met” to analyze another government initiative to change the deportation regime for foreigners who are illegally staying in the country.
The new Foreigners Law, enacted this Thursday and approved in Parliament at the end of September with the support of the far-right Chega party, among others, limits the family reunification of migrants in general, in addition to establishing restrictions on obtaining temporary residence for foreigners from Portuguese-speaking countries.
Regarding this last change, Amaro explained that, from now on, to obtain temporary residence, nationals from these Portuguese-speaking countries must arrive with a residence visa requested in their country of origin. “It is not enough to come to Portugal to do tourism and then see what happens, come with a visa exemption and then see what happens”, said the spokesperson, in addition to adding that to travel to Portugal to reside it is necessary to “come to work or study”.
He added that with the new text “the indiscriminate job search visa, going to Portugal to look for work and then seeing how it goes, is over”. “The work (visa) is reserved only for professions, functions, with high qualifications, where there is an evident and necessary job offer for the national economy”, he added.
*With information from EFE
Published by Fernando Dias
