Jul 17 (edited) • 🧐 Bureaucracy & Admin 🧐
'Foreigners Law' - updated thread (July 16, 2025: Portuguese Parliament approved changes to a law about how foreign people can enter, stay, & live in Portugal)
*New Immigration Rules Update Information*
On July 16, 2025, the Portuguese Parliament approved changes to a law about how foreign people can enter, stay, and live in Portugal.
This new law ends the process that allowed people without papers to regularize their status by showing employment and Social Security contributions. It also adds new limits for job-seeker visas and family reunification and sets a final deadline for certain pending cases.
Key Changes
1. Ending the "expression of interest" process:
The option for undocumented migrants to regularize their status by proving they have a job and have paid Social Security is now gone.
2. Deadline for pending cases:
Foreign nationals who were registered with Social Security and working by June 3, 2024, can still apply for a residence permit, but they must do this by December 31, 2025. After that, the option will no longer be available.
3. Stricter rules for job-seeker visas:
Now, job-seeker visas will only be available to people with highly qualified skills, which will be defined by the government. If they don’t start a job within 120 days, they must leave Portugal and can only apply again after a year.
4. Family reunification requires two years of legal residence:
Foreign nationals must live legally in Portugal for two years before they can apply for family reunification, but there are exceptions for minor children already living in the country.
5. Special rules for vulnerable minors:
Children and young people under institutional care will not be included in the general humanitarian residence category anymore. They will have a special visa-free system for their needs.
6. Time limits for decisions on residence applications:
The immigration authority must make decisions on residence applications within nine months and can extend this period only once in very complex cases.
7. Effective date:
The law will take effect the day after it is published in the Official Gazette and will apply to all new cases from that date onwards.
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'Foreigners Law' - updated thread (July 16, 2025: Portuguese Parliament approved changes to a law about how foreign people can enter, stay, & live in Portugal)
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