Portuguese Parliament approves new legal framework for foreigners

The Portuguese Parliament approved yesterday, in a final vote, the new legal regime for foreigners in Portugal, in which the concession of residence and temporary stay visas to citizens from a CPLP member state no longer depends on the previous endorsement from the SEF.

The Government proposal alters the legal regime for the entry, stay, exit and expulsion of foreigners from national territory, among other aspects, it also determines that the concession of residence and temporary stay visas to nationals of a State in which the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP) Agreement is in force does not depend on the prior approval of the SEF (Portuguese Immigration Office).

This change results from the mobility agreement signed by all CPLP member-states at the last summit of the organisation's heads of state in July 2021 in Luanda, Angola. With this diploma, the Government also intends to establish “procedures that allow attracting a regulated and integrated immigration for the development of the country, change the way public administration relates with immigrants and guarantee conditions for the integration of immigrants”.

To this end, the Government wants to move forward with the creation of a temporary title that facilitates the legal entry of immigrants in Portugal that wish to work in the country, simplify procedures and opening the possibility of temporary stay or residence visas "to cover remote work and family reunion permits".

"The present law proposal eliminates the existence of a global contingent of employment opportunities that were decided upon by the Council of Ministers with the purpose of granting a visa to obtain a residence permit for the exercise of subordinate professional activity," adds the explanatory memorandum of the diploma.

This week, the members of the Constitutional Affairs Committee approved some proposals presented by PS, IL and PCP to amend the Government's initiative.



PCP's proposal changed an article regarding the residence permit for higher education students, which is now valid for three years instead of two, and "renewable for equal periods and, in cases where the length of the study programme is less than three years, the residence permit will be issued for its duration".

The amendment to an article that establishes that "the holder of a short stay visa or of a temporary stay visa for seasonal work has the right to enter, remain in national territory and to exercise the labour activity specified in the corresponding visa". This amendment, proposed by PS, has the main purpose of extending this condition to "other" labour activities "at one or successive employers" and not only to the one specified in this visa.

Source: Lusa/Diário de Notícias