IEFP Weighs a Full Year of Support for the Mandatory Internships Lawyers and Psychologists Need, but at a Lower Rate
The IEFP is assessing 12 months of support, instead of six, for the internships that give access to professional orders such as the bar, probably at a lower rate than today's 65 percent. Nothing is in force yet. What the rules say now and what to do.
Young graduates who need a one-year internship to join a professional order, such as the bar or the psychologists' order, could soon get state support for the whole year rather than half of it. The president of the Instituto do Emprego e Formação Profissional (IEFP, the Institute for Employment and Vocational Training), Domingos Lopes, told ECO on Wednesday that the institute is assessing 12 months of support for these mandatory internships, and that he expects the government to amend the rules "shortly". The catch: the IEFP's share of the intern's grant would probably be lower than it is today.
Nothing has changed yet. No amending ordinance has been published in the Diário da República, the official gazette, and Mr Lopes described the plan as under evaluation.
What the rules say now
The graduate scheme, Estágios +Talento, is set by Portaria n.º 221/2024/1. Its article 1 already allows it to be used for internships that give access to regulated professions, "without prejudice" to the professional orders' own decisions, and the IEFP's internships page names the Ordem dos Psicólogos as an example. But article 9 fixes the internship at six months, "not extendable", or 12 months for a young person with a disability.
The IEFP pays 65 percent of the monthly grant, rising to 80 percent for an internship in an interior region, for an intern with a disability, in a profession where one gender is under-represented, or where the employer hires the intern on a full-time permanent contract within 20 working days of the end. The gross monthly grant is 1,181.69 euros for a degree, 1,289.11 euros for a master's and 1,396.54 euros for a doctorate. The employer pays the full grant to the intern and is reimbursed for the IEFP's share.
That leaves a gap. According to ECO, the internships required by the Ordem dos Advogados (the bar association) and the psychologists' order last 12 months, so the IEFP support covers only half. "Given the length of these internships, IEFP support may be very scarce," Mr Lopes said.
Why it matters
Since a 2023 change, professional internships must be paid. ECO reports that the bar set a minimum of 950 euros a month and warned that most lawyers, who work alone, could not afford it; in summer 2024 the bar said that of almost 28,000 lawyers asked to take an intern, 42 said yes. Mr Lopes said a longer subsidy, even at a lower rate, "can be an incentive for companies to take on interns".
He also told ECO the IEFP wants to keep applications open all year from 2027, instead of two rounds, using artificial intelligence to speed up the assessment, and that about 70 percent of interns find work within six months.
What it means for you
- Graduates aiming for a professional order: you can already use +Talento for the first six months of a mandatory internship if you are registered as unemployed with the IEFP and aged up to 35. Check your order's own internship rules first.
- Employers, including sole traders: the current round is open on the iefponline portal until 18:00 on 7 December 2026, or until the budget runs out, under today's six-month rules. Our guide to this round sets out the scoring and the budget.
- Do not plan on the 12 months yet. The duration and the rate will only be known once the amended ordinance is published.
Lawyers and solicitadores are also pressing on other fronts: this week the two orders launched a joint campaign against unlicensed legal advisers.
