Lula da Silva to Visit Lisbon on April 21 — Immigration Policy Expected to Dominate Talks

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is planning to visit Portugal on April 21, according to sources at the Palácio do Planalto confirmed by the Lusa news agency on Monday. The visit would include meetings with both Prime Minister Luís Montenegro and President António José Seguro.

If confirmed, it would be Lula's first encounter with Seguro, who took office in March. The Brazilian president was unable to attend the inauguration because he had a previously scheduled meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, a fellow BRICS partner.

Strategic Stopover After Spain

The Portugal visit is being planned as part of a broader European trip. Lula is expected to be in Spain from April 16 to 18, invited by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez for a bilateral visit on April 17. He will also participate in the fourth high-level meeting of the "In Defence of Democracy" initiative in Barcelona on April 18.

The April 21 date carries symbolic weight — it is Tiradentes Day in Brazil, a national holiday celebrating an 18th-century independence hero. Lula's last visit to Portugal was in April 2023, shortly after beginning his current term, for the XIII Luso-Brazilian Summit.

Immigration as the Elephant in the Room

The visit comes at a sensitive moment in bilateral relations. Portugal has significantly tightened its immigration framework over the past year, with measures that have disproportionately affected the country's large Brazilian community — the single biggest foreign nationality group in Portugal.

The recently approved nationality law doubled the residency requirement for citizenship from five to ten years for non-EU nationals. AIMA, the immigration authority, continues to work through a backlog of over 400,000 pending cases, many of them Brazilian applicants.

Lula has been closely monitoring Portugal's immigration policy shift, receiving regular briefings from Brazil's ambassador in Lisbon, Raimundo Carreiro. Montenegro previously sought to reassure Lula about the changes during their two meetings in Brazil last year — at the XIV Luso-Brazilian Summit in Brasília in February and at COP30 in Belém do Pará in November.

Trade and Energy on the Table

Beyond immigration, the leaders are expected to discuss the EU-Mercosur trade agreement, which takes effect on May 1, and the global energy crisis triggered by the Middle East conflict. Brazil, as a major oil producer outside the OPEC framework, has become an increasingly important energy partner for Europe as Gulf supplies face disruption.

The visit also arrives just weeks before Brazil's own political calendar heats up, with Lula — who aspires to a fourth presidential term — facing elections in October 2026. A successful European tour bolsters his international stature ahead of that campaign.

For non-EU citizens navigating Portugal's immigration system, see our complete guide to visa and residency options in 2026.