Immigration policy, visa changes, and the expat experience in Portugal.
The Commission's second annual migration report leaves Portugal off all three pressure lists, so it pays into the Pact's Solidarity Pool rather than drawing from it. Relative to GDP and population, it had the second-most hits on Schengen return alerts.
Statistics Portugal's revised series, now built from administrative records, counts 782,248 people who left to live abroad from 2021 to 2025, peaking at 188,871 in 2024. Arrivals still outnumber departures, but the gap narrowed sharply in 2025.
Immigrants with five years on a temporary residence permit can now ask AIMA online for a permanent residence appointment. The two files to attach, the six conditions the form lists, what Lei 23/2007 adds, and how it differs from EU long-term status.
Construction firms employ more than 427,000 people and turnover has more than doubled since 2016 to 43.5 billion euros, but the sector weighs less in the economy than in 2006 and pay is below the business average, a Banco de Portugal study of 20 years shows.
Since the Return Law took effect on 11 September, a refused residence application is itself the duty to leave, with no separate notice first. The PSP can extend the deadline, and the refusal can be challenged in an administrative court.
Rui Armindo Freitas said foreigners who put public order at risk, not those who simply demonstrate, could have their permits cancelled and have 20 days to leave. What the Foreigners Law says, and AIMA's 2027 budget rising from 97 million to 146 million euros.
Eurostat counts 22,455 refusals of entry in 2025 for exceeding the 90/180-day limit, 16.9 percent of the EU total. In Portugal the overstay ground is rarer, but relatives visiting immigrants should count their days: the Entry/Exit System now records every stay.
