🇵🇹 Portugal news, in English, every morning. Free. Subscribe

The Portugal Brief

Home
Politics
Economy
Guides
About

Sign in Subscribe

Immigration

Immigration policy, visa changes, and the expat experience in Portugal.

The Sao Bento Palace in Lisbon, seat of Portugal's Assembleia da Republica, with its columned neoclassical facade and national flag

President Refers the Government's New Return and Asylum Law to the Constitutional Court

President António José Seguro has asked the Constitutional Court for a preventive review of the government's new Return and Asylum Law, citing doubts over child welfare, longer administrative detention for foreigners who have committed no crime, and removals carried out before appeals are decided.

The Portugal Brief 10 Aug 2026

The check-in hall at Lisbon's Humberto Delgado Airport, with passengers queuing at airline desks under Portuguese-language signage

Lisbon Court Gives AIMA Seven Days to Answer for Deporting a 19-Year-Old Honours Student

A Lisbon court has ordered the immigration agency AIMA to respond within a week after Kauê Matos, a 19-year-old Brazilian honours student, was deported following a two-year wait on a residence application. He was held four days in the airport's international zone before being expelled without a judi

The Portugal Brief 08 Aug 2026

The pink Palacio de Belem in Lisbon, the official residence of the President of the Portuguese Republic, with the presidential guard on duty

Portugal Enacts Its First Statute for Stateless People, Giving AIMA a Free, Fast-Track Recognition Path

President Seguro has promulgated Portugal's first dedicated statute for stateless people, completing a process begun in 2023. AIMA will run a recognition procedure that is free and urgent, with oral applications and an interpreter, and grants near-full citizen rights bar political ones.

The Portugal Brief 08 Aug 2026

The Assembleia da Republica (Portuguese Parliament) at the Palacio de Sao Bento in Lisbon, the national flag flying above the pediment

President Seguro Sends Portugal's Asylum-and-Return Overhaul to the Constitutional Court Over Child-Welfare and Detention Doubts

President Antonio Jose Seguro has referred Parliament's asylum-and-return overhaul to the Constitutional Court for preventive review, citing doubts over child welfare, longer immigration detention and weaker appeal rights. The decree is frozen until the judges rule within 25 days.

The Portugal Brief 07 Aug 2026

Pedestrians walking along Rua Augusta, Lisbon's main downtown pedestrian street, on the black-and-white calçada pavement between tall buildings, with the Rua Augusta arch in the distance

Economy Minister Promises an Almost-'Green Lane' for Immigrants Who Arrive With a Job and a Home

Economy Minister Manuel Castro Almeida says 'wide-open doors' to migration 'did not produce good results', but promises an almost-'green lane' for immigrants who arrive with a job and a home — reframing immigration around Portugal's record-low unemployment and labour shortage.

The Portugal Brief 06 Aug 2026

The neoclassical facade of the Palacio de Sao Bento, seat of Portugal's Assembleia da Republica, with the national flag flying, in Lisbon

Montenegro Rebukes Spain's Migration Policy While Defending Portugal's 'Dignity Without a Pull Effect' Approach

Speaking as EU interior ministers met over the Ceuta crisis, PM Luís Montenegro criticised policies that create a 'pull effect' and defended Portugal's orderly-but-humane line. Lisbon still declined to back a call to suspend Spain from Schengen.

The Portugal Brief 05 Aug 2026

AIMA's Regularisation Drive Leaves Roughly 30,000 'Complex' Cases From a Near-Million Backlog

AIMA's Regularisation Drive Leaves Roughly 30,000 'Complex' Cases From a Near-Million Backlog

The task force that inherited nearly a million immigration files has cleared all but about 30,000 — the harder cases that need documents, checks or a direct call before AIMA can decide.

The Portugal Brief 02 Aug 2026

Subscribe to The Portugal Brief

Don't miss out on the latest news. Sign up now to get access to the library of members-only articles.

Sign up
Privacy Policy
Terms of Service
Partner with Us
Editorial Standards

The Portugal Brief © 2026. Powered by Ghost

Operated by Thrifty Explorations LLC.

[email protected]