Pressured by the Ultra right, the Portuguese government announces that nearly 34,000 immigrants who have not been approved residence will have to leave the European country. Group includes more than 5,000 Brazilians.
The government of Portugal announced on Monday (02/06) that 33,983 foreigners should leave the country. This number includes 5,386 Brazilians.
Until a few weeks ago there were about 18,000 foreigners. According to the presidential minister of the Council of Ministers, António Leitão Amaro, the government is notifying around two thousand people a day.
Why?
The nearly 34,000 that should leave the country, voluntarily, or forcibly, had their requests of residence denied. These requests were made by the now extinct manifestation of interest.
These people have 20 days from the notification to leave Portugal.
According to the agency for integration, migrations and asylum (AIMA), of the 440,000 requests made under the manifestation of interest, just over 184,000 were analyzed. Of these, just over 150,000 were approved, which is about 80%.
What is the manifestation of interest?
The manifestation of interest, now extinct, was the procedure by which a foreigner who had arrived as a tourist to Portugal requested a residence permit to stay in the European country.
It was extinguished by the Portuguese government in June 2024 amidst the debate on immigration in the country. However, the government continues to analyze requests made before the extinction, and now announced that almost 34,000 have been rejected.
And how do you do today to live in Portugal?
With the extinction of the manifestation of interests, foreigners wishing to live and work in Portugal must request their residence authorization in a Portuguese representation abroad and need to present an employment contract or at least an official employment promise.
This creates difficulties especially for those who do not have a Portuguese diplomatic representation near where they live.
Is there an exception for CPLP citizens?
Yes, Brazilians and the citizens of Timor-Leste can enter as tourists in Portugal and request the authorization of residence in AIMA.
Citizens of other CPLP countries need entry visas and may then request the residence.
In both cases, the period of validity of residence authorizations went from one to two years. And the authorizations are now issued in the form of plastic cards and no longer a craft sheet, allowing carriers to circulate through the Schegen space.
View of Lisbon. There are about 1.5 million immigrants in Portugal, which corresponds to 15% of the population. | Carlos Castilla/Pond5 Images/Imago
Why have there been changes in legislation?
The number of immigrants in Portugal quadrupled in less than ten years, which generated resistance to immigration between part of the population and xenophobia demonstrations.
This made immigration one of the main political themes, explored mainly by the Ultra -right party arrives, which was the second most voted in the recent legislative election.
Given this situation, the government of Premier Luis Montenegro approved changes in the law in June 2024. Montenegro won the recent early election and is expected to take office in the coming days for a new term.
Leitão Amaro called the system of the manifestation of interest, was created in 2017, under the government of socialist António Costa, “wide -open doors” and irresponsibility.
Changes introduced in 2019 dispensed with the entry visa so that the presence in the Portuguese territory was regularized, provided that the applicant had contributed for one year for social security.
“The migratory change we had in Portugal and the increase in very large immigration in recent years is one of the biggest demographic changes that the country has lived since the last century,” said Leitão Amaro on Tuesday.
He added that the country will spend decades discussing the consequences and the way of dealing with this demographic change.
According to AIMA, the end of the manifestation of interest dropped the entry of foreigners who wanted to obtain a residence permit.
How many foreigners are there in Portugal?
Official data from AIMA, released last April, show that there are about 1.5 million immigrants in the country, which corresponds to 15% of the population. This number is four times higher than 2017.
Brazilians form the largest community of foreigners in Portugal. By the figures for the year 2023, they were 35.6%, or 368 thousand people. But Itamaraty calculated in June of that same year that there were over half a million Brazilians living in Portugal.
Only the United States has a larger community of Brazilians, about 2 million, according to Itamaraty.
Originally published by DW on 03/06/2025
By Alexandre Schossler
Source: https://www.ocafezinho.com/2025/06/03/por-que-portugal-quer-expulsar-5-mil-brasileiros/
