Parliament approves amendments to the "Law on Foreign Nationals"

Parliament approved the amendments proposed for Law 23/2007, (commonly known as the Law on Foreign Nationals) due to intense work in all Government areas.

The Minister in the Cabinet of the Prime Minister and for Parliamentary Affairs, Ana Catarina Mendes, underlined that "Portugal is a country for immigration. Every year, we receive thousands of immigrants, seeking opportunities in our country. A country that wishes to welcome immigrants as it wishes its emigrants to be welcomed, too".

Among the main amendments, we note: 

1)      Operationalisation of the second-generation Schengen Information System (SIS II) 

• The Borders and Immigration Agency is bound to input into SIS II the denials of entry and stay on national soil when the denial is due to a concrete threat to the public order or security, or for national security reasons.
• The prerogative to control exits from national soil now includes national minors, in order to determine whether they are travelling accompanied or duly authorised by guardians/parents.
• The figure of impediment for travel due to restrictions on exits determined by law for the protection of vulnerable children and adults.
• An exception procedure is established for the urgent insertion of impediments for travel, requested from the Borders and Immigration Agency and the National Office - SIRENE - Supplementary Information Requested at the National Entry.
• The scope of data to be included in the personal data records in SII/Borders and Immigration is widened, making it easier to implement impediments for travel, denial of entry and stay, or return, on SIS II.

2)      Streamlining visas for citizens from the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (CPLP)

• Granting short-stay, temporary or residence visas for citizens under the Agreement on Mobility between CPLP member states waives a prior opinion from the Borders and Immigration Agency, SEF.
• The Consulate consults directly the second-generation Schengen Information System (SIS II) and can refuse a visa in the event of an indication of non-attribution and denial of stay in SIS II.
• The Consulate immediately communicates to SEF the visa being issued, and SEF can deploy law enforcement measures on national soil, for border controls, or until the visa is cancelled.

3)      Job seeking visa for Portugal 

• A new specific visa has been created for anyone wishing to enter national soil to find a job. 
• The visa is in force for 120 days, extended by another 60 days and is limited to matinal soil. 
• With a view to streamline procedures, the visa includes scheduling with the relevant services the granting of residence permits, within the 120 days in which the visa is in force, giving the right to request a residence permit after a work relation has been set up and formalised during that period.

4)      Facilitating residence visas to attend higher education

• Whenever the applicant is enrolled in a Portuguese higher education institution, the residence permit to attend higher education does not require a prior opinion by SEF to be issued.

• The Consulate consults directly the second-generation Schengen Information System (SIS II) and can refuse a visa in the event of an indication of non-attribution and denial of stay in SIS II.
• The Consulate immediately communicates to SEF the visa being issued, and SEF can deploy law enforcement measures on national soil, for border controls, or until the visa is cancelled.

5)      Temporary stay and residence visa for digital nomads

• The possibility of granting a visa for temporary stay and residence to professionals who work remotely, outside national soil, whether working for an employer, liberal occupations or entrepreneurs.

6)      Automatic assignment of provisional taxpayer, social security and healthcare numbers under the residence visa

• When a residence permit is issued, a pre-residence permit is issued, which contains the information on obtaining a residence permit and the provisional assignment of taxpayer, social security and NHS numbers.

7)      Temporary stay or residence visas for relatives with the respective documents

• Possibility for temporary stay or residence visas being issued, with the aim of accompanying relatives with the respective documents, allowing families to enter national soil together in a legal manner.

8)  Eliminating quotas on visas for employed work

• The scheme on quotas for residence permits for employed work was eliminated. It was an anachronical scheme, that was disapplied in the last three years under the State Budget Law.

9)      Streamlining procedures and increasing the period in which the documents are in force

• Issuing a pre-residence permit with the provisional assignment of taxpayer, social security, and NHS numbers.
• The residence visa issued for family regrouping now has the automatic assignment of taxpayer, social security, and NHS numbers.
• The temporary residence permit is valid for two years as of the date in which it is issued and can be renewed for successive three year-periods.
• The relative of a holder of a residence permit will have a residence permit issued, valid for three years, renewable for successive three-year periods.
• The residence permit granted to higher education students or researchers is valid for two years, renewable for equal periods.
• The residence permit granted to interns is valid for six months, for the duration of the internship, plus a three-month period.
• The "EU blue card" is valid initially for two years, renewable for successive three-year periods.

10) Streamlining the issue and renewal of the residence document for British nationals who benefit from the Brexit Agreement

• Alongside SEF, the public entities that collect biometric data for civil identification processes, namely the Registries and Notaries Institute, and the Citizen Bureaux, can now issue and renew the residence document for British nationals who benefit from the Brexit Agreement.