Government will pursue controlled immigration policy

The Portuguese Prime Minister Luís Montenegro presided over the signing of the cooperation protocol for Regulated Labour Migration held in Lisbon.

"For this mechanism to work, there we must be a valid work agreement, travel and health insurance for the worker, a vocational training and Portuguese language learning plan, and a suitable housing arrangement", four conditions that are "of interest to the country, companies and [immigrant] workers", he said.  

If these conditions are met, visas should be granted within 20 days as of the date in which the applicant is assisted at the consulate.

Luís Montenegro noted that the Government continues to view the immigration policy "in a holistic manner" so that it can be adapted "at any moment to the country’s needs" and it commitments within the European Union.

"We will not close the door on anyone, but we will not be selling any illusions either. And where there is irregular conduct, where people don’t follow the rules, there must be consequences", he stressed.

"Condescendence towards not complying with" the rules or mitigating them would bring back "confusion, irresponsibility, the hundreds of thousands of processes pending" that the services could not close.  The Government is "concluding the process to analyse and solve the 400 thousand pending cases" that had been around for a year.

Oftentimes, we left "foreign workers who sought us out with the best intentions in the hands of the networks that took and still take advantage of these work capabilities, who retain part of the people’s work efforts. There is no situation more offensive from a humanism perspective than this", he stated.

The protocol was signed by the Portuguese Corporate Confederation, the Farmers’ Confederation, the Trade and Services Confederation, the Tourism Confederation, the Construction and Real Estate Confederation.

On the side of the State, the following were signatories: the Directorate-General for Consular Affairs and the Portuguese Communities, the Integration, Migrations and Asylum Agency, the Borders and Foreigners Coordination Unit of the Internal Security System, and the Vocational Training and Employment Institute.

The Ministers of state and Foreign Affairs Paulo Rangel, of the Presidency António Leitão Amaro, in the Cabinet of the Prime Minister and Territorial Cohesion Manuel Castro Almeida, Home Affairs Margarida Blasco, Infrastructure and Housing Miguel Pinto Luz, the Economy Pedro Reis, and Agriculture and Fisheries José Manuel Fernandes also attended the ceremony.