Portugal regularizes the status of immigrants

Portugal regularizes the status of immigrants - Portugal Business News

Immigration News Portugal - Portugal is regularizing the status of immigrants and the backlog of pending cases. Portugal's Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum (AIMA) decided on more than 525,000 cases, of which approximately 473,000 received a favorable decision, according to Portugal's Minister of the Presidency, António Leitão Amaro.

How many residence permits were issued by Portugal's new immigration office AIMA?

Portugal has been carrying out an extraordinary migratory regularization operation since 2024 under AIMA, with 225,000 residence permits already issued.

What is the situation for immigrants from Portuguese speaking countries in Portugal in 2026?

Concerning the situation for immigrants from the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP), 215,000 people were notified and 207,000 services were provided to 161,000 immigrants. AIMA processed 153,000 applications, with 140,000 approvals, and 136,000 residence permits already issued.

What is the situation for immigrants with expired residence permits in Portugal in 2026?

Regarding renewals of expired residence permits, Portugal processed approximately 360,000 cases, with 193,000 people notified for remaining in the country. Of these, 104,000 attended appointments and 82,000 have already received new Portuguese residence permits.

What is the situation for immigrants to Portugal in 2026?

While there were 1,543,697 foreign citizens with valid residency permits or regularization processes in Portugal in 2024, of which more than 1.03 million were foreign contributors to the Portuguese Social Security system, Portugal's Minister of the Presidency, António Leitão Amaro stated that there is no excessive burden of immigrants on the social protection system: "There are fewer immigrants as a percentage of the immigrant population using the Social Insertion Income than there are Portuguese citizens as a percentage of the Portuguese population."

Official data from Portugal's National Institute of Statistics (INE), will be published on June 22nd, 2026, and should reveal a different number for the resident population and the immigrant population in Portugal.

What methodology does Portugal use to count the number of immigrants?

Portugal's Minister of the Presidency explained that the figures from the immigration services, AIMA, and from the statistics institute, INE, differ because the two entities use different statistical methodologies: AIMA counts valid residency permits and administrative regularization processes, while INE only counts habitual residents in Portugal for more than 12 months.

The delay in releasing population statistics is due to the data reconciliation process between the two entities, following the dissolution of the Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF) and the creation of AIMA, as well as the work of the Mission Structure, which brought to the system 440,000 residents who were previously hidden from the statistics.

Leitão Amaro stated that the cross-referencing of information involves “millions of microdata points” from AIMA, Social Security, the National Health Service, schools, and the Tax Authority.