The government of Portugal has said that it will grant automatic residence permits that will remain valid for a period of one year to citizens of the countries part of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP).
According to the government, such a move will allow about 150,000 immigrants from Portuguese-speaking countries to regularise their situation in Portugal and will help the country tackle labour shortages, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
However, it has been pointed out that in order to be able to regularise their situation and get a one-year residence permit, citizens of Portuguese speaking required will be required to prove that they have a job in the country.
This means that all immigrants from Portuguese-speaking countries will have to present a work contract when obtaining a residence permit.
Regarding the other rules, the Portuguese authorities have explained that citizens of Portuguese-speaking countries are required to pay a fee of €15 for the residence permit.
Back in November 2022, the government of Portugal decided to start applying new facilitated rules for all citizens of Portuguese-speaking countries. The new rules allow the CPLP citizens to obtain a visa as well as enter Portugal for work and other purposes without having to undergo strict rules.
Deutsche Welle explains that the Minister of Internal Administration of Portugal, José Luís Carneiro, said last week that the facilitated rules that the government plans to introduce for citizens of the Portuguese-speaking countries would allow them to have “access to social security, health and tax number”.
The same noted that such a move would mainly benefit citizens of Brazil who have lodged a high number of residence applications in the last couple of years.
Previously, SchengenVisaInfo.com reported that about 100,000 citizens of Brazil reside illegally in Brazil as they have not received an answer on their application from SEF, which is responsible for issuing residence permits.
Taking into account the high number of Brazilians waiting for a response, the federal senator of Brazil, Chico Rodrigues, called on the Portuguese authorities to take all the necessary measures.
Rodrigues said earlier this month that Brazilians in Portugal who do not hold the necessary documentation are unable to open a bank account, find a job, as well as rent a place to live.
The same pointed out that Brazilians without the necessary documentation live in inhumane conditions in Portugal. For this reason, the senator asked the authorities to speed up the issuing process.