Portugal's parliament approves amended foreigners' law with far right support

Published on 30/09/2025 - 22:32 GMT+2

Portugal connected Tuesday passed tougher migration regulations that marque it much hard to participate the state aft close and far-right parties voted successful favour of the amended measure successful Parliament.

The instrumentality was passed by the centre-right parliamentary bulk aft the Constitutional Court rejected the archetypal substance successful July, judging it arsenic being overly terrible connected household members of immigrants who wanted to articulation them.

According to the raft of approved measures, household reunification for immigrants volition present lone beryllium applicable aft astatine slightest 2 years of lawful stay, and lone highly skilled individuals volition beryllium eligible for occupation hunt visas.

Another facet of the alteration pertaining to the requirements for obtaining Portuguese nationality is inactive up for statement among lawmakers. A clause that permitted migrants to question regularisation by demonstrating that they had worked and made contributions to societal information for a minimum of 1 year—even if they had entered Portugal connected a tourer visa—was repealed by the number right-wing medication past year.

The right-wing parties PSD, Chega, Iniciativa Liberal, CDS-PP, and JPP, represented successful the chamber, overwhelmingly supported the 2 largest parties' support of implicit a twelve revisions to the decree, though each of the left-wing parties (PS, Livre, PCP, Bloco de Esquerda, and PAN) voted against the bill.

All the projected amendments tabled by the PS connected the Foreigners' Law were rejected, with the parties that enactment the authorities - PSD and CDS-PP - voting against, arsenic good arsenic Chega and Iniciativa Liberal.

Right-wing reached statement aft 3-day talks

The voting behaviour of the assorted parliamentary groups was announced after, according to SIC, the PSD and Chega reached an knowing aft 3 days of negotiations to alteration the legislative bundle to beryllium approved.

During the statement connected the proposal, the Minister for the Presidency, António Leitão Amaro, praised the "constructive stance" taken by the "three largest absorption parties" - Chega, PS and Iniciativa Liberal - during the discussion, contempt their "differences". He considered, earlier the vote, that this could beryllium "a precise important time for Parliament" if the connection was considered favourably.

Chega considered the caller mentation of the papers to beryllium "sufficient". "We salute the authorities for having managed to tighten up immoderate of the rules that were initially planned and for recognising that determination are abuses successful the granting of societal enactment that indispensable beryllium combated," said Cristina Rodrigues, representing the party.

For his part, Pedro Delgado Alves, from the PS, called connected the Executive led by Luís Montenegro to take to "avoid populist temptations" and travel a "constructive way successful hunt of solutions".

The determination was not taken unanimously, but the bulk of the judges declared unconstitutional rules relating to the regulation of household reunification and restrictions connected ineligible recourse.

But arsenic acold arsenic this caller mentation of the Foreigners' Law is concerned, the caput of authorities has already indicated implicit the past fewer weeks that helium volition astir apt promulgate it, with the anticipation that it volition respect the provisions of the Constitution.

According to information from 2024, determination were implicit 1.5 cardinal non-Portuguese residents of Portugal, making up astir 15% of the country's full colonisation and astir 4 times arsenic galore arsenic determination were successful 2017.

Video editor • Jerry Fisayo-Bambi