Immigration to Portugal: a wrap-up of 2024 and outlook for 2025

Legal changes that occurred at the end of 2024 significantly impacted the year 2024, notably the amendment to Portugal’s Golden Visa regime and the replacement of the Serviço de Estrangeiros e Fronteiras (SEF, or Foreigners and Borders Service) – by the Agência para a Integração, Migrações e Asilo (AIMA, Agency for Integration, Migrations, and Asylum).

WHAT CHANGED IN THE PORTUGUESE GOLDEN VISA PROGRAM?

The change to the Golden Visa regime carried over into 2024. The critical modification was removing the possibility of real estate investment, either directly or indirectly, to obtain the Portuguese Golden Visa. This was a major blow to market players, as historically, over 90% of Golden Visa applicants had chosen this type of investment. As a result, the market had to adapt, including promoting other forms of investment that had yet to be utilized or primarily ignored until 2024.

Moreover, many used misleading marketing tactics to announce the end of the Golden Visa Program to attract attention and generate as many deals as possible in late 2023. This practice had a significant negative impact. Many potential applicants wrongly believed that the program had been terminated. Thus, 2024 was marked by additional efforts to clarify the current investment options available for obtaining the Golden Visa. These are:

- Transfer at least €500,000 to acquire shares in non-real estate investment funds registered under Portuguese law, with a minimum maturity of five years and at least 60% of the investment in Portuguese commercial companies.

- Create a minimum of 10 jobs.

- Transfer at least €500,000 to establish a commercial company in Portugal, creating at least five permanent jobs, or to increase the share capital of an existing company, which must also create at least five permanent jobs or maintain ten jobs for three years.

- Allocate €250,000 or more for investment or support related to artistic production or to restore or maintain national cultural heritage.

- Allocate €500,000 or more for research activities by public or private scientific research institutions within the national scientific and technological system. As for the benefits of obtaining the Golden Visa, they remain unchanged:

- Allows circulation within the Schengen Area for up to 90 days without needing a Schengen Visa.

- Access to the National Health System.

- Access to courts, education, and the business environment.

- Does not require changing tax residency to Portugal.

- Eligibility for Portuguese nationality after five years of legal residence in Portugal, starting from the submission date of the process on the dedicated online portal.

- Eligibility for a permanent residence permit after five years of legal residence in Portugal.

Additionally, the Portuguese passport remains one of the strongest in the world. Factors such as security, the availability of accessible and high-quality services like education and healthcare, and the relatively low cost of living compared to other European Union countries continue to be the main reasons people choose the Portuguese Golden Visa.

NEW RULES FOR OBTAINING PORTUGUESE NATIONALITY

Last year (2024) began with a significant legal change impacting the process of obtaining nationality through the length of residence in Portugal.

Before the legislative change, Article 15 of the Nationality Law stated that for nationality purposes, “individuals who are in Portugal with their status regularized before the Portuguese authorities, under any of the titles, visas, or authorizations provided for under the entry, residence, exit, and removal regime for foreigners and the asylum law, are considered to reside legally in the Portuguese territory.”

However, in many cases, the period between the residency application and its approval could span years, during which the individual effectively resided in Portugal. Still, this time could not be counted as legal residence.

The law amendment now allows the waiting period for residence application approval to be included as part of the time considered for citizenship purposes, provided the residence permit is eventually granted.

This legal change corrects an unfair situation affecting thousands of people penalized merely by administrative delays beyond their control. The legal amendment represents a positive step, aiming to bring more predictability and fairness to nationality processes for Golden Visa applicants and other residence permit holders in Portugal, thus restoring credibility to the country.

CHANGES BROUGHT BY AIMA, THE NEW IMMIGRATION AGENCY

Since October 2023, AIMA has taken over the responsibilities previously held by SEF, inheriting over 400,000 pending cases. This heavy burden meant that 2024 was not an easy year, as the lack of available dates for new appointments and failure to meet administrative deadlines led to increased dissatisfaction among those seeking legalization in Portugal. There were multiple protests by immigrants throughout the year, some organized and others spontaneous, even in front of AIMA facilities. In some cases, police intervention was required to calm tensions.

Throughout the year, it was evident that AIMA struggled to manage the frustration of those waiting to resolve their cases. This situation led to increased litigation between residence permit applicants and AIMA. It reached a point that the Supreme Administrative Court ruled on the matter, determining that, as established by law, AIMA has 90 days to issue a decision on an immigration process, which, in most cases, was not met.

This ruling significantly impacted 2024, prompting AIMA to formalize cooperation protocols with the Bar Association and the Association of Solicitors and Enforcement Agents to ensure more human resources for processing applications. Thanks to these protocols, AIMA now employs over 1,200 more professionals than it did in 2023 and opened a new service center in Lisbon with extended hours.

Migration Plan

In Portugal, as in other European countries, immigration has gained increasing relevance in recent years, with notable political impact. Thus, two months after taking office, the Portuguese Government introduced the new Migration Plan, which includes 41 measures to address some of the main issues related to migration. Some of the key measures are:

- Ending the expression of interest mechanism, which limits the possibilities for individuals who entered Portugal as tourists or illegally and later decided to stay and legalize their status.

- Prioritizing entry channels for family reunification, young students, and skilled professionals.

- Reinforcement of Human and Technological Resources with new software programs and more professional training.

- Some 41 measures have already been implemented, while others have not progressed as much. However, more developments are expected in their implementation in 2025.

WHAT TO EXPECT IN 2025

In general, 2025 may be a year of significant pressure in Portugal’s immigration sector. Due to its characteristics, Portugal remains one of the safest countries in the world, with a lower cost of living compared to other European Union countries. This makes it an attractive option for those fleeing wars, especially the conflicts between Russia and Ukraine and between Israel and Hamas.

Additionally, political instability, such as the recent election of Donald Trump in the United States, may lead to an outflow of foreign nationals seeking a new country to live in.

Finally, significant legal changes in European countries regarding their immigration programs, such as the announced end of the Golden Visa program in Spain, expected to take place in early 2025, may lead many previously undecided individuals to choose Portugal as the country to obtain a golden visa, as it continues to be regarded as the best residence-by-investment program in the world.

Specifically in Portugal, the following developments may occur in the coming year:

AIMA Backlog

After failing to meet its goal of resolving all the backlogged cases left by SEF by the end of 2024, AIMA will focus on addressing this issue by the end of 2025. It will be difficult, as the number of foreigners in Portugal continues to rise, and this trend is expected to continue in the coming year. Meanwhile, AIMA employees spent much of 2024 on strike overtime, and this strike is likely to extend into 2025.

The opening of new specialized service centers in several cities across Portugal, along with the recruitment of around 300 new professionals by June 2025, may significantly reduce the backlog. This, combined with the end of the expression of interest process, which will reduce the influx of applications AIMA must process, should help.

Creation of an Immigration and Asylum Court

The government has created a specialized court for immigration and asylum matters, which is expected to streamline immigration and asylum processes and provide faster decisions. Due to increased cases and inefficiencies within AIMA itself, litigation against AIMA is expected to grow during 2025. There will likely be a need for specialization in the responses provided by Administrative Courts to protect the rights of foreign citizens.

Emergence of New Investment Funds Eligible for the Golden Visa

Investment in funds has been the most common type of investment for Golden Visa applicants, and we believe this trend will continue into 2025. Additionally, the emergence of new funds created explicitly for Golden Visa applicants, focusing on various asset classes, appears to be a growing trend that will intensify in 2025.