Immigration Act: The changes continue
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Less than nine months after the last revision, the Government is preparing a new amendment to the Immigration Act
By Lidiane de Carvalho
The Portuguese Immigration Act is once again in the process of being amended.
The last significant revision entered into force with the publication of the law approved in October 2025. Less than nine months later, the Government has submitted a new bill that again amends, directly, the legal framework governing the entry, stay, departure and removal of foreign nationals from Portuguese territory. The bill itself describes this intervention as the twentieth amendment to the Immigration Act.
The succession of reforms confirms a trend that became clear after the elimination, in June 2024, of the “manifestação de interesse” route for regularization: the Portuguese system is progressively moving away from options that allow status regularization from within the territory and increasingly requiring, as a rule, that migration processes be initiated at the Portuguese consulate in the country of origin or habitual residence.
The new amendment is not yet in force.
However, some of the measures under discussion could affect people who are already in Portugal, including students, parents of resident children and holders of residence permits who are awaiting a decision on renewal.
The initiative in question is a bill submitted by the Government on 12 May 2026, which was approved in first reading (general principles) on 12 June 2026 and then sent to the Committee on Constitutional Affairs, Rights, Freedoms and Guarantees for detailed consideration.
Formally, the bill seeks to adapt Portuguese legislation to the new European framework on screening, border procedures and return, as well as to transpose the EU directive on the single work and residence permit. However, the text currently under discussion also includes domestic changes that go beyond the implementation of EU rules and that restrict some residence pathways that currently exist under Portuguese law.
What could change for students in vocational and professional programs?
Under the wording currently in force, it is, in certain circumstances, possible for a person who has entered and remains legally in Portugal to obtain a residence permit for study purposes, even without having previously applied for a residence visa, provided that the person has been admitted to a:
secondary school program;
qualification program at level 4 or 5 of the National Qualifications Framework; or
vocational training program.
This is not an automatic regularization route. The applicant remains required to demonstrate lawful entry into and lawful stay in the country, enrollment and admission to the course, and compliance with all other applicable legal requirements. Even so, this route has, in some cases, made it possible to convert a short-term lawful stay into a residence for training or study.
The text currently under discussion in Parliament proposes to abolish this specific option for those who are in Portugal without an appropriate residence visa, by repealing the provision that, in certain cases, allowed the visa requirement to be waived for students already present in the country who enrolled in professional programs or qualification programs at levels 4 or 5.
If the version currently under discussion is approved without significant changes, enrollment in a professional or vocational course after entering Portugal will, as a rule, no longer constitute a pathway to apply for a residence permit with a waiver of the consular visa requirement. Training will remain possible, but the pathway will change: in principle, the individual will first need to obtain the appropriate visa before travelling to Portugal.
Parents of foreign minor children may lose an important residence pathway
Another relevant change concerns the regime that currently allows, in certain circumstances, a parent to obtain a residence permit without the need for a visa, based on the relationship with a child living in Portugal.
At present, this possibility covers parents of foreign children who reside in Portugal and parents of children with Portuguese nationality, provided that they effectively exercise parental responsibilities and ensure the child’s maintenance and education.
The draft under discussion would narrow this regime. In its current form, the visa waiver is clearly associated with parents of minor children with Portuguese nationality who reside in Portugal and over whom they effectively exercise parental responsibilities.
In practice, the mere fact that a foreign child holds a residence permit in Portugal would, by itself, no longer be sufficient to rely on this specific visa-waiver route to obtain a residence permit. This change may affect families in which the child is regularized, attends school and lives in Portugal on a stable basis, but one of the parents still does not hold their own residence title.
This does not mean that such parents would automatically be left without any legal avenue. Other options may exist, depending on the child’s nationality, the situation of the other parent, the residence history, the existence of an employment relationship or humanitarian circumstances. However, the direct route that currently exists for certain parents of foreign minor children residing in Portugal is likely to become significantly narrower if the text now under discussion is approved.
Will AIMA’s silence no longer amount to tacit approval of renewals?
Under the legislation currently in force, an application for renewal of a residence permit must be decided within 60 days. Where the lack of a decision is not attributable to the applicant, the law provides that the application is deemed tacitly approved – that is, at least as a matter of law, administrative silence produces a favorable decision in the renewal procedure.
The text under discussion would remove this rule. On the one hand, it maintains the reference to a general period of 90 days for deciding initial applications for residence permits, and it would allow that period to be extended by 30 days in exceptional and duly justified circumstances, in particular due to the complexity of the case, provided that the applicant is informed of the extension.
On the other hand, with respect to renewals, the provision that currently establishes that the absence of a decision within 60 days, for reasons not attributable to the applicant, results in tacit approval is expressly repealed.
If this amendment is confirmed, the fact that AIMA (the Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum) exceeds the statutory time limit will no longer automatically lead to an approved renewal. Applicants will still be able to challenge excessive delay by administrative or judicial means, but they will lose an important legal mechanism of protection against the lack of a decision.
Not all of the changes are restrictive
The draft also contains measures that may simplify matters for some residents and employers.
Employees and self-employed workers may change their professional situation by simple notification to AIMA
Among these measures, one stands out: the possibility for a holder of a residence permit for salaried work to change employer by notifying AIMA, without the need to immediately issue a new residence card. Similarly, holders of a residence permit for self-employment would be able to change the nature of their activity, also by means of a notification.
These measures may reduce administrative procedures that, today, generate delays and uncertainty whenever there is a professional change. However, this simplification is accompanied by the closure or narrowing of several residence pathways and by a reduction in safeguards in the face of administrative inaction.
Where does the legislative process stand?
The bill was approved in first reading by the Assembly of the Republic on 12 June 2026 and then sent to the Committee on Constitutional Affairs, Rights, Freedoms and Guarantees for detailed consideration and voting, where a comprehensive substitution text was tabled by the parliamentary group supporting the Government. That substitution text maintains the main changes affecting professional courses, parents of minors and the decision-making regime for residence applications.
At this stage, members of Parliament may approve, reject or amend each individual provision. As of the date of this analysis, the following elements have not yet been published on the official page for the initiative:
a final text approved at committee stage;
the final overall vote in plenary;
promulgation by the President of the Republic;
publication in the Official Gazette (Diário da República).
Consequently, the new rules are not yet applicable. The Immigration Act currently in force continues to provide, as described above, for the possibility of residence for certain students without a visa, a specific residence pathway for some parents of foreign minor children residing in Portugal, and tacit approval of certain renewals.
What about applications already filed?
This is one of the most sensitive issues.
The text currently under discussion provides for a swift entry into force after publication, but it does not include – in the version being debated at committee stage – a general and clear transitional provision expressly stating that all residence applications already filed under the current law will be decided under the previous regime. The more detailed provisions on the temporal application of the law mainly concern procedures governed by the asylum legislation.
It is therefore not possible, in advance, to guarantee that all applications submitted before the entry into force of the new law will automatically be protected. The answer may depend on the final wording of the statute, on whether each change is classified as substantive or procedural in nature, on the date the application was filed and on the general principles governing the temporal application of legislation.
Individuals who already meet the requirements under the current rules should assess their situation without assuming that these pathways will remain available indefinitely. This does not mean rushing to submit incomplete or poorly prepared applications, but rather confirming eligibility, organizing documentation and defining a strategy before the potential entry into force of the new law.
What should affected individuals do?
The key message is straightforward: the bill is not yet law, but the approval of these changes within a relatively short timeframe is a scenario that cannot be ignored.
The individuals potentially affected include, in particular:
students currently enrolled in, or admitted to, professional or vocational programs or qualification programs at levels 4 or 5;
parents of foreign minor children residing in Portugal;
parents of minor children with Portuguese nationality who reside in Portugal;
holders of residence permits with renewals pending;
individuals who entered Portugal legally and were considering a residence pathway without a consular visa.
Each situation must be assessed on its own facts. The date of entry into Portugal, the type of visa, the lawfulness and duration of stay, the nature of the course, the child’s status and the stage of the procedure can fundamentally change the legal analysis.
In a context of frequent legislative changes, advance planning has become an essential part of any migration process to Portugal: more than ever, it is important not to wait for the law to be published before starting to prepare an appropriate response.
Article updated on 13 July 2026. The information provided is general in nature and does not replace legal advice on a specific case.
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