Calls for AIMA change as number of immigrants hits 1.5 million // Portugal hits out at Trump’s ideological questions to universities

Portuguese news in English on Tuesday, April 15, 2025.

NOTE: Portugal Weekly will be back one day later than normal after Easter, on Wednesday, April 23.

Calls for AIMA change as number of immigrants hits 1.5 million

The number of immigrants living in Portugal has passed 1.5 million, Público reports, citing an Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum (AIMA) report. Even that estimate is expected to be revised upward, pushing the number of foreigners with residency past 1.6 million, or 15 per cent of the population. That’s about four times higher than in 2017. The report also stated the end of the old expression of interest regime, criticised as “open doors” by the government, which was in opposition when it was introduced, led to a 59% drop in requests for residency. The figures come as a new analysis of European-Union-wide migration reforms, known as the Pact on Migration and Asylum, would force up taxes and worsen generational inequality if implemented in Portugal, Expresso reports. The Nova SBE study found if all the reforms were implemented nationally, the reduction in immigration would cause a major hit on social security and pensions, due to the ageing population.

The Liberal Initiative party is pushing for “total digitalisation” of the AIMA process, allowing immigrants to follow their applications in real time, Diário de Notícias reports. Along with the proposal to create one multilingual portal with timeframes and automatic notifications, the right-wing party wants to guarantee interoperability with the Tax and Customs Authority, Social Security and Employment and Professional Training Institute (IEFP). Last month, AIMA introduced a new page allowing immigrants to change some basic details such as their address, marriage status and gender online, Público reports. You can also request a replacement for a lost or destroyed permit. All changes require at least 90 days of validity remaining on the visa or authorisation.

Government minister António Leitão Amaro has floated the idea of extending the five year time period needed to live in Portugal before applying for citizenship, Diário de Notícias reports. Without giving any detail of how long he would like the timeframe, which he referred to as a pull factor for immigrants looking for European documents, he said it was a “discussion we want to have with Portuguese society”. Parliament last year approved a change that would have counted the five years from the date of applying for residency, rather than the date it was granted, which could have dramatically reduced the time period, but it was never fully implemented.

Photo: AIMA