Amendments to the Regulation of the Foreigner’s Law
The First Regulatory Decree of 2024 changes the legal regime for foreign citizens
The first Regulatory Decree of the year (Regulatory Decree No. 1/2024, of January 17th) changed the regulation of the legal regime for the entry, stay, exit and removal of foreign citizens from the national territory (this regime was provided for in the Regulatory Decree No. 84/2007).
Having been published in the Diário da República on January 17th, these new changes will come into force and take effect today, January 18th, 2024.
The Portuguese border control system was restructured in 2021 by the Law No. 73/2021 of 12th of November. Following this, the Decree-Law No. 41/2023 of the 2nd of June created the Agency for Integration, Migrations and Asylum, I. P. (AIMA, I. P.), replacing the former competent authority (Foreigners and Borders Services – SEF).
In the same sense, the current Regulatory Decree No. 1/2024, of January 17th, seeks to modernize and simplify administrative procedures in order to ensure that AIMA, I. P., can instruct and decide processes relating to the stay of foreign citizens in the territory nationally in a timely manner and with increased security requirements.
The main points from the Regulatory-Decree that stand out are the following:
- Requests for granting and renewing residence permits must preferably be submitted via an online platform
The submission of requests for the granting and renewal of a residence permit should preferably be submitted in a dematerialized form on a digital platform accessible through a single service portal.
This new measure contrasts with the old regime in which, with exceptions, applications for granting a residence permit should always be presented in person by prior appointment. However, information regarding this single service portal has not yet been released.
- Combat illicit prosecution
The Regulatory Decree seeks to combat illegal prosecution by listing who may present the request:
A) The applicant himself;
B) The legal representative of the applicant, if the applicant is a minor or accompanied adult;
C) The employer, in requests that have as their object the exercise of subordinate professional activity;
D) The research center, higher education establishment or other entities that host highly qualified and cultural teaching activities, in requests that have as their object the development of these activities;
E) The educational establishment, professional training establishment or other public or private entities, in requests that have as their object study, research, internship or volunteering;
F) Citizens residing in national territory who wish to benefit from the right to family reunification or by a family member who has legally entered national territory and who depends on or cohabits with the holder of a valid residence permit;
G) Lawyers, solicitors and trainee lawyers.
- Expansion of AIMA’s competencies
AIMA, I. P., now has broad powers to consult the databases of other competent services with the aim of verifying the requirements for requests relating to extension of stay, authorizations and renewals of residence and long-term resident status. Having only 15 days to do so after receiving the request, if AIMA is unable to access the information, there will then be a return to the traditional system of notifying the applicant to present the documents.
This measure aims to simplify requests by minimizing the need for physical documentation.
- Family reunification
With regard to family reunification, which since the beginning of the pandemic has shown a chronic problem of lack of available appointments in the former SEF, the respective automation will be introduced, with the creation of an online platform for this purpose. Such a platform has not been operational yet.
- Golden Visa
As for the Golden Visa, the changes relate to the new possibility for immigration services to request the opinion of other national entities regarding compliance with legal investment requirements, which could mean “double supervision” of different entities national.
- Current challenges
The main challenge now will be to follow the development of all the process automation desired by AIMA and whether this will be enough to satisfy the high number of requests and support not only current and future requests, but also all pending cases since the delays seen during the pandemic.
Disclaimer:
The information provided in this text does not constitute the provision of personalized legal advice, nor does it take into account any specific case; Please contact us for additional clarification.
