End of expressions of interest reduced residency applications by 80% in Portugal

Leitão Amaro argues that the Government is seeking to implement a "moderate alternative", aware that "Portugal needs immigrant workers".

The Minister of the Presidency stated this Monday that, with the end of the "manifestation of interest" process, the number of residence requests from immigrants in Portugal has decreased by about 80%.

António Leitão Amaro made this statement during the PSD/CDS-PP parliamentary sessions, in a panel entitled "Sovereign Portugal." Addressing the issue of immigration – a day after a protest organized by Chega that brought together thousands of people in Lisbon – he argued that it is "possible to act differently."

"We don't need to divide people into good and bad, into ours and strangers, into Portuguese and foreigners," he said. "And here too, this government proposes a different path for the country, unlike all other political forces. Our left still hasn't realized the mistake they made when, for four years, they turned Portugal into a country with wide-open doors. And they still haven't understood the consequences of what they did."

Leitão Amaro argued that the government is trying to implement "a moderate alternative," aware that "Portugal needs immigrant workers and those who are truly fleeing humanitarian crises." He also mentioned the need to restrict some previous policies: "We needed to close some of the open-door policies, and that's why, within a few weeks of taking office, we made the difficult decision to close the giant portal called the manifestation of interest. To give you an idea, since we made that decision, the number of residence requests has dropped by around 80%."

Although Leitão Amaro did not directly mention the negotiations for the 2025 State Budget, he reiterated a point he had previously made after a Council of Ministers, saying that the PSD/CDS-PP government found a different approach to the "wrong recipe" of PS governments to achieve budget balance, calling it a "virtuous balance."

The minister also highlighted concerns about the new Youth IRS model, which the government is planning but which the PS refuses to support to approve the next Budget. "We are not, and will not be, a party that only wants to please a specific age group of Portuguese because we think it gives us electoral favoritism. For us, everyone matters," he assured.

In the same panel, the Minister of Justice, Rita Alarcão Júdice, said that the reform of the sector must be focused on citizens first, reiterating some commitments, such as the imminent presentation of a proposal to amend the law on entry into the judiciary. "Having good judges is one of the best reforms we can make in justice," she stated.

The minister also committed to reviewing the fee schedule for the legal aid system, noting that the working group responsible for this would deliver its report on the same day and that a meeting with the president of the Bar Association was scheduled for October 9th, as planned since August.

Fonte: www.publico.pt