Portugal immigration and migration management reforms

Portugal is implementing various administrative and regulatory measures to address challenges within its migration and immigration systems.

Initial efforts focused on reforming the Portuguese Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum (AIMA). These reforms included the introduction of an online portal to allow immigrants to track residence permit applications and a government proposal to redistribute administrative lawsuits against AIMA to courts nationwide to alleviate the concentration of cases in Lisbon. While intended to improve efficiency, critics and trade unions noted that AIMA continues to face chronic understaffing and significant processing delays.

Subsequent developments have shifted toward combating illegal immigration through business regulation. The Ministry of Economy is evaluating measures to curb “shell stores” (lojas de fachada) that allegedly use fictitious employment contracts to facilitate irregular migration. These establishments reportedly pay monthly rents between 8,000 and 10,000 euros, which officials claim do not align with their actual commercial activity. Authorities report that some of these spaces are being used as residences or platforms for irregular immigrants, potentially facilitating human trafficking.

Local leaders in Lisbon and Porto have called for revisions to licensing policies, arguing that current deregulation has allowed certain businesses to serve as fronts for substandard housing or illegal transit points. Specifically, officials have pressured the central government to revise the “Licenciamento Zero” policy. Lisbon Mayor Carlos Moedas has criticized the policy for stripping local authorities of the ability to prevent the excessive concentration of specific businesses, while Porto Mayor Pedro Duarte noted that some souvenir shops serve as fronts for housing people in degrading conditions. To address these concerns, the government intends to reconcile a planned reform of business licensing, expected this autumn, with mechanisms that grant municipal councils greater intervention capacity in highly pressured urban areas.