Immigrants who have been waiting for years for residence permits fear leaving the country and being prevented from returning to their lives. Even for the burial of loved ones they can go.
Portugal has become the country of fear, where thousands of immigrants are confined, without even the right to visit family members. The situation is so dramatic that citizens are being prevented from burying loved ones, as was the case of Angolan Domingas Maquiesse Lucas Mavita, 38, who failed to say goodbye to his mother. Behind this framework that, for many, is of terror, is the Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum (AIMA), which, due to inefficiency, does not do the work it should: to deliver to foreigners living in the country the residence permits. “I’m so afraid, I don’t even cross the border of Spain,” says Renata Amaral de Sá, 40, who lives in Guarda, almost on the border with the neighboring country.
The main fear of immigrants is to leave the Portuguese territory without the proper documentation they have been waiting for years and, when they return, be prevented from entering the country. This fear grew after, on August 20, the Public Security Police (PSP) deported a Brazilian mother who was returning from vacation with the family in Recife, Pernambuco. She was removed, without right of defense, of the two minor children, one, 8 years old, another, 6, who are under the care of her father, Hugo Silvestre.
For lawyer Simone Marins, Portugal, “by imposing terror on migrants and forcing them to confinement, it is tearing all commitments to human rights.” In her assessment, there is a total reversal of values, "because the Portuguese State is transferring to immigrants the bill of their incompetence". According to her, there was a stimulus to immigration to Portugal, which is very necessary, but the country has not prepared to receive people. “Now there is an attempt to criminalize immigrants for mistakes that are the responsibility of the state,” he said.
Portugal is home to the most recent data of AIMA, about 1.6 million immigrants, equivalent to 15% of the total population. Of these, approximately 600,000 are Brazilians, who form the largest foreign community in Portuguese territory. “It is not possible, it is not acceptable, that many of these people are without the right to come and go, that the only alternative left to them is to appeal to justice,” adds the lawyer. She even compares the current situation in Portugal to that of the United States, where there is an immigrant hunt.
The Fear of Deportation
The Brazilian Renata de Sá, who has been in Portugal for five years, defines well the feeling of immigrants: “Everyone I know in Portugal is afraid of leaving the country when not with the documents up to date. I only had the courage to visit my family in Brazil two years after my arrival in Portugal, when everything was right. She says more: "Everyone knows that it is a risk, because if the person leaves Portugal without being with the documents, they can have trouble returning, leaving behind everything that built in the country, house, work, family."
After a period of tranquility, Renata is again in the hands of AIMA, which, sought by the PUBLICO Brazil, did not manifest itself. “I am, at this moment, with this problem, because my residence card has been expired since June. I did the renovation a week ago, but I don't know when my new card will arrive. With that, I am stuck in Portugal, because I can not travel, "he points out. According to her, even having a decree in force in the country, which recognizes the titles of residence expired until October 15, she prefers not to take risks.
“The decree is only valid in Portugal. What if you're in another country here in Europe and you're taken by the cops there? They will not understand anything. How do I stay? I can be deported,” he said. Despite the fear, Renata maintains a hint of hope that the new residence permit will arrive in time for her to go to Brazil next November. “AIMA is taking a long time to send the documents. I have a friend who did the renewal in February and so far her card has not arrived.”
Professional Information Technology (TI) Frederico Belisário, 44, has lived in Portugal since 2020, and has already decided: his son, João, 17, who crossed the Atlantic this year to study in Portuguese lands, will not spend Christmas with his mother in Brazil. The young person is without the residence permit, because AIMA remains averse to requests for family reunification. “I had to go to court because, when you try to regroup, AIMA’s website does not work. My son can’t go without the documentation,” he said.
Affected life
In the several times he tried to explain the failures of AIMA, which stimulate fear among immigrants, the Minister of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, António Leitão Amaro, said that when the Government took office in April 2024, were found close to 900,000 cases of applications for a residence permit stacked, of which about 440 thousand referring to the extinct manifestation of interest, which allowed foreigners to enter as tourists in the country and, already in territory, to request the documentation.
A significant part of these immigrants have already passed through the mission centers installed by AIMA in the country. A small amount, however, received the residence card. Among the more than 200 thousand citizens of the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP) who need to exchange the housing titles issued on A4 paper, without validity in the European Union, there is also no prospect of receiving the residence card. Even the holders of the Gold Visa, who invested at least 500 thousand euros in Portugal, are waiting for a solution for their cases. And there are more than 370,000 migrants in line for the renovation of residence.
The carioca N., who lives in Lisbon, and asks not to be identified, is desperate. "Yes I am afraid to leave Portugal at this time, because I entered the country as a student and my situation has not yet been changed, because of the confusion that was the SEF (Foreigners and Borders Service), which was extinguished, and now AIMA. I have friends who are literally 'stuck' in Lisbon waiting for the renovation of the residences. I die of fear of being barred in immigration, because we have built a life in Portugal, we have our home, my pet kittens. I am sometimes wondering if I am barred. What will happen to all this?” he asks.
Another Brazilian, who fears being identified and suffers retaliation, says that she cannot visit the groom she lives in Belgium, because she is without the necessary documentation. “It has deeply affected my personal life. I am afraid of the future,” he said. She has been living in Portugal since 2017. I work and contribute by paying my taxes. In January 2025, my residence permit expired and, even with the decree that extends its validity, I was prevented from leaving the country. This forced me to cancel essential trips already paid, generating financial losses, and caused me to lose project opportunities with which I always dreamed of, simply because I was in an irregular situation, because of AIMA, "he laments.
Police for Immigrants
The fear caused by the lack of residence permit in Portugal was embarked at the entry into action of the police for immigrants, the National Unit of Foreigners and Borders (UNEF). Now, the Public Security Police will be able to address people on the streets, require the presentation of the documents, and those who cannot prove that they are in a regular situation in the country may be expelled. "I hate just thinking about it," says an immigrant in the AIMA queue in Porto. “Portugal is just like the United States,” the amends.
A 43-year-old Brazilian, who asked to be identified as Joaquim Maia (fictactial name), fears being deported. To Brazil, he says that he worked as a bricklayer in Brazil and has been in Portugal for three months with his wife and two children, who entered as tourists hoping to regularize in the country. “But I see it’s not easy. It was a mistake not to have informed me about the legislation in Portugal,” he admits.
He says he's been fooled. “A citizen promised me that I would arrive in Portugal with all valid documents and guaranteed employment. I found an ad on the internet, made contact and hit everything. When I landed in Porto, this person disappeared,” he laments. With the help of a neighbor, the Bahian was instructed to look for AIMA and see how he could solve everything. But, he says, for more than a week he has faced queues of dozens, even hundreds of people. Try to schedule service, but can neither by phone nor by email. “I’m afraid of being arrested,” he said.
Born in Maputo, Mozambique, a man of 24 says he is paranoid in the face of the possibility of being expelled from Portugal for being undocumented. He works as a kitchen assistant, in a restaurant in Porto, without a formal contract. “I arrived in Portugal last year, when the situation began to get worse for immigrants. I know a lot of people who came from my country and then got the residence permit. So I decided to do the same, to try a better life. But I did not expect to find police on the streets ready to arrest me and send me back to Mozambique, because I have not yet the necessary documents to be in Portugal, “he says.