Portugal News

Judges held a session last week. The deadline is Sunday, December 14th.

The Constitutional Court's analysis of the new Nationality Law , recently approved in Parliament with votes from the right, should be released this week. According to the legal deadline, the judges have until December 14th to issue their opinion – 25 consecutive days from the date it was sent to the Palácio Ratton (the Constitutional Court building). The first hearing took place last Thursday, December 4th.

The “last major piece of legislation in the immigration policy reform” was approved by the Council of Ministers this Thursday, December 4th. It is a new regime to accelerate the removal of foreigners from national territory, particularly those who do not have the right to reside in Portugal.

"The law is directed at those who violate the rules, it is not directed indiscriminately," stated António Leitão Amaro at a press conference. The legislation will apply to those who "entered and are in Portugal illegally," said the Minister of the Presidency.

PSD and CDS-PP on Wednesday enabled a budget amendment proposal from Chega that revises the rules for issuing residency certificates (so-called Junta or Atestado de Residência) to foreign citizens, limiting the number of certificates per household.

These soldiers thus exercised state authority as a form of coercion against the victims.

The ten GNR (National Republican Guard) officers arrested this Tuesday , following a major operation by the Judiciary Police against human trafficking, were working in uniform, monitoring and forcing migrants into forced labor under conditions of semi-slavery.

Two parties are using a mechanism unprecedented in Portuguese democracy to respond to requests for preventive oversight from the Socialists. António Rodrigues accuses the Socialist Party of acting out of political differences.

PSD and CDS-PP announced this Monday the delivery in the Constitutional Court (TC) of a pronunciation in defense of the constitutionality of the decrees on nationality, in the framework of requests for preventive supervision made by the PS.

Lisbon, 24 November 2025 — The Portuguese immigration agency AIMA has rolled out important new fields and online functionalities aimed at making the renewal and alteration of residence permits easier for foreign nationals living in Portugal.

AIMA introduces new digital fields to streamline immigrant services

Lisbon, 24 November 2025 — The Portuguese immigration agency AIMA has rolled out important new fields and online functionalities aimed at making the renewal and alteration of residence permits easier for foreign nationals living in Portugal.

The Partido Socialista (PS) has formally requested a preventive review by the Tribunal Constitucional (TC) of two decrees amending the nationality law, identifying eight provisions they allege violate constitutional protections. Central to their concern is the transitional regime — particularly how it will affect immigrants who are already legally residing in Portugal but have not yet fulfilled the five-year residence requirement for Portuguese nationality. 

The President of the Republic stated today that he is awaiting his legal team's analysis of the decrees on nationality and reiterated that he wants to see the grounds presented by the Socialist Party for requesting a preventive review of constitutionality.

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa was speaking as he left the Euro-Americas Forum at the Carcavelos Campus of the Nova University of Lisbon, in response to questions from the media, who asked him if he had already made his assessment of the decrees on nationality and if he saw any constitutional problems with them.

As Portugal heads toward its presidential election on 18 January 2026, political observers are watching one of the country’s most unlikely players: the six-year-old far-right party Chega (“Enough”). While the party has surged in recent years, a newly published poll suggests its presidential hopes may be faltering — creating a pivotal moment in Portuguese politics.

The President of the Republic was reacting to the news that the Socialist Party will request a preventive review of the Nationality Law by the Constitutional Court.

The President of the Republic stated this Thursday that, in response to a request for preventive review of the Nationality Law made by the Socialist Party, he will wait for the Constitutional Court to issue its ruling before, possibly, "politically reconsidering the law."