Portugal Expats Face 5-Month Visa Queues, Tougher Residency Rules

The Portugal Right-wing party Chega, led by André Ventura, has urged the government to hold the line on tougher border controls, a stance that could lengthen visa waits and harden residency rules for anyone hoping to move to the country.

Why This Matters

• No more quick tourist-to-resident swap – the "manifestação de interesse" loophole is gone, and Ventura wants the ban to be permanent.

• AIMA backlog could grow if additional screening layers are approved, affecting the 500 000 pending cases already in the agency.

• Employers in tourism and agriculture may face a tighter labour pool—and higher wage pressure—this summer.

• Family-reunification clocks reset – stricter residency-time requirements remain untouched and could even be extended.

The Policy Backdrop

Portugal entered a new migration era in 2026: visas must be secured before boarding a plane, the Agência para a Integração, Migrações e Asilo (AIMA) replaced SEF and now controls every file, and the Work-Search Visa is limited to "professionals highly qualified." The governing coalition led by Luís Montenegro drafted most of these measures under Law 61/2025, arguing the country needed “order before openness.”

What Ventura Actually Said

Speaking in Braga after a party meeting, André Ventura declared that "this is not the moment to fabricate fresh problems," insisting Portugal should first "digest" those already here. While short on legislative detail, insiders in Parliament confirmed Chega will table amendments to:

• Raise the financial means test for residency permits;

• Freeze new low-skill quotas until unemployment dips below 5%;

• Tighten re-entry bans for overstays from 3 to 5 years.

Pushback from Other Corners

Business confederations warned that seasonal labour shortages could jeopardise the €3.2 B fruit-export industry. The Socialist opposition accused Ventura of “performative politics,” but stopped short of proposing to reopen the tourist-to-work pathway. Meanwhile, AIMA officials worry that any new rule set mid-year would require another costly software overhaul—their current portal still crashes under peak demand.

What This Means for Residents

If you already hold a valid título de residência, little changes—yet. But newcomers and employers should brace for slower timelines and stricter paperwork:

• Consular queues – securing a work visa now averages 12-16 weeks; extra vetting could push that past the 20-week mark.

• Family reunification – the 2-year legal-stay minimum is unlikely to shrink and may stretch to 30 months.

• Housing market – fewer arrivals may ease competition for rentals in Lisbon and Porto, but landlords in interior regions could see longer vacancy periods.

Navigating the Rules in 2026

Apply from your home country: Consular approval is mandatory for all long-stay visas.

Follow AIMA’s digital renewal window: Permits expiring through February can be renewed online; skip the in-person rush.

Watch for the ETIAS launch in late 2026 if you have relatives who travel visa-free today—they will soon need pre-authorisation.

Keep proof of language courses and tax payments; both weigh heavily in the new points-based citizenship drafts.

Outlook

Whether Ventura’s proposals survive committee or not, the political centre has broadly embraced “managed migration” rhetoric. For households, that means the era of landing in Portugal on a tourist stamp and sorting papers later is effectively closed. For employers, planning recruitment six months ahead—rather than six weeks—has become the new normal.