Portugal Issues Mass Exit Notices, Giving Foreign Residents 20 Days to Leave
Portugal’s migration authorities have issued an unprecedented wave of exit orders, thrusting thousands of foreign residents into uncertainty and triggering a heated political and human-rights debate about the country’s new, tougher stance on immigration.
A Sudden Surge in Exit Orders
The Agência para a Integração, Migrações e Asilo dispatched 9,268 voluntary-departure notices between January and June 2025, dwarfing the 446 notifications recorded throughout 2024. Officials link the jump to the long-delayed restart of the return-migration regime, suspended when the Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF) was dismantled and replaced by AIMA. Amid that bureaucratic overhaul, Portugal’s foreign population has quadrupled in seven years to 1.5 M legal residents, making the current spike in exit orders the biggest test yet of the country’s integration model.
Why the Numbers Exploded
Interior-ministry sources say thousands of files lay untouched while AIMA rebuilt the databases it inherited. Once the new platform went live, staff could finally rule on 18,000 pending residence requests that had already been rejected, opening the door to mass notifications. The revival of the *manifestação de interesse* channel in 2022 initially attracted workers from Brazil, India and Bangladesh, but the backlog soon outpaced processing capacity. Since May, every file marked “denied” automatically feeds the Schengen Information System, obliging AIMA to trigger a 20-day voluntary-exit deadline unless the applicant can prove strong family or humanitarian grounds.
What Happens After the Envelope Arrives
A standard notice gives the addressee 20 days to leave Portuguese territory. Extensions are possible when minors, serious illness or long-term schooling are involved, although AIMA rarely grants more than 60 days in total. Non-compliance can lead to forced removal and a multi-year ban on re-entry to the Schengen Area. In late 2024 AIMA opened 195 coercive-expulsion files, mainly against nationals from Brazil, Algeria, Morocco and India. By contrast, only 161 foreigners managed to obtain financial support for assisted return, highlighting how few migrants possess the resources needed to repatriate voluntarily.
Human-Rights Groups Cry Foul
Thirty-nine NGOs accuse AIMA of “systemic failures” that breach fundamental rights. They point to chronic appointments shortages, families kept apart for months and the refusal to accept the government decree that automatically extends expired residence cards. Critics also deplore decisions allegedly based on automatic SIS alerts rather than individual assessments, and they warn that a September 2025 data leak exposed hundreds of migrants to potential blackmail. The President of the Republic has voiced concern that recent legal tweaks could undermine family unity, while left-wing parties describe the new framework as a “regulatory maze” that traps workers in limbo.
Government’s Long Game: The 2026 Rulebook
Lawmakers have already approved the 19th version of the Lei dos Estrangeiros, signalling a shift toward what Prime Minister Luís Montenegro calls a “regulated immigration” model. The statute abolishes the walk-in regularisation route, restricts the job-seeker visa to highly qualified professions, and forces most residence applications to be filed at Portuguese consulates abroad. Family reunification will only be possible after 2 years of legal stay, except for parents of under-age children. A parallel law created the National Unit for Foreigners and Borders (UNEF) inside the PSP, transferring enforcement powers away from AIMA and equipping officers with biometric border controls.
How Portugal Compares with Its Neighbours
France recorded roughly 10,900 assisted returns in 2024, and Spain funded about 360 departures through NGO programmes; Italy, according to Eurostat, logged mainly forced returns. Portugal’s 9,268 voluntary notices in just six months therefore place the country on the upper end of the spectrum when adjusted for population size, a striking reversal for a nation historically known for its emigrants rather than its expulsions.
Voices from the Ground
Brazilian community groups say the current push disproportionately affects low-wage service workers who arrived legally but saw their contracts lapse. Indian student associations counter that many of the rejected files involve phantom employers who never honoured sponsorship promises. Meanwhile, businesses in agriculture and construction warn that the clampdown could exacerbate an already acute labour shortage, especially outside Lisbon and Porto where foreign labour accounts for over 30 % of the workforce.
What Residents Should Watch Next
Parliament still has to decide how UNEF and AIMA will share databases, and the first biometric border gates are scheduled to open early next year. For migrants awaiting answers, the key date is October, when AIMA expects to clear the remaining 110,000 residence applications—any negative ruling will almost certainly be followed by another wave of voluntary-departure letters. For Portuguese employers and local councils, the stakes are equally high: stricter rules could slow migration inflows, but they might also restore confidence that the system, after years of turbulence, finally works.