The Portuguese government announced earlier this week that it would be tightening immigration rules. Among these changes is the establishment of a system to address the backlog of approximately 400,000 pending residency applications, according to recent international media reports.
Under the revised regulations, individuals holding tourist visas will no longer be eligible to apply for legalization within Portugal. Prime Minister Luis Montenegro stated that this decision aims to curb what he described as widespread misuse of Portugal’s immigration policies.
These policy changes come shortly before millions of Europeans are set to vote in the European Parliament elections, an event expected to shift the political balance of the bloc towards the right.
