The amendments to the Foreigners’ Laws (Entry, Stay, Exit, and Removal of Foreigners from National Territory), the Asylum Law (Granting of Asylum or Subsidiary Protection), and the regulation for accommodating foreigners or stateless persons in Temporary Installation Centers complete what the government considers essential to “ensure the removal of foreigners in an irregular situation,” as outlined in the proposals available.
When the PSD/CDS coalition took office in 2024, “Portugal executed only about 5% of return decisions and lacked the capacity to conclude most instituted processes,” with legislation that allowed for “delaying tactics and impediments to the effectiveness of return decisions, both administrative and judicial, which were largely unjustified,” the document states.
“The XXV Constitutional Government now proposes a restructuring of the legal framework concerning the removal of foreigners in an irregular situation, aiming to make it more agile, effective, and coherent – taking another important step in reforming national migration policy,” reads the introduction of the new legislative package, which will be open to public consultation.
The government justifies the proposal by the need to ensure “credibility and effectiveness of migration policies,” with “a clear distinction between those entitled to remain and those who do not meet legal requirements.”
It seeks to create a “deterrent effect on illegal immigration,” greater “procedural streamlining” – with a “reduction of deadlines and procedural steps associated with expulsion processes in national territory” – and aims for more “speed and effectiveness in analyzing international protection requests, combating cases of asylum abuse.”
The new legal package extends detention from two months to a period that can go up to a year, centralizes all return procedures with the PSP, through the National Unit of Foreigners and Borders (UNEF), eliminates the initial step of voluntary departure notification in the case of irregular foreigners (initiating the coercive removal process in parallel), raises the requirements for effective residence to prevent expulsion, creates an “open regime in temporary installation centers” and removes suspensive appeals.
In cases of irregular entry into the country, an expulsion process is opened and, even if applicants request asylum when intercepted by authorities, the expulsion process is not suspended and runs separately until the decision on the international protection request is made.
From a maximum detention of 60 days, the new law foresees an initial period of 180 days for coercive removal processes, which can be doubled if there is a lack of cooperation from the foreign citizen or delays in obtaining necessary documentation from third countries, plus an additional 180 days for executing the effective departure from the country, totaling a year and a half (an 800% increase).
The new law also includes that an expelled foreigner may be prohibited from entering for up to 20 years, “when there is a serious threat to public order, public safety, or national security.”
Judicial appeals will now have only a devolutive effect and will not suspend other ongoing deadlines.
As coercive measures during the expulsion process, the government maintains options such as periodic reporting to police authorities, obligatory stay at home with electronic surveillance, or detention in a temporary installation center or equivalent space managed by PSP. It also foresees a “bail deposit or other financial guarantee,” the “obligation to hand over travel documents to the competent authorities,” and “installation in an open regime in a temporary installation center.”
Leia Também: Governo está a construir um novo país que acredita em quem “vem por bem”
