The measure, outlined by the Agency for Integration, Migration, and Asylum (AIMA) in a statement, relates to the “sensitivity of specific cases” and the fact that some citizens are minors.
“Through this channel, it will be possible, more quickly, to send all allegations for detailed analysis of their processes, aiming to ensure effective protection, proportional decisions, and legally provided alternatives for regularization in the national territory,” reads the statement.
AIMA recalls that in February 2022, when the war in Ukraine began, an online portal was created where citizens wishing to apply for temporary protection from the Portuguese State could register.
After the application and automatic searches, a document was automatically sent to the applicant, certifying protected status without in-person service (except for minors).
At the time, AIMA explains, verification of data entered into the platform was waived.
“Now being revisited by AIMA, all temporary protection grants, per the European Union (EU) decision on September 8, 2025, are uncovering cases where the grant was improper,” the note explains, indicating that in such cases, beneficiaries “are notified of the intention to cancel” the status, though they may contest.
“This procedure and the guarantee of this right apply to all citizens in this situation, without exception, including Russian or Belarusian citizens, or minors whose legal guardians have been notified,” AIMA assures.
On Wednesday, at the press conference following the Council of Ministers, the Minister of the Presidency, António Leitão Amaro, stated in response to journalists that foreign students who fled the war in Ukraine might obtain a residence permit for students if they prove they wish to continue their studies in Portugal.
The minister recalled that AIMA was reviewing the 65,000 temporary protections granted at the time, which include those for foreign students, and noted that the European Commission requested countries to verify the requirements for issuing temporary protections.
“AIMA is doing what all European authorities are doing, which is to verify these processes of issuing the 65,000 temporary protections granted,” he said, adding that the agency has encountered individuals who, when asked to demonstrate their documentary status, fully comply, and their temporary protection titles remain, while it has detected other cases that may change their status “to other forms of residence authorization in Portugal, such as study visas.”
However, he emphasized that AIMA is also “identifying some situations of people who cannot demonstrate they are eligible for that temporary protection regime.”
