There will be 757,000 foreigners in Portugal by the end of 2022, a number that has been increasing since 2015, and for Sónia Pereira, High Commissioner for Migration, stressed that Portugal is prepared for the increase in the regular flow of immigrants.
“Since there is a mechanism that facilitates regular migration and needs in the labor market in Portugal, it is very likely that people who are in the countries of origin with the desire to migrate will take the opportunity to develop their migratory process in a regular, organized way,” stressed the official, to the newspaper “Público”, about the new immigration regime that came into force last November, with the introduction of 6-month visas for those who want to come to look for work, as well as automatic visas of one year for citizens of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries.
“It’s an increase in the flows in the registries that we track. There are a number of flows that we don’t follow as much because they are less registered. A lot of the situations of exploitation result from the greater vulnerability of the migrants, because they have no institutional framework in the migratory processes. With a more stable regular flow, it is expected that the activity of the networks that feed irregular flows will decrease,” said Sónia Pereira, stressing that the country “has job offers and the capacity to receive them. The institutions are ready. They have experience and have become stronger”.
“This new legalization of origin also gives us confidence in this process. We have a plan to fight racism and discrimination that makes the entities of our public ecosystem to be attentive, to implement measures, to develop actions, to work with us in this area”, he stressed.