“At this moment, no stateless person knew how to regularize their situation in Portugal,” explained the deputy, one of the authors of the draft law that defines the status of individuals who lack nationality and are in a legal limbo.
In 2024, 149 stateless cases were filed, a complex process accessible only to those who have lost their nationality of origin, are part of extinct countries, or have never been a national citizen of another country.
“These are very rare cases that have no impact” on the foreign population, and Portugal is “obliged to act by international conventions to which it is a party,” explained António Rodrigues.
However, Portuguese legislation was silent on this matter and, “as soon as the nationality law was approved, we presented the project” to define the status of the stateless, emphasized the deputy.
“This stateless law concerns the status of people” in relation to the Portuguese state and “is framed within the entire legislative fabric we have been building, including the foreign and nationality law and the announced return law,” he added.
The document provides for access to nationality for each stateless person after four years of legal residence in the country, a period that starts from the moment “the citizen submits the application in this condition.”
“In our project, from the moment the stateless process is opened, a legal residence is established so that deadlines can be counted,” and until then, these citizens will have access to public services without penalties, which does not happen currently.
“The people covered by this regime are different from those covered by migration issues,” emphasized António Rodrigues, considering that “there has been no abusive use of this mechanism to enter the country.”
Therefore, the “project is very simple and devoid of ideology,” seeking only “to regulate the vulnerability of people who have no nationality,” he added, hoping the document will be approved by the deputies.
The proposed regime designates the Agency for Integration, Migration, and Asylum (AIMA) as the responsible entity for assessing cases, the conditions for recognizing the stateless status, the procedures, and the rights of applicants.
“The approval of this regime, which regulates the procedures for recognizing stateless status, is essential and indispensable for stateless individuals residing on national territory to have a means of accessing a temporary residence permit,” which through this authorization and a certain period of legal residence (which, in the amendments to the Nationality Law, we proposed to be four years), leads to access to Portuguese nationality,” stated the social-democratic deputies who endorsed the document.
