Revocation of residence permit procedures based on expressions of interest

Amendment to the Transitional Regime Provided for in Decree-Law No. 37-A/2024, Which Repealed the Residence Permit Authorization Procedures Based on Expressions of Interest

As is public knowledge, on June 3rd, the Council of Ministers approved the Action Plan for Migrations, which aimed to regulate immigration, expedite the attraction of foreign talent, enable better human integration, and reorganize institutions.

With the entry into force of Decree-Law No. 37-A/2024, which amended Law No. 23/2007 of July 4th, the procedures for residence permit authorization based on expressions of interest were immediately revoked. This means that the possibility offered by the expression of interest mechanism, submitted as part of a request for a residence permit for the exercise of a subordinate or independent professional activity, to regularize immigrants who were not holders of a consular visa, through registration on the AIMA platform (formerly SEF) and the mere presentation of a promise of an employment contract, ended on June 4, 2024.

However, this legislative change, due to its immediate entry into force, created some obstacles for those who were in the process of legalization. While all expressions of interest submitted up to and including June 3, 2024, were safeguarded and remained valid for their respective processes, following the terms of Law No. 23/2007 of July 4th as amended by Law No. 56/2023 of October 6th, thousands of emigrants who, although meeting several of the requirements for their legalization, had not yet submitted their Expression of Interest would be excluded from doing so, which would constitute an excessive and overly penalizing regime for the rights and legitimate interests of these citizens.

For this reason, Law No. 40/2024 of November 7th amended Article 3 of Decree-Law No. 37-A/2024, which revoked the residence permit authorization procedures based on expressions of interest, now reading:

"2. This decree-law does not apply to:

a) Residence permit procedures initiated prior to its entry into force;
b) Cases where, provably, the person demonstrates that, prior to its entry into force, regardless of whether or not they have submitted an expression of interest, they were registered with social security and making contributions under a subordinate or independent professional activity, with a view to completing the 12 months indicated in paragraph 6 of Article 88 of Law No. 23/2007 of July 4th, in its previous wording.

3. Cases referred to in the preceding paragraph continue to be governed by Law No. 23/2007 of July 4th, in its previous wording."

This means that the doubts and criticisms – legitimate – leveled at the previous provision are thus addressed, as the wording of the norm is clear in allowing the legalization of any citizen, even if they had not submitted their expression of interest by June 3, 2024, provided they prove that they were making social security contributions, with a view to completing the necessary 12 months.

Therefore, the legislator has taken care to safeguard and protect, by force of law, all those cases in which citizens met virtually all the requirements of the residence permit application process for the exercise of a subordinate or independent professional activity, contributing to a more balanced, fair, and agile regime for the benefit of all.

Nevertheless, and because these are sensitive matters, concerning people's lives and dignity, they always require careful and exhaustive analysis, which should be sought from specialized professionals for this purpose.