Government: Immigration news in Portugal

Latest news and stories about immigration in government in Portugal for expats and residents.

Featured stories

Casa do Brasil requests dialogue with Lula on xenophobia

🏛️ Government ⚖️ Legal#expat-rights+2 more

The Casa do Brasil de Lisboa has sent a letter to Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva ahead of his visit to Portugal on April 21. The association is urging the president to formally address concerns regarding racism, xenophobia, and anti-immigrant misinformation with Prime Minister Luís Montenegro and President António José Seguro. During his current European tour, Lula has praised the Spanish government's migration policies for recognizing the contributions of Brazilian residents.

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is the current President of Brazil, serving his third term since January 2023. A prominent figure in Brazilian politics, he previously served as president from 2003 to 2010 and is a founding member of the Workers' Party (Partido dos Trabalhadores).

Prime Minister, Portugal: 2024 - Present
Party: Social Democratic Party (PSD)

Luís Filipe Montenegro Cardoso de Morais Esteves (born February 16, 1973, in Porto) is a Portuguese lawyer and center‑right politician who has served as Prime Minister of Portugal since April 2, 2024. A long‑time member of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), he is the leading figure of the post‑Troika generation of Portuguese conservatives. Montenegro was elected to the Assembly of the Republic in 2002 for the Aveiro district and remained an MP for 16 years, becoming PSD parliamentary leader from 2011 to 2017 during the bailout and austerity period under Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho. He was a prominent defender of strict austerity measures, arguing in 2014 that “the life of the people is no better, but the life of the country is a lot better,” a phrase that has followed his public image since. After an unsuccessful leadership bid against Rui Rio in 2020, Montenegro won the PSD leadership in 2022. He then forged the centre‑right Democratic Alliance (PSD–CDS‑PP and allies), which won a plurality of seats in the 2024 legislative election. Refusing to partner with the far‑right Chega, which he has called “often xenophobic, racist, populist and excessively demagogic,” he formed a minority government as head of the XXIV Constitutional Government on April 2, 2024. His first government fell in March 2025 after a no‑confidence vote linked to a conflict‑of‑interest affair, but fresh elections saw the Democratic Alliance increase its seat share, allowing Montenegro to return as prime minister leading the XXV Constitutional Government. His importance to Portugal lies in attempting to re‑center the traditional centre‑right after the crisis years, defending liberal‑conservative economics and EU alignment while drawing a sharp line against formal cooperation with the radical right, thus shaping how Portuguese democracy manages its new multi‑party era.

3 sources →17 Apr

Casa do Brasil requests dialogue with Lula on xenophobia

Serious crime shifts from major cities to interior districts

⚖️ Legal 🏛️ Government#crime-report+2 more

The latest Annual Internal Security Report (Relatório Anual de Segurança Interna or RASI) indicates that while violent and serious crime decreased in Lisbon, Porto, and Coimbra, it rose significantly in interior districts like Beja, Vila Real, and Guarda. The report also highlights a sharp increase in crimes related to illegal immigration and a rise in homicides and sexual offenses compared to the previous decade. Police associations have expressed concerns that these official figures may still underrepresent the actual crime situation in the country.

2 sources →1 Apr

Serious crime shifts from major cities to interior districts

António José Seguro elected President with historic majority

🏛️ Government 🛂 Immigration#presidential-election+2 more

Former Socialist Party (Partido Socialista or PS) leader António José Seguro has been elected President of the Republic (Presidente da República) with 66.84% of the vote. He identified health, justice, and immigration as his top priorities for the mandate. Residents should note this marks his return to active politics after a decade-long absence.

President of Portugal (since March 9, 2026)
Party: Independent. Former leader of the Socialist Party (PS), Partido Socialista
Center-left

António José Martins Seguro (born March 11, 1962, in Penamacor) is a lawyer, political scientist, and the current President of the Portuguese Republic, inaugurated on March 9, 2026 after winning the two-round presidential election in January–February 2026.

Career: He led Socialist Youth (1990–1994), served as MEP (1999–2001), was Minister Adjunct to PM António Guterres (2001–2002), and led the PS parliamentary group (2004–2005). Elected PS Secretary-General in 2011 with 68%, he led the opposition during Portugal's bailout era. In 2014, António Costa defeated him in party primaries by a landslide, prompting Seguro's resignation and a decade-long retreat from politics. He returned in 2025, launching the movement UPortugal and announcing his presidential candidacy in June. He received official PS backing in October 2025 and won the presidency in February 2026.

Political philosophy: Seguro positions himself as representing a "modern and moderate" left, advocating financial responsibility while opposing austerity. As President, he has emphasized institutional trust, efficient governance, and a collaborative relationship with the government while maintaining rigorous constitutional oversight.

Socialist Party (PS)

Leader: José Luís Carneiro (since June 2025)
Ideology: Center-left, Social democracy, pro-Europeanism

Portugal's other traditional major party suffered a historic collapse in the 2025 election, dropping from 78 to 58 seats and falling to third place for the first time in democratic history. The party was led by Pedro Nuno Santos from January 2024 until his resignation following the May 2025 defeat. José Luís Carneiro, a 53-year-old former Minister of Internal Administration known for his moderate positioning within the party, was elected unopposed as the new Secretary-General with 95% of votes in June 2025. The Socialist Party governed Portugal from 2015 to 2024, including an absolute majority from 2022 to 2024 under António Costa, who resigned in November 2023 amid a corruption investigation. The PS previously led the innovative "Geringonça" (contraption) coalition government from 2015-2019, a minority government supported by the Left Bloc and Portuguese Communist Party that reversed austerity measures and presided over economic recovery.

1 source →17 Mar

António José Seguro elected President with historic majority

Anti-racism group condemns Chega's presence at student education fair

📍 Lisbon 🏛️ Government 🛂 Immigration#chega+3 more

The SOS Racismo movement has condemned the Chega party for displaying “anti-immigration propaganda” at the Futurália education fair in Lisbon. The party's stand, visited by leader André Ventura, featured posters comparing Portugal to Bangladesh and referencing the “Great Replacement” theory. Those attending the fair should note that the movement has called on the Ministry of Education to clarify the rules for political participation in events aimed at young people.

Chega ("Enough") is a Portuguese far-right populist party founded in 2019 by André Ventura. It positions itself as an anti-establishment movement against what it calls a "rotten and corrupt system" of PS-PSD dominance. The party surged from 1.3% in 2019 to 22.8% in May 2025, becoming parliament's second-largest force with 60 seats. Chega's core platform emphasizes strict immigration control—ending automatic CPLP residency, deporting non-independent immigrants, implementing job-market quotas, and requiring five-year social security contributions before benefit access. It advocates radical constitutional reform, including reducing parliament to 100 members, abolishing the prime minister position for a presidential system, and dismantling public healthcare. Law-and-order policies include life imprisonment and chemical castration proposals.

The party is defined by inflammatory anti-Romani rhetoric, with Ventura convicted multiple times for discrimination. Chega maintains international alignments with European far-right figures including Marine Le Pen, Santiago Abascal, and Matteo Salvini. Mainstream Portuguese parties, including Prime Minister Luís Montenegro's government, have imposed a cordon sanitaire, refusing coalition with Chega despite its parliamentary strength.

André Ventura, born January 15, 1983, is a lawyer, academic, and Portugal's most prominent far-right leader. He founded Chega ("Enough") in 2019 after his PSD mayoral campaign attacked the Romani community. Chega surged from 1.3% in 2019 to 22.8% in May 2025, becoming parliament's second-largest party and making Ventura Leader of the Opposition.

His platform emphasizes immigration restrictions, law-and-order policies, constitutional reform, and contains inflammatory anti-Romani rhetoric that has triggered multiple discrimination convictions and investigations. Politically classified as far-right by international media, Ventura cultivates alliances with European far-right figures including Marine Le Pen and Santiago Abascal.

3 sources →14 Mar

Anti-racism group condemns Chega's presence at student education fair

Recent articles

Two years of governance. Montenegro warns that "ambition without stability would be childish recklessness"

🏛️ Government 🛂 Immigration#immigration+2 more

Prime Minister Luís Montenegro reflects on two years of PSD/CDS governance, emphasizing that political stability is achievable without a parliamentary majority while cautioning that ambition must be tempered by stability to avoid recklessness.

RTP Notícias2 Apr

Two years of governance. Montenegro warns that "ambition without stability would be childish recklessness"

Violent crime has decreased, but rapes have not

⚖️ Legal 🏛️ Government 🏖️ Daily Life#immigration+2 more

Journalist Mariana Oliveira discusses the latest crime statistics, highlighting a rise in violent crime in rural areas and a concerning decade-high increase in reported rapes, despite these issues being overlooked in official security priorities.

Público2 Apr

Violent crime has decreased, but rapes have not

There is a region of Portugal where poverty keeps rising — blamed on the State's 'lack of attention' and the growth of 'precarious immigration'

🏖️ Daily Life 💶 Finance 🏛️ Government 🛂 Immigration#immigration+3 more

New data from Portugal's Survey on Living Conditions and Income show one region has the country's highest incidence of monetary poverty, with 17.9% of residents living below the poverty threshold. Analysts and local actors attribute the rise to a combination of state neglect, insufficient social-protection measures, the growth of precarious immigration and unstable work, and wider cost-of-living pressures — factors that together depress incomes and worsen social indicators. The figures point to a need for targeted regional policies on social security, employment quality and integration to reverse the trend.

CNN Portugal11 Jan