Latest news and stories about bureaucracy in government in Lisbon, Lisboa, Portugal for expats and residents.
Portugal is facing criticism for denying entry visas to at least 20 midwives from Africa and Asia who were scheduled to attend an International Confederation of Midwives congress in Lisbon. Organisers argue the decision prevents experts from regions with high maternal mortality rates from participating, while the Ministry of Foreign Affairs maintains that the visa process is rigorous and compliant with the Schengen Visa Code.
Residents in Lisbon are facing a total backlog for renewing their citizen card (Cartão de Cidadão), with no appointments currently available until 2027. The situation has created significant bureaucratic delays for those needing to update their primary identification document.
The Cartão de Cidadão (Citizen Card) is Portugal’s national identity card, introduced in 2007, used for in‑person ID and many online public services; it contains your civil identity data and supports digital authentication and signatures. It is issued to Portuguese citizens—foreign residents use a residence permit for ID—so non‑citizen expats should keep their passport and residence card for official matters.
Cultural mediators from the Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum (AIMA) are striking at the Government headquarters in Lisbon to demand permanent employment status and salary equality, protesting the ministry's reliance on precarious labor.
The Portuguese government has denied entry visas to a group of midwives who were scheduled to participate in an international conference held in Lisbon.
Portugal has denied visas to at least 20 midwives from Africa and Asia who were travelling to attend an international conference in Lisbon aimed at saving millions of babies worldwide, organisers and guests reported today.
Beyond a certain point, requirements stop producing more control. They produce less. Rules that are too strict become impossible to comply with.
The project was debated at a meeting of the Metropolitan Working Group on Social Affairs and Health, held on Monday in Lisbon.
There is an emotional toll that does not appear in the statistics. Immigration sells the idea of a future, but often delivers a bureaucratic and lonely reality.
The Minister of Economy stated that the reprogramming carried out by the Executive was essential to make use of European funds, otherwise Portugal would have lost many millions of euros.
The association reported the prolonged delays in the regularisation processes and renewal of residence permits at AIMA.
With the return law under discussion in committee and the nationality law about to be regulated, the Presidency decided to hear from various immigrant associations to learn about the bureaucracy at AIMA and the real problems on the ground.
The presidency has started a series of meetings to better understand the immigration landscape in Portugal. On Wednesday, May 20, representatives from Casa do Brasil, including president Ana Paula Costa and vice-president Cyntia de Paula, met at the Belém Palace. They presented a document to the President, António José Seguro, highlighting issues such as bureaucratic delays at AIMA, the risk of irregular status due to administrative failures, and concerns regarding xenophobia and the recognition of professional qualifications.
At issue is the fact that, since last year, the annual rotation includes positions that allow Public Prosecution magistrates to perform duties in several departments simultaneously.
AIMA aims to accelerate immigrant regularisation processes, which currently average between two and three thousand per day, totalling around 70,000 per month. Pedro Portugal Gaspar, president of the agency, announced plans to expand services nationwide to address delays, which he acknowledged as a form of 'violence' against migrants. While promising better local response capacity, he maintained that current queues are not comparable to those of the past. He also noted that rising immigration levels present integration challenges that require public understanding to maintain social cohesion. Complaints against AIMA rose by 37% in the first quarter.
At the DCIAP, management is worse than at the local grocery store. With prehistoric computers and shared folders, it takes three years to open an email. Apparently, justice is not blind, it is just really slow.
At the end of 2024, the DCIAP still lacked regulations and was not using the Citius system to process cases. The delays are sometimes absurd: evidence that took five months to travel from Madeira to Lisbon, three years to digitise documents, and two years to obtain laboratory results.
The Public Prosecution Service (MP) is operating in a state of “structural breakdown,” with a shortage of 160 prosecutors across the country, mostly in the first instance courts, thousands of cases assigned to each magistrate, and stalled proceedings, according to a union survey released today.
An inspection report on the Central Department of Investigation and Penal Action at the end of 2024 concluded that the Public Prosecution Service's largest investigation unit lacks internal regulations and is the only department not using the Citius system to process cases, contributing to systematic management failures. The scenario described is one of lack of control, with missed deadlines occurring regularly.
The leadership of the Casa do Brasil de Lisboa (CBL) attended a meeting between the presidents of Brazil and Portugal on Tuesday, April 21. Lula was received by António José Seguro at the Belém Palace. During the meeting, the CBL president addressed the contributions of the Brazilian community in Portugal and raised urgent issues, such as persistent difficulties with immigration service appointments. Contrary to community expectations, Lula did not publicly address recent changes to Portuguese immigration and nationality laws, focusing instead on the EU-Mercosur trade agreement and multilateral peace agendas. The CBL also expressed concern over the rise in racism and xenophobia.
Gonçalo Matias reinforces that the Government is counting on all parties in the negotiations. Additionally, the strike by AIMA cultural mediators caused disruptions this morning at the offices, especially in Anjos.
Cultural mediators from AIMA are gathering near the Government headquarters this Monday. The Federation of Workers' Unions accuses the State of using precarious workers as permanent staff.
The professionals, who will be gathered at the Government headquarters in Lisbon, accuse the ministry of relying on precarious workers as if they were permanent staff. By early morning, the effects of the strike were already visible.
The professionals, who will be gathered at the Government headquarters in Lisbon, accuse the ministry of relying on precarious workers as if they were permanent staff. By early morning, the effects of the strike were already visible.
Alberto Laplaine Guimarães was appointed to the position of secretary-general of the municipality in May 2011, when António Costa was mayor, for a three-year term.
The Bar Association and the High Council of the Magistracy provide a digital tool for access to mega-trials.
Mafalda Livermore, who was dismissed from the Lisbon City Council, responded for the first time on the Grande Jornal da Noite.
The presiding judge of the Operação Marquês trial panel was not notified by the Bar Association of the appointment of a new court-appointed lawyer for the main defendant, José Sócrates. Former Prime Minister José Sócrates has a new defence. The fifth court-appointed lawyer is Luís Esteves, nominated by the General Council of the Bar Association.
The government announced that support for populations affected by the storms would arrive quickly, but the results have not been brilliant. In Belém, have we moved from analogue to digital?
