Migrant integration in Portugal

According to Eurostat's Migration and migrant population statistics, as of 1 January 2024, there were over 1.3 million third-country nationals (TCNs), representing 12.4% of the population, and over 380 000 EU citizens (3.6%) living in Portugal at the time. 

In 2022, 48.9% of permits were issued for work, 35.5% - for family reunification, and 8.9 – for study purposes, according to the European Migration Network (EMN)’s July 2024 country factsheet for Portugal. In terms of naturalisation, 20 316 TCNs received Portuguese citizenship in 2022, compared to 23 725 in 2021, and 23 725 in 2020. Other detailed statistical data is available in the EMN factsheet for Portugal, with insights about the age and gender of TCNs, the most common types of residence permits issued and international protection statistics.

By the start 2025, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) also counted over 73 000 people who had fled the war against Ukraine and had applied for temporary protection in Portugal. 

The OECD/EC Indicators of Immigrant Integration 2023: Settling In report provides further breakdowns of the composition of migrant populations and households in Portugal, including in terms of immigration flows by legal category, concentration in densely populated areas, duration of stay and household composition.

To foster the inclusion of migrants, Portugal published its first Plan for Immigrant Integration in 2007. The document covered 3 years and was organised around 7 key principles and 5 transversal axes: legislation, service provision, research, public opinion and empowerment of communities. The plan was updated in 2010to remain applicable until 2013. It increased the prominence of good relations between migrant communities and the majority population.

Since 2015, integration priorities are included in the general Strategic Plan for Migration which covers a 5-year period. It puts emphasis on strengthening the quality of services provided to foreigners, foresees to respond to integration challenges in a transversal manner and to implement 106 measures, to be assessed through 201 indicators.

Before the end of the Strategic Plan for Migration, Portugal approved the National Plan for the Implementation of the Global Compact on Migration (PNIPGM) in 2019, with the publication of Council of Ministers Resolution n.º 141/2019 of 20 August.

The National Plan for the Implementation of the Global Compact on Migration (PNIPGM) reinforced the country’s commitment to the implementation of public policies on migration and continues the path initiated by the previous Plans. The PNIPGM advocates a holistic approach to migration, therefore involving all levels of Public Administration, as well as Civil Society. The 97 measures of the National Plan implement the 23 objectives of the Pact, around 5 fundamental axes, which, in turn, pursue the 10 guiding principles of the United Nations Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration.

The Strategic Plan for Migration 2015-2020 has been promoting voluntary introductory courses, generally implemented by governmental bodies all over the country. At the national level, there are the linguistic support programmes Portuguese Host Language(PLA) and Portuguese as Foreign Language (PLNM), as well as projects targeting young people, such as the Choices Programme, targeting adults, such as the Promoting Immigrant Entrepreneurship project, as well as the projects for mentoring migrants and intercultural mediation. Attendance of all these activities is free of charge and voluntary.

There are also several activities organised on the local or regional levels, like for instance the Municipal Plans for the Integration of Migrants. These activities are set on the basis of the national integration plans or result from independent initiatives implemented by public or private social actors. They address a wide range of issues, from social interaction and intercultural dialogue, to health awareness and labour orientation.

At the same time, passing a language test at the A2 level - or presenting a certificate of basic Portuguese language proficiency issued by one of the accredited institutions - is required for those applying for citizenship or permanent residence.

The official assessment of the 2007-2009 Plan for Integration shows the implementation rate of planned actions reached 81%, with a 16-percent non-compliance level, while the assessment report for the 2010-2013 plan revealed a 79-percent implementation rate. Out of the 408 goals, 290 were fully reached, 64 were partially reached and 54 - not reached at all. Concerning the Strategic Plan for Migration 2015-2020, a technical group monitors its implementations with biannual reports. A political coordination group including various state actors also meets once a year - and more often if necessary - to assess compliance and promote appropriate changes. The evaluation report for 2015-2016 found out that the overall execution rate of the plan stood at 76% in 2015 and 74% in 2016. However, the evaluation report for 2017-2018 period stated that the overall execution rate of the plan was 91% in 2017 and 90% in 2018. Finally, the evaluation report for 2019-2020, published in 2021, found out that the overall execution rate of the plan stood at 70% in 2019 and 64% in 2020.

For the follow-up and monitoring of the PNIPGM, 2 spheres of intervention were constituted: at the ministerial level, through the political coordination of the different areas involved in the Plan, and at the technical level, coordinated by the ACM, and which aims to closely monitor the state of implementation of the 97 measures that make up the PNIPGM.

In 2022, a Voluntary national report on the implementation of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration in Portugal (PT, 2022) was published, which aimed to share the progress achieved since 2020 when the First voluntary regional review of Portugal's Global Compact for Migration(GCM) (EN, 2020) and the Public balance of the first year of implementation of the PNIPGM (PT, 2020) were presented, identifying the main activities carried out, the good practices implemented, as well as the main constraints and challenges.

Considering the important role that citizens and civil society organisations play in public institutions and in the fulfilment of policy based on a whole-of-society approach, in 2021 the High Commission for Migration(ACM), in partnership with the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), and in addition to the regular presentation and discussion on the implementation status of the PNIPGM, developed a consultative process. It aims to identify the degree of awareness of civil society organisations regarding the GCM and the National Plan (PNIPGM), to measure the degree of involvement or the activities developed by peer civil society organizations, and to assess their general perception of the national implementation of the Global Compact, its constraints and opportunities, aspects to be improved, suggestions and recommendations to better execute the objectives that can support policy makers. Specifically, the process included information sessions and the development of a questionnaire. In 2022, a Report on the Civil society consultation regarding engagement with the Global Compact for Migration was published.

In addition, the Observatory for Migration publishes data on indicators of immigrant integration, going beyond the EC-recommended 4 integration dimensions and 16 Zaragoza indicators. It looks, instead, at 15 dimensions and more than 300 indicators, analysing data from 32 statistical and administrative national sources, compiling data from 16 international statistical sources. Thus the annual report on indicators of immigrant integration is considered to be the most important publication of official data on immigration in Portugal.

Finally, the international Migrant Integration Policy Index (MIPEX) points out that Portugal leads in terms of integration policies among other ‘newer’ destinations, and is ahead of other established destination countries in terms of policies. Portugal’s comprehensive approach to integration thus brings the country into the top ten of MIPEX countries. The country scores 81 out of 100 points in MIPEX 2020, with the average score being 49.

The Portuguese Aliens Act of 2007 (Law No. 23/2007, of 04/07) regulates the legal framework of entry, stay, exit and removal of foreigners from the national territory. 

The latest of 9 amendments to the act, Law No. 18/2022, of 25/08 creates conditions for the implementation of the Agreement on Mobility between the member states of the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries, signed in Luanda on 17 July 2021. This law also includes: a) the ninth amendment to Law No. 23/2007, which approves the legal regime for the entry, stay, exit and removal of foreigners from the national territory; b) the second amendment to Law No. 27/2008, which establishes the conditions and procedures for granting asylum or subsidiary protection and the statutes asylum seeker, refugee and subsidiary protection; c) the implementation in the internal legal order of Regulations (EU) Nos 2018/1860, 2018/1861 and 2018/1862 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 November 2018, concerning the establishment, operation and use of the Schengen Information System (SIS).

Among previous amendments to the act, of importance is Law 28/2019 which established the presumption of legal entry when granting a residence permit for the exercise of professional activity in Portugal.Law 102/2017, in turn, that transposes EU directives on the conditions of entry and residence of TCNs for the purposes of research, studies, training, voluntary service, pupil exchange schemes or educational projects and au pair work. It also introduced new conditions for granting residence permits for investors, and created exceptions for granting of residence permits to migrant IT entrepreneurs.

The Asylum Law of March 1998 establishes the legal framework for asylum. Amendments of 2014 (Law No. 26/2014, of 05/05) are the republication of changes approved in 2008. They include new conditions and procedures for the granting of asylum and subsidiary protection, and clarifications on the status of asylum seeker, refugee and beneficiary of subsidiary protection. They also transpose several EU Directives.

Law No. 18/2022 of 25 August 2022 created conditions for the implementation of the Agreement on Mobility between the member states of the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries, signed in Luanda on 17 July 2021. This law also provides: a) the ninth amendment to Law No. 23/2007 which approved the legal regime for the entry, stay, exit and removal of foreigners from the national territory; b) the second amendment to Law No. 27/2008 which establishes the conditions and procedures for granting asylum or subsidiary protection and the statutes asylum seeker, refugee and subsidiary protection; c) the implementation in the internal legal order of Regulations (EU) No 2018/1860, 2018/1861 and 2018/1862 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 November 2018, concerning the establishment, operation and use of the Schengen Information System (SIS).

Currently, the integration policy is based on the Resolution of the Council of Ministers No. 141/2019 of 20/08 - National Plan for the Implementation of the Global Compact on Migration.

From 2007 to 2020, all 3 strategic documents for integration set up by the Portuguese government were approved by resolutions of the council of ministers:

• 12-B/2015
• 74/2010
• 63-A/2007

Portugal has the EU’s second-highest naturalisation rate at 5.2%, with only Sweden ahead at 6.7%. Portugal's first nationality law dates back to 1981 (Law No. 37/81). Major and highly-praised changes were made in 2006 for strengthening the jus solis principle (nationality obtained by territory of birth) and reducing the period of legal residence to apply for citizenship. In 2015, Organic Law 8/2015 established new grounds for naturalisation, while Organic Law 9/2015 allowed Portuguese citizenship to the grandchildren of Portuguese citizens born abroad. Organic Law No. 2/2018 extended the access to citizneship and naturalisation to those born in Portuguese territory.

Organic Law No. 2/2020, the 9th amendment to Law No. 37/81, rephrased several articles of the law in order to facilitate the attribution of Portuguese citizenship, both original and acquired, in certain circumstances.  

The Portuguese Criminal Code of 1982 addresses anti-discrimination. It was recently complemented by Law no. 93/2017 of 23 August which established the legal framework for the prevention, prohibition of and fight against discrimination on the basis of race and ethnic origin, skin colour, nationality, ancestry and territory of origin.

Portugal also adopted its first National Plan to Combat Racism and Discrimination 2021-2025.

Plan for the Prevention of Manifestations of Discrimination in the Security Forces and Services, dated 18 March 2021, was also approved at sectoral level, and a human rights officer was created in all security forces and services. 

Decree-Law n.º 41/2023 of 2 June creates the Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum, I.P. (AIMA, I.P.) and comes into force on 29/10 2023.

The Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum (AIMA) will succeed SEF - Foreigners and Borders Service, and ACM, I.P. – the High Commission for Migration, which will be merged. According to the decree-law that created it, AIMA will come into operation on the 29 October 2023. 

According to the government, AIMA represents ‘a new positioning of public policies on migration and management of diversity, both at the national and international level, which is not strange to the complexity of the migration flows of our times, making the documentation of foreign citizens the first step in the integration process of regular, safe and orderly migration’. It should be noted that ‘the mission (...), in terms of migration and asylum, namely those relating to the entry, stay, reception and integration of foreign citizens in the national territory, is that these processes take place under the aegis of a single administrative entity, transferring a global approach to the management of migration and asylum, making the system more efficient and more resistant to future migratory pressures and humanitarian crises”.

The law establishes that AIMA will assume the functions of the SEF in administrative matters related to foreign citizens, and will also assume the functions of the ACM, I.P. with regard to issues of the reception and integration of migrants in Portugal. AIMA is also meant to have the mandate and human resources to the agency for combating racism and the integration of ethnic groups.

On the other hand, SEF’s police competences will be transferred to the Public Security Police which will include the competences to surveil, inspect and control airport borders, the National Republican Guard which will be responsible for surveiling, supervising and controlling maritime borders and terrestrial, including cruise terminals, and the Portuguese Criminal Police, which has the competence in the investigation of illegal migration and human trafficking. The Borders and Foreigners Coordination Unit is also created. This unit will report to the secretary general of the Internal Security System and will coordinate cooperation between national security forces and services among themselves and with other countries on matters such as movement of people, and return and control of people at the border. The Institute of Registries and Notary (IRN), finally, is now responsible for granting and issuing the Portuguese electronic passport, as well as dealing with renewals of residence permits, allowing citizens residing regularly in the national territory to go through the respective documentary processes in the same places as national citizens.

As part of the closure of the ACM, I.P., the social inclusion programs for children and young people from more vulnerable socio-economic contexts (such as the Escolhas Programme), will be transferred to the Portuguese Institute of Sports and Youth.

Before all the above-mentioned changes, on a national level, the High Commission for Migration has been the primary institution responsible for the integration of migrants, refugees (as established by Ordinance No. 203/2016, of July 25), as well as for ethnic minorities, including the Roma communities (as established by the Decree-Law 31/2014). The commission has been in charge of determining, executing and assessing transversal and sectorial policies, and functions under the direct supervision of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers. The latter has been designing all integration strategies, in turn implemented by the 13 ministries, various national and local administrations, as well as civil society organisations. The High Commission for Migration represents Portugal at the European Integration Network and supervises:

• National Migrant Support Centres (CNAIM), created in 2004
• Local Migrant Support Centres (CLAIM), created in 2003
• Specialised Support Offices for Immigrants (GAEI), launched in 2004
• Office for Entrepreneurship Support for Migrants in Portugal (GAEM)
• (Observatory for Migration) OM
• Commission for Equality and Against Racial Discrimination (CICDR)

Local authorities also play a key role in promoting and implementing integration policies. They set up facilities, implement reception measures, finance micro projects and provide services such as education, housing, social support, legal assistance, job orientation, training, intercultural mediation, language courses, and more. They also launch information or awareness-raising campaigns and take action to combat discrimination and segregation. Local authorities had to create their own Municipal Plans for the Integration of Migrants by 2020.

The Council for Migration established in September 2014 (previously functioning as the Consultative Council for Immigration Affairs of 1999) is the consultative body for migration issues, including integration. It participates in the decision-making process of the ministerial council, ensuring cooperation with public and private entities in the definition and implementation of migration policies. In addition to state and municipal, the members include representatives of migrant communities and non-profit organisations dealing with migrant issues, as well as 2 citizens.

Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF)

• Details: The allocation for Portugal under AMIF is €75,860,651 over the 2014-2020 period. National integration priorities for the fund mainly aim at preventing the social exclusion of TCNs, facilitating and streamlining the interaction between TCNs, society and public administration, fostering the exercise of citizenship and civic participation, and deepening the empowerment of the descendants of TCN communities. Learn more about the Portuguese AMIF programme.
• National managing authority: See more on the official governmental website managing EU funding, Portugal 2030.

European Social Fund Plus (ESF+)

• Details: The ESF+ contributes over €7.8 billion infunds in Portugal towards socially inclusive and skills based economic development.
• National managing authority: See more on the official governmental website managing EU funding, Portugal 2030.

ERASMUS+, the EU’s programme to support education, training, youth and sport in Europe

National managing authority: Erasmus+ Education and Training National Agency

European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) to strengthen economic and social cohesion in the EU by correcting regional imbalances

National managing authority: Agency for Development and Cohesion, I.P.

Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived (FEAD), offering material assistance to the most vulnerable or in need

National managing authority: Programa Operacional de Apoio às Pessoas Mais Carenciadas em Portugal (POAPMC)

European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD), supporting the development of rural economies and communities

National managing authorities: PDR 2020 Managing Authority (mainland), PRODERAM 2020 Managing Authority (Madeira), PRORURAL+ Managing Authority (Azores)

Other public funding

• High Commission for Migration
• FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
• Portuguese Refugee Council
• Santa Casa da Misericórdia
• Universities and Research Units
• Municipalities

Private funding

• Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation
• Fundação Aga Khan
• Luso-American Development Foundation
• Jesuit Refugee Service
• Catholic Work for Migration in Portugal