Speaking before the Parliamentary Committee on Constitutional Affairs, Rights, Freedoms, and Guarantees, António Leitão Amaro explained that, to date, 8,435 employment visa applications have been submitted under the regulated migration protocol, which mandates a response within 21 days.

Of these, 5,883 visas have already been granted across 40 consular posts, he explained, noting that approximately 3,000 relate to the agricultural sector and 1,179 to civil construction sectors that traditionally face the most significant labour shortages.

To put this recent progress in context, in a previous one-year review of the protocol, 3,328 visas had been approved up to that point, based on applications submitted by business associations, according to the government.

The Cooperation Protocol for Regulated Labour Migration was a solution implemented last year to expedite the issuance of work visas to immigrants in their countries of origin, leveraging Portugal’s diplomatic network.

With the discontinuation of the “manifestation of interest”, a legal mechanism that previously allowed individuals entering the country without a work visa to obtain a residence permit, the work visa has become the sole means of establishing legal residency in Portugal through formal employment.

In exchange for this expedited visa processing, employers commit to securing housing and integration resources for immigrants, specifically including training and Portuguese language instruction.

Regarding work visa statistics, the government has recorded an overall surge, rising from a previous annual total of up to 20,000 to 50,000 per year; this has resulted in a total increase in consular visas to “just over 60,000,” the Minister of the Presidency explained. Regarding family reunification, a demand of left-wing parties, Leitão Amaro recalled that Portugal used to approve “20,000 cases per year,” and only “when ordered by the courts,” because “the doors were closed”; this year alone, however, “55,000 appointments have already been scheduled, with 35,000 cases processed.”