Nearly 34,000 immigrants to be ordered to leave Portugal
South Asians top the list of immigrants who may have to leave the country after their residency applications were denied by AIMA. Nearly two out of every ten cases reviewed were rejected.
Close to 34,000 foreign nationals in Portugal may be ordered to leave the country voluntarily after their residency applications were rejected by the Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum (AIMA), the Portuguese government announced on Monday.
The majority of these rejected applications involve Indian citizens, with over 13,000 cases.
In total, AIMA has denied 33,983 applications out of 184,059 reviewed cases, a rejection rate of 18.5%, according to government figures.
Minister of the Presidency, António Leitão Amaro, revealed the sharp increase in rejections during a press conference at the government’s headquarters in Lisbon.
“We had 18,000 rejections previously. Now we are nearing 34,000. Of these, around 1,000 have already been issued voluntary departure notifications,” he said.
The minister explained that the process of issuing these notifications had accelerated last week due to the implementation of a semi-automated system.
“All of these 33,000, unless there is a justified reason, will receive a voluntary departure notification,” Leitão Amaro stated.
South Asian immigrants are the majority
AIMA is currently issuing around 2,000 notifications per day.
The voluntary departure process, under Portuguese law, allows individuals to leave the country willingly before any forced removal procedures are initiated.
According to the minister’s estimates, the list of nearly 34,000 immigrants who are expected to voluntarily leave Portugal is led by Indians, totaling 13,466.
They are followed by Brazilians (5,386), citizens of Bangladesh (3,750), Nepalis (3,279), Pakistanis (3,005), Algerians (1,054), Moroccans (603), Colombians (236), Venezuelans (234), and Argentinians (180). Other nationalities account for 2,790 individuals.
Among the approved applications, 150,076 were granted legal residency.
Backlog nearly resolved
In a related update, the government said that the longstanding backlog of over 446,000 pending immigration cases has been largely resolved.
According to Rui Armindo Freitas, Deputy Secretary of the Presidency, more than 165,000 of those cases were dismissed, while others have either been approved or denied.
“All the files have been processed in some way. Everyone has either had their application accepted or rejected, and residence cards are being sent to those who meet the legal criteria,” Freitas said.
He also noted that from 274,000 appointments scheduled, 252,000 people were seen, and 133,000 residence documents have already been mailed out.
Additionally, over 389,000 criminal records were reviewed, resulting in 27 arrests linked to criminal activity, including some with international arrest warrants and cases involving document fraud.
Regarding the 210,000 citizens from Portuguese-speaking countries (CPLP) who hold provisional residence permits, Freitas reported that 115,000 have already been processed.
He emphasized that for many of these individuals, background checks had never been conducted until now.
“We are now verifying those records thoroughly and at a good pace. We will continue to address the remaining cases,” he said.
Do you have any information about where things are at with residency renewals? Like thousands of others, my card has been expired since September 2024 with no way to get an appointment and no indication of how long it might be. I live in Setúbal and it seems they have not given any renewal appointments since December.