The Foreigners and Borders Service has reported that requests for Portuguese residency have increased 1,300% in the days following a law change.
The wording of the new law allows those who have a job offer, rather than guaranteed employment, to obtain residency.
Immigrants from Brazil, Nepal, India, Cape Verde and the Ukraine are among 4,000 applicants who have rushed to grab the new opportunity, many of whom are working illegally and want to legitimise their status.
This glut is precisely what the SEF had warned the government of, as officers now scratch their heads, faced with a pile of 4,073 requests in the first week.
The rule change was intended to allow the inclusion of illegal foreign workers, not that the government made this explicit, as it is better to have people in the system with a chance of paying social security and tax, than forever working ‘cash in hand.’
It has not been made clear what “the promise of a work contract” is but applicants must have registered at a social security office before applying for residency.
SEF officers, already unable to cope with airport duties and Golden Visa applications, are at a loss to understand why the government has piled more work on while not addressing the long-running problems of staff numbers.
