The shortage of labour in Portugal and the good times of the national economy led to the granting of more than 17,000 residence permits by the end of October than in the whole of 2018.
The year 2019, two months from the end, is already the best ever in terms of immigration with 110,813 residence permits granted up to October versus 93,154 granted in the whole of the previous year, according to provisional data from the Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF).
With growth of 18% compared to the previous year, the total number of legalised immigrants residing in Portugal at the end of 2019 should therefore exceed 566,000 people, becoming a new record compared to 480,000 in 2018.
The Indians join the TOP5 of nationalities
This trend of increased immigration in the last 4 years follows the economic growth and is largely intended to supply labour shortages in various sectors of the Portuguese economy. Thus, the Indians appear in the Top 5 of the nationalities ahead of Nepal which occupies the 5th position, largely to work in agriculture, although they also occupy positions in other sectors such as restaurants.
It should be noted that many of these immigrants have high qualifications but until they have the residence permit they cannot apply for skilled jobs.
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Brexit takes the British to second place on the podium...
With the approach of Brexit, the United Kingdom, it became the second place for residence permits. In 2018, there were 26,000 British residents in Portugal, a figure that should have increased significantly in 2019 (SEF has not yet provided data by nationality). According to the UK Embassy, citizens living in Portugal should be close to 50,000, and it is important that everyone registers to guarantee their rights for the future.
This trend is expected to continue in 2020 as Portugal is one of the 3 preferred destinations in Europe for British reallocation.
Brazil retains first place on the podium
With 106,000 immigrants with residence permits in 2018, Brazil continues to lead the list of applications approved in 2019.
Source: Jornais Económico and Público
