The conclusions are in the report of the Foreigners and Borders Service. The main nationalities with residence in the country are Brazil, Cape Verde and Romania. French and Italians continue to gain weight. And there is an increase in the number of citizens from Africa (plus 4.3%), unlike in previous years.
There have never been so many foreigners living in Portugal. At least, this is what the figures from the Immigration, Frontiers and Asylum Report (RIFA) of the Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF), cited by TSF and the Lusa agency, show. For the third consecutive year, the number of immigrants has increased and is the highest figure since registration: 480,300 people have a residence permit.
By comparison, in 2017 (when the number of immigrants was 421,711), there was an increase of 13.9% in the following year. It is necessary to go back to 2002 to find an increase as expressive as that of 2018.
The granting of residence permits also increased significantly (51.7%), with 93,154 new permits issued.
The largest immigrant community in Portugal is the Brazilian one: one in five foreigners living in Portugal has this nationality (105,423 citizens). There was an increase in applications for permits from Bengali (+165.1%), Brazilians (+143.7%), Nepalese (+141.2%), Indians (+127.3%) and Venezuelans (+83.2%).
Advantages associated with the increase in residence permits
Listened to by TSF, the Minister of Internal Administration, Eduardo Cabrita, highlighted the need for Portugal to have an orderly migration strategy and stresses that the increase in immigrants "is in line with the need to maintain the population and active population level" and with the dynamics of the labour market, especially the lack of labour in the agriculture and construction sectors.
Eduardo Cabrita also announced an extension of the hours of the SEF service stations: from 8.30 am to 8 pm to "correspond to this growth of the attractiveness of the Portuguese economy which is reflected in the significant growth of foreigners living in Portugal".
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Reversing the trend: more citizens of Africa
The 10 main nationalities residing in the country are Brazil (105,423), Cape Verde (34,663), Romania (30,908), Ukraine (29,218), United Kingdom (26,445), China (25,357), France (19,771), Italy (18,862), Angola (18,382) and Guinea-Bissau (16,186). The RIFA also notes that in 2018 there was an increase in the number of citizens from Africa (up 4.3%), a reversal of the trend seen in previous years, with particular emphasis on Portuguese-speaking African countries, namely Angola, which saw its community grow by 9.1%, and Guinea-Bissau, with an increase of 6.5%.
Eight out of ten (81%) foreign citizens residing in Portugal are part of the active population, with a predominance of the age group between 25 and 44 years old. However, the population over 65 years old (9.8%) has a higher relative weight than young people between 0 and 14 years old (9.1%).
According to the report, more than two thirds (68.9%) of the foreign population lives in the districts of Lisbon (213,065), Faro (77,489) and Setúbal (40,209).
Report data in overview
This confirms what was expected: more than 41 thousand foreign citizens applied for Portuguese nationality in 2018, the highest figure in the last five years. A total of 41,324 requests for acquisition of Portuguese nationality were registered last year, a "significant increase" compared to 2017 (10.9%). The report states that the SEF delivered 33 839 opinions, 32 414 of which were positive and 1425 negative.
- The most important Portuguese nationals in 2018 were those from Brazil (11,586), Israel (4289), Cape Verde (4259), Angola (1953) and Ukraine (1849). The SEF also highlights other foreigners, such as those from Guinea-Bissau (1,550), Turkey (1,141), India (648), Venezuela (562) and Nepal (338). SEF points out that most applications for acquisition of nationality are related to naturalisation (70%), followed by married or unmarried foreigners for more than three years with Portuguese nationals (16%) and original allocation (9%).
- More than 93 thousand foreigners acquired new residence permits in Portugal in 2018, which increased by 51.7% compared to 2017. Among the new immigrants are citizens from Bangladesh and Nepal.
- Although the most relevant nationalities that acquired new securities in 2018 were Brazilians (28,210), Italians (6989), French (5306) and British (5079), citizens from Bangladesh increased 165.1% last year compared to 2017, totaling 5325. The RIFA also indicates that citizens from Nepal increased by 141.2% last year (11,489) and Indians by 127.3% (11,393), as well as Venezuelans, who grew by 83.2% (4,740). According to the same document, the most relevant reasons for granting new residence permits were family reunification, work and study.
- In the context of the gold visas, the report states that in 2018 the instruction was concluded with a favourable decision of 1409 cases of ARI and 2500 concerning family reunification. At the end of 2018, 1256 first residence permits were issued to investors and 2292 to family members. According to SEF, the total investment made amounted to approximately 848 million euros, of which approximately 762 million euros related to the 1332 property acquisition operations. The 72 capital transfer operations worth EUR 1 million or more totalled some EUR 76 million and last year five ARI were granted for the creation of at least 10 jobs.
- Asylum applications to Portugal decreased by 27% in 2018 compared to 2017, totalling 1272, including those related to the relocation mechanism within the European Union. This decrease coincides with that at the European level, where there was also a reduction "although less significant", notes the SEF.
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