Key figures — as of 2026-09-23: GNR checked 21,567 foreigners between January and August 2026 — 232 detentions, already above the 210 detentions recorded in all of 2025 — 103,212 people checked since the GNR took over foreigner-enforcement duties on 29 October 2023, across roughly 94% of Portuguese territory — nationally, 23,134 notices to leave voluntarily were issued in 2025, up from just 444 in 2024.
The number that matters
Eight months into 2026, GNR has already recorded more detentions of foreign nationals than it did in the whole of 2025. In the first eight months of 2026 alone, GNR carried out 232 detentions, more than the 210 registered during all of last year. With four months still to go, that trajectory matters to anyone in Portugal whose paperwork isn't perfectly in order — tourists overstaying a Schengen visa-free stay, or residents whose AIMA permit renewal has lapsed and hasn't yet gone through.
Who's actually doing the stopping
Since SEF was dismantled, land and coastal border enforcement — and the day-to-day checking of foreigners' status on the ground — sits with GNR's Coastal and Border Control Unit (UCCF) and its territorial commands. Since the dismantling of SEF on 29 October 2023, GNR, through the UCCF, took on responsibility for the control of maritime and land borders, as well as the monitoring of foreign citizens across its area of responsibility, corresponding to around 94% of national territory. AIMA itself remains the administrative agency — it processes residence permits, renewals and regularisation applications — while GNR (and the newer PSP-led national foreigners unit) handles the physical checks and removals, feeding cases back into AIMA's system. It's this division of labour, not a single "joint patrol," that's driving the numbers: GNR flags status irregularities on the street, at bus terminals, in agriculture, hospitality and construction, and AIMA administers what happens next.
The scale of where these checks happen is telling. Public streets concentrate the largest number of people checked, with 46,069, followed by commerce with 20,475 and industry with 11,504; a further 9,615 were checked at road and rail terminals, 9,462 in hospitality and restaurants, and 5,238 on farms. Anyone stopped on a national road, at a bus or train station, or working in a restaurant, farm or shop without EU papers is squarely inside the pattern GNR itself is reporting.
GrowIN analysis: it's not more checks — it's sharper ones
Here's the detail worth reading twice. Raw stop numbers for Jan–Aug 2026 (21,567) are actually tracking below the pace of 2025, when 54,739 people were checked over the full year, with 210 detentions. But detentions per check have moved dramatically: 210 detentions from 54,739 checks in 2025 is a rate of roughly 0.38%. 232 detentions from 21,567 checks in the first eight months of 2026 is a rate of about 1.08% — nearly triple. GNR is stopping fewer people overall but converting far more of those stops into detentions, which points to better-targeted operations rather than blanket sweeps.
"The odds of a routine stop turning into a detention have almost tripled this year — enforcement got sharper, not just bigger," says GrowIN Portugal Editorial.
What this means if your papers aren't current
For genuine tourists on a valid Schengen stay, this changes little. The exposure is for people who've overstayed the 90/180-day rule, who let a residence permit lapse without an active renewal in AIMA's system, or who are working informally while status is "in process" limbo. Portugal's internal security report noted that in 2025, 23,134 undocumented immigrants were issued notices to leave the country voluntarily, marking a major rise compared to previous years. That national figure — separate from GNR's own count — compares with only 444 such notices issued in 2024.
Practically: carry proof of legal status (passport with entry stamp, valid visa, or AIMA proof of a pending renewal via the Portal das Renovações) whenever travelling by road, bus or train, especially outside Lisbon and Porto where GNR — not PSP — is the territorial authority. If your permit has expired and you haven't filed a renewal, don't wait; see our visas hub for the current AIMA renewal routes before a routine check becomes a bigger problem.
What to watch next
The Ministry of Home Affairs is also negotiating a border-control salary supplement for GNR and PSP officers, a sign the government intends to keep resourcing this enforcement push rather than scale it back. Whether the detention-rate trend holds through the final months of 2026 — and whether AIMA's own backlog of pending regularisations catches up with the people being flagged — will determine whether this settles into routine policing or keeps intensifying into next year. Anyone with an uncertain status should treat 2026 as the year to resolve it, not wait it out.