Key figures — as of 2026-10-04: Law 61/2025 took effect 23 October 2025, so its first anniversary falls in under three weeks — it ended the manifestação de interesse route that had built a backlog of roughly 400,000 pending cases; nearly a year later, the replacement Skilled Job Seeker Visa (Article 57-A) still cannot be applied for at any consulate; family reunification now carries a default two-year residence wait for sponsors, stackable with AIMA's 9–18 month decision window.
A law that closed one door before opening another
Portugal's immigration system is about to mark a full year under its most consequential overhaul in a generation, and the most striking fact isn't a new rule — it's a gap. Portugal's parliament voted for Law No. 61/2025 on September 30, 2025; the president signed it on October 16; it was published on October 22, and came into effect one day later. That single piece of legislation rewrote how foreigners enter, work and reunite with family in Portugal, administered by AIMA (aima.gov.pt).
The most-used of the old pathways is gone for good. Law 61/2025 definitively terminated the manifestação de interesse regularisation pathway, which had allowed non-EU nationals to enter as tourists, find work, make 12 months of Social Security contributions, and then apply for residence — a mechanism that had built a backlog of roughly 400,000 pending cases before closing permanently on December 31, 2025. The route wasn't new to controversy: Decree-Law 37-A/2024 had already suspended it on June 3, 2024, causing an immediate 80% reduction in residency applications before Law 61/2025 shut it for good. The pathway had been widely used by Brazilian, Angolan and other CPLP nationals, and was a major driver of the immigration surge that saw roughly 1.5 million foreigners settle in Portugal.
The 120-day visa that still doesn't exist
For job-seekers, the headline change is almost comic in its bureaucratic irony. The old general-purpose job-seeker visa let any foreigner with funds of around €2,460 enter Portugal and look for work, valid for 120 days and renewable for an additional 60 — no degree required. That route was scrapped overnight when the new law took effect, replaced on paper by a "Skilled Job Seeker Visa" under Article 57-A, restricted to degree-holders and recognised technical profiles.
Nearly a year on, it still isn't operating. The replacement exists in the statute, but as of this writing it is not yet available at consular posts — the joint ministerial ordinance needed to define which technical skills qualify has not been published, so consulates have no legal basis yet to accept applications. GrowIN's own calculation: the gap between the old visa's cancellation and today spans roughly eleven and a half months — nearly double the maximum 180-day stay the old visa ever granted job-seekers. In effect, Portugal has gone almost a year without any functioning route for an unsponsored foreigner to arrive, search, and convert to residence. See our visas hub for which routes are actually live right now.
Family reunification: two years, then the queue
Families face a parallel squeeze. Family reunification is now generally limited to foreign nationals who have held a valid residence permit for at least two years, a significant increase from previous requirements that means newly arrived immigrants must wait longer before bringing family members to Portugal. Exceptions exist: families with minors or dependent children can apply immediately, Golden Visa, EU Blue Card and highly skilled worker permit holders are exempt from the wait, and couples who cohabited at least 18 months before arrival get a reduced 15-month wait instead. But for the standard sponsor — a D7 retiree, a self-employed freelancer, most Tech Visa holders without Blue Card status — two years is the floor, not the ceiling.
That's because AIMA's own clock doesn't start until the sponsor's two years are up. The binding legal deadline at AIMA for a reunification decision is 9 months, extendable to 18 months in complex cases. Add the consular visa stage afterwards, which typically adds several more weeks depending on the post, and GrowIN's analysis puts the realistic worst-case separation — from the day a residence permit is issued to the day a spouse or parent legally joins them — at somewhere between roughly 33 and over 40 months. That's not a penalty clause buried in fine print; it's the default for anyone without an exemption.
"A reform sold as faster immigration has, for the people actually waiting on it, meant a slower one," says GrowIN Portugal Editorial.
Why the law looks the way it does
None of this emerged cleanly. The path to Law 61/2025 included a Constitutional Court ruling on August 8, 2025, that struck down several key clauses of the original bill as unconstitutional, forcing a presidential veto and a parliamentary rewrite before the September 30 vote. CPLP nationals lost a particular convenience too: since Lei n.º 61/2025 came into force, applicants must obtain the appropriate residence visa at the Portuguese consulate before travelling — it is no longer possible to arrive as a tourist and regularise from inside Portugal.
What to watch next
The ordinance defining "skilled" professions for Article 57-A is the single biggest unresolved piece — until it's published, the job-seeker route stays theoretical regardless of what the statute says. Families mid-wait should track AIMA's Portal das Renovações for processing updates and confirm their own exemption status (cohabitation evidence, dependent children, permit category) before assuming the full two years applies. As always on visa and family matters, outcomes depend on AIMA's case-by-case assessment — professional advice is worth the cost before filing. GrowIN will update this piece the moment the Article 57-A ordinance lands.