Key figures — as of 2026-08-28: Parliament passed the bill on 17 July 2026, with Chega abstaining and the right-wing majority (PSD, CDS-PP, IL) securing approval — left-wing parties voted against; the Constitutional Court referral window closed 7 August 2026 with no challenge lodged; AIMA's renewal decision window is extended by 30 days, from 60 to 90; this is the third in-country regularisation channel closed since the manifestação de interesse was abolished in June 2024.
Two more doors close
Foreigners already living in Portugal without a visa have just lost two of the last remaining ways to legalise their status from inside the country. Parliament closed two routes to visa-free immigration on the morning of 17 July: the possibility of regularisation via a minor child in the territory and via a vocational course. Chega abstained, giving the governing party the votes it needed for final approval, while parties on the left voted against the proposal.
The changes target two mechanisms that had, in practice, become informal substitutes for the old "expression of interest" (manifestação de interesse) system scrapped in mid-2024. The government views both routes as mechanisms susceptible to abuse of the legislation. The vocational-course route in particular had become popularised on social media through influencers, prompting the government to get ahead of the trend and remove the possibility from the law.
What exactly changed
The minor-child route ran through article 122(k) of the Foreigners' Law. The section that allowed a residence permit for parents of minors already holding a residence permit in Portugal was withdrawn — it will now apply only to parents of children with Portuguese nationality. Officials confirmed the intent bluntly: it is a way of preventing foreigners from entering the country without a visa, enrolling a child in a school, and thereby gaining the right to reside in the country.
The vocational-training route worked similarly. Entering Portugal as a tourist and then requesting a study visa for vocational training while already in national territory will no longer be possible. Anyone wanting to enrol in a vocational course will instead need a consular visa issued before travelling.
Both channels had absorbed demand that used to flow through the manifestação de interesse. The pattern confirms a trend visible since the elimination of the expression-of-interest route in June 2024: Portugal's system is progressively moving away from in-country regularisation and requiring, as a rule, that the migration process start at the Portuguese consulate in the country of origin or residence. The same bill also does away with "tacit approval" for delayed renewals — 30 days were added to the 60 already provided for in the law for AIMA to decide on renewal applications, meaning delays no longer default in the applicant's favour.
GrowIN's read on the numbers
Add this up and the pattern is stark: three separate in-country legalisation doors — the expression of interest (June 2024), the minor-child route, and the vocational-course route (both July 2026) — have been shut in roughly 25 months. By GrowIN Portugal's count, that leaves essentially one practical route into legal status for non-EU nationals without a pre-arranged job or family tie already recognised abroad: applying for the correct visa at a Portuguese consulate before ever boarding a flight. For the tens of thousands of Brazilians who make up the largest single nationality among AIMA's caseload, this converts what was often a months-long in-country fix into a process that must start — and often stall — thousands of kilometres away.
"Portugal has now closed every improvised back door into residency, leaving the front door — the consulate — as the only one still open," says GrowIN Portugal Editorial.
What happens next
If the President does not refer the bill to the Constitutional Court, the promulgation-and-publication process is expected to take up to about a month before the new rules take effect. With that referral window having lapsed on 7 August without a challenge, promulgation by President António José Seguro and publication in the Diário da República were the only outstanding steps as this article went to press — meaning the closure of both routes is either already in force or only days away. There is also uncertainty for people who filed applications before the change: it remains unclear whether the law in force when the process opened or the one in force when it is decided will apply.
Practical implications
Anyone currently undocumented and hoping a child's school enrolment or a vocational course would provide a route to a residence card needs a new plan. That generally means: securing a job offer or contract that supports a D2 or D3 work visa application at a Portuguese consulate abroad, checking eligibility for the D7 or D8 (with its ≈€3,680/month income threshold for digital nomads), or exploring family reunification once a family member already holds valid residency — subject to the waiting periods that also tightened under the same broader reform. For nationality purposes, note separately that a minor born in Portugal to foreign parents can only obtain Portuguese nationality if a parent has resided legally in the country for at least five years and the minor is enrolled in compulsory schooling — a distinct, unaffected pathway from the residency changes described here.
Anyone with a pending application, or considering a move to Portugal without a visa already arranged, should treat this as a hard deadline rather than a rumour. Read our visas hub for a full breakdown of which Portuguese visa actually fits your situation, and speak to an immigration lawyer or licensed consultant before making travel plans based on outdated advice still circulating online.
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