Key figures — as of 2026-09-02: Publication in Diário da República (DRE) closing the last two in-country regularisation routes expected "within days" — vocational-course enrolment (Article 92) and minor-child residence (Article 122(1)(k)) both end — following the 3 June 2024 abolition of Manifestação de Interesse and the later removal of CPLP-title regularisation — roughly 27 months to close every remaining loophole since mid-2024.
The last two doors are closing
Portugal is days away from shutting the final legal cracks that let people arrive as tourists and regularise their stay once inside the country. Regularisation via a vocational course and via a minor child will no longer be possible, with only publication in the Diário da República remaining, expected within days. Once that decree is published, it takes effect — and AIMA (aima.gov.pt) stops accepting new applications under either mechanism.
For thousands of migrants who built their move to Portugal around these two routes, the calculation just changed completely.
How these routes worked — and why they mattered
Portuguese law contained several loopholes that allowed someone to enter as a tourist and regularise while already in the country, and this path was chosen by thousands of migrants over the years. After the government scrapped Manifestação de Interesse in June 2024, enrolment in a vocational course became the obvious workaround — one of the few mechanisms in the law that still allowed a residence permit without a visa requested in the country of origin, and immigration under this article of the law became popular after the end of Manifestação de Interesse. Courses lasting a year or more, certified under Article 92 of the Foreigners' Law, gave enrollees a legitimate-looking path to a residence card — enrolment in vocational courses, regulated by Article 92 of the Foreigners' Law, was considered an effective shortcut to obtaining a residence permit. Officials came to call it "Manifestação de Interesse 2.0."
The minor-child route worked differently: a non-EU parent could apply for residence based on a child already living in — or born in — Portugal. Lawyers tracking the file describe Article 122(1)(k) of Law no. 23/2007 as a provision that currently allows certain parents of minor children residing in Portugal to apply for a residence permit under specific circumstances, a mechanism now heading for the same fate as vocational courses.
Both survived because CPLP-title regularisation and Manifestação de Interesse had already been shut down, pushing demand into whatever gaps remained. Once the CPLP-title regularisation possibility was removed from the law, thousands of people had gone to court to obtain that document instead. Migration advisers describe a game of whack-a-mole: close one route, watch applicants pivot to the next.
The government's message
Immigration minister António Leitão Amaro has been blunt about the intent behind two years of sequential closures. Addressing Parliament, he said: "Continua a haver entrada: as pessoas estão a entrar por onde devem entrar" — people should be entering through the front door, with a job contract and a visa secured before travel, not through in-country workarounds. Since these changes were announced, demand for legal services and vocational courses has spiked as people rush to lock in a document, though some are still gambling on entering without a prior consular visa.
GrowIN analysis: 27 months to weld the door shut
Here's the number that puts this in context. Manifestação de Interesse ended on 3 June 2024. If the decree closing vocational courses and minor-child regularisation is published in early September 2026 as expected, Portugal will have taken roughly 27 months — just over two years — to eliminate every in-country loophole one by one, rather than closing them all at once. That drawn-out sequencing is itself the story: each closure simply redirected demand into whichever mechanism remained, meaning the "vocational course boom" and the "minor-child applications" of the past two years were largely a symptom of earlier closures, not independent trends.
"Portugal has spent two years systematically welding shut every back door into legal residency — the message to would-be migrants is now unambiguous: secure your visa before you board the plane," says GrowIN Portugal Editorial.
What this means in practice
Anyone currently in Portugal on a tourist stay hoping to enrol in a course or lean on a child's residence to regularise should assume that door is closing within days, not months. Existing applications submitted before the DRE publication date will likely fall under transitional rules, but the details — and any grace period — depend on the final text. This is a moment for professional legal advice, not guesswork; outcomes will depend entirely on how AIMA and the courts interpret the transitional provisions.
Going forward, the only realistic paths into Portugal for non-EU nationals are consular visas obtained before travel — D7, D8, the qualified job-seeker visa, work visas, or family reunification under its own tightened rules. Our visas hub breaks down which of these fits different situations.
What to watch next
The DRE publication itself will confirm the exact effective date and any transitional window for pending cases. Expect legal challenges given how many people structured their move around these mechanisms in good faith, and watch for AIMA guidance on how existing course enrolments and pending minor-child applications will be treated. Anyone unsure where they stand should get tailored advice rather than rely on social media claims about "easier" routes — precisely the kind of advice that pushed many into these now-closing mechanisms in the first place.
For help assessing your options under the new rules, see our visa and residency services.