Changes to the foreigners law in Portugal have raised concerns among some Angolans planning to emigrate to Portuguese territory, especially because the changes are not understood by citizens of the Portuguese-speaking community.
On Monday, an amendment to the law was adopted establishing the legal regime for the entry, stay, exit and expulsion of foreigners in Portugal, ending the regime of exceptions that allowed immigrants to legalize themselves in the country through a legal form of manifestation. interest.
Regarding the changes, Rosa Maria de Castro, who is currently applying for a visa to Portugal, said she believes they will also affect citizens of the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP) as immigration to Portugal increases. Portugal.
An Angolan resident trying to enter Portugal for the first time considers this measure by the Portuguese government important, recognizing that there are people who are tempted to go to work in the country, but once there they are unable to find work or are exploited.
“I think this is a method of control: people can only enter Portugal in order for their stay to be worthwhile, they must enter Portugal with the purpose of helping it grow. Portugal needs people who can help its economy grow,” he told Lusa.
Rosa Castro stressed that the CPLP visa has helped many stranded families who have managed to settle in Portugal and believes the changes to the law published on Monday make it more difficult for the European country to tighten controls on immigration.
“Africa is going through difficult times for its economy and the goal of the people is to go in search of better conditions,” added Rosa Castro.
He said the biggest challenge he faced during the process was planning his visa application.
In turn, Manuel Queta, an employee of a travel agency, expressed concern that information about CPLP visas is not clear.
“We have submitted several CPLP visa applications today alone and have not received any notification that any document has gone missing due to something being changed,” he said.
Manuel Queta stressed that the CPLP visa is not bureaucratic and easy to obtain, and hopes that there will be no significant changes.
For this Angolan, better control of immigration is needed, but not preventing entry, remembering that Portugal has agreements with several countries and must respect them.
“We need Portugal, just as Portugal needs us, both sides are interested in this,” he emphasized.
Edinaldo Borges, a travel agent, said he was “comfortable” with the rules as the interests of the Portuguese-speaking community were “protected” by Portuguese authorities.
“The only rule they added is that the CPLP community upon entry must provide proof of their livelihood in Portugal. I think our interests are well protected so far,” he said.
Edinaldo Borges is of the opinion that all countries should have control over people entering for security reasons in order to control and protect the interests of the country.
Worried about the new rules is Flora Sebastian, a civil servant who went to the visa center today to get information about the requirements for a student visa for her son.
“My son is now finishing high school and I want to send him to Portugal to study at university, but I heard that the immigration rules in Portugal have changed, so I came here today to find out what is needed and now I have clarification.” , – he said.
Flora Sebastian stressed that she knows that the measures taken by Portugal are aimed at “accelerating the entry of immigrants”, but said that ties between Portuguese-speaking peoples should be worthy of attention.
From now on, a foreign national only has access to a residence visa if he has carried on his business in his country of origin, in many cases with a pre-employment contract, with the exception of CPSG citizens, since Portugal has signed a mobility agreement. .
Among the 41 measures included in the plan, there is also the long-term transformation of the current mobile visa for immigrants CPLP into a public visa (Schengen), which allows movement within the European Union, and the creation of a visa for foreigners. and the Frontier Unit (UEF) under the PSP to monitor the presence of immigrants and establish emergency centers.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
I’m Dave Martin, and I’m an experienced journalist working in the news industry. As a part of my work, I write for 24 News Reporters, covering mostly sports-related topics. With more than 5 years of experience as a journalist, I have written numerous articles on various topics to provide accurate information to readers.