Immigrants from India and Bangladesh challenge changes to foreigners law

The refusal of immigrants to be regularized in Portugal using a tourist visa is being contested by associations of Indians and Bengalis in Portugal, who complain that the decision is discretionary and sudden.

“They didn’t even give those who were already here time to sort out their papers,” said Shiv Kumar Singh, president of the Casa da India association.

The finalization of expressions of interest – a legal decision that allowed a foreigner in Portugal to inform the authorities that he had job prospects and that he wanted to regularize himself as an immigrant – was announced on the 3rd and came into force the next day. .

Since then, any new request for expression of interest has been rejected, even if the applicant is already in Portugal.

The government wants immigrants to begin the process at Portuguese consulates and embassies before arriving in Portugal, a measure that particularly applies to those whose countries do not have Portuguese diplomatic missions.

“We have been asking for an embassy or consulate for ten years, but we have never received one,” said Alam Kazoi, a leader of the Bangladeshi community in Porto.

Portugal is home to some 70,000 Bangladeshi immigrants, but Alam Kazoi fears the problems will get worse.

“How can we come here on a work contract?” he asks, recalling that expressions of interest were a possible solution in 2017 to legalize thousands of irregular immigrants.

“Without immigrants, Portugal cannot function,” the leader said. “Every day there is a search for people to work, but they are not there. How do you want to solve this problem?

Now, in order to complete documents and comply with changes in the law on foreigners, Bangladeshi citizens will have to travel 1,800 kilometers to New Delhi, the closest consulate to Dhaka.

“We are going to spend two thousand euros to apply for a visa and another two thousand euros to obtain a document,” said Alam Kazoy, a critic of the government’s measures.

The director of Casa da India agrees with the criticism. “Closing expressions of interest once and for all does not seem to be a good idea since many people have already been here and have not yet completed the paperwork,” he stressed, recalling that in other cases the government’s decision was different, such as golden visas.

“In this situation, a deadline was given after which golden visas would no longer be accepted. This was not immediate,” he said.

The case of Indian immigrants is particularly sensitive as “many of them are in a precarious situation” as they arrived through “middlemen and agents who promised that everything was ready and the people had already paid all the money they had.”

And it is these people, “already exploited and vulnerable”, who are left “day after day” without solutions, explained the leader of the most representative association of the Indian community in Portugal.

Expressing interest “was the only solution” for those arriving in Portugal, but ultimately it also became “a tool for the exploitation of migrants” as people arrived without any prior knowledge of the Portuguese reality and were left in the hands of networks. .

However, “ending this once and for all or suddenly is not an ideal solution,” he stressed.

“The government should have thought carefully and talked to associations that work with migrants like us,” he added, recalling that Casa da India was never contacted about these legislative changes.

Shiv Kumar Singh also criticized the different treatment between immigrants and those from the Community of Portuguese-speaking Countries. [CPLP) a poderem entrar, graças ao acordo de mobilidade.

“Não há igualdade dos direitos dos migrantes” e criaram-se “classes de cidadãos”: os nacionais, os da CPLP e os restantes, afirmou, recordando que as taxas pagas pelos processos também refletem essa discricionariedade, com valores a oscilarem entre os 30 e os 400 euros, dependendo da nacionalidade do requerente.

Para o futuro, o Governo prometeu investir nos consulados para apoiar os pedidos de vistos de trabalho e já anunciou que Nova Deli será um dos locais escolhidos, mas a medida não convence Shiv Kumar Singh.

“Vamos ver, mas não vejo como é possível dar resposta”, concluiu.