President signs new law for nationals of Portuguese-speaking countries
18.02.2025
On 11 February 2025, the government announced that the President has signed the decree amending Law No.º 23/2007, of 4 July, approving the legal regime for the entry, stay, leaving and removal of foreigners from the national territory, implementing in the internal legal system Regulation (EU) 2017/2226 of the European Parliament and of the Council, of 30 November 2017, and modifying the time validity of residence permits to citizens of Member States of the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (CPLP).
The law creates a new visa regime for citizens of the CPLP, under which:
residence permits will be issued in card format, and existing paper permits will be replaced with cards;
The validity of residence permits will be extended from one year to two years;
Residence permit applications can be submitted from within Portugal by applicants holding a short-stay visa (a work visa is no longer required).
The new rules will have to be implemented via new visa regulations.