Immigration 2 August 2026

One Carris Metropolitana operator has 57% foreign drivers, and it is not an outlier

Foreign drivers make up between 25.3% and 57% of the workforce at Carris Metropolitana's operators. At Alsa Todi it is 275 out of 480 drivers, most of them from Portuguese-speaking countries.

If you catch a yellow bus anywhere in the Lisbon metropolitan area, there is a decent chance the person driving it was born somewhere else. Figures from Carris Metropolitana’s operators show foreign drivers making up between 25.3% and 57% of their workforce, most of them from Portuguese-speaking countries.

The highest share belongs to Alsa Todi: 275 of its 480 drivers hold foreign nationality, which works out at 57%. Viação Alvorada follows on 37%, Rodoviária de Lisboa on 31%, and TST — Transportes Sul do Tejo on 25.3%.

Why does Carris Metropolitana have so many foreign drivers?

Because there were not enough Portuguese ones willing to take the job. A driver shortage shadowed the launch of Carris Metropolitana back in 2022 and was never really fixed: split shifts, weekend rosters, pay that competes badly with construction and logistics, and a heavy licence that requires specific training. Operators went looking for whoever was available, and found them mostly in Brazil and the Portuguese-speaking African countries.

What do you need to drive buses in Portugal as a foreigner?

Three things. A residence permit that allows you to work, a category D licence recognised or exchanged in Portugal, and the CAM — the driver’s certificate of professional competence, obtained through certified training. For anyone arriving under the CPLP residence permit route, the paperwork side is more straightforward than for third-country nationals, but the licence exchange and the CAM apply to everybody. Rules on recognising foreign licences are on the IMT portal.

The number is worth looking at without drama. A public transport system serving an entire metropolitan area that only works because people came from abroad is not an anomaly — it is how virtually every large European city runs. The difference in Portugal is that it happened fast, and the public conversation has not caught up with the data.

Next time the bus turns up on time, there is a fair chance somebody who arrived two years ago made that happen.

By Juliana Castilho

Image: José Carlos Oliveira / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Immigration 1 August 2026

A Portuguese criminal record certificate costs 5 euros online and lasts 90 days

A criminal record certificate in Portugal costs 5 euros online, is valid for 90 days, and there is a dedicated form for people living abroad. Costs, channels and timing explained.

It costs 5 euros, you request it online on the criminal record portal, and the document is valid for 90 days from the date it is issued. There — that is the answer most people are hunting for, so it goes first. The rest of this guide covers the details that usually wreck an application: when you actually need one, what to do if you have no Chave Móvel Digital, what changes if you live abroad, and why the Portuguese certificate almost never travels alone.…

World map showing the countries party to the Hague Apostille Convention

Immigration 31 July 2026

An apostille in Portugal costs 10.20 euros, and it's what makes your document count abroad

The 2026 guide to the Hague apostille in Portugal: what it is, which documents need one, the cost, where to apply, and when you need no legalisation at all.

A Hague apostille in Portugal costs about 10.20 euros per document, you request it from the Procuradoria-Geral da República, and it does exactly one job: it makes a Portuguese public document acceptable in another country without further paperwork. It is a stamp that says "this really is genuine" in a language 120-odd countries have agreed to understand. If you are dealing with citizenship, a wedding abroad, a degree you want recognised overseas, or a…

Immigration 31 July 2026

The atestado de residência comes from your junta de freguesia, and it's cheap

A 2026 guide to Portugal's proof-of-address certificate: where to ask, what to bring, what it costs, how long it takes, how long it lasts, and where AIMA, the SNS and schools ask for it.

You get the atestado de residência from the junta de freguesia covering where you live, it usually costs between €5 and €15, and most parish offices hand it over the same day. It is the document that proves your address when you do not have — or do not want to use — a utility bill in your own name, and it is asked for in more places than newcomers expect. It is proof of address for anyone who will not accept anything else. It shows up routinely in AIMA…

Immigration 30 July 2026

AIMA tracker: deadlines, backlog and updates

A running tracker of AIMA — case backlog, renewal deadlines, biometrics, golden visa and service changes. Updated whenever there is news.

If you are dealing with residence or nationality, this is the page to bookmark. Instead of one article per announcement, we gather the essentials of AIMA here: case backlog, renewal deadlines, biometrics, golden visa and service changes. For the citizenship rules, see the new nationality law. Official information is at AIMA. Good news for anyone assembling paperwork: AIMA now accepts the tax-residence certificate issued by the Portuguese tax authority as…

Immigration 29 July 2026

If AIMA misses 60 working days on your renewal, the law counts it as approved

Tacit approval sits in article 82 of Portugal's Foreigners Law: 60 working days after the fees are paid with no decision, a residence permit renewal is deemed granted. A practical guide.

If you applied to renew your residence permit, paid the fees and more than 60 working days have gone by without a decision from AIMA, Portuguese law treats that silence as a yes. It is called tacit approval, it sits in article 82 of the Foreigners Law, and it exists precisely because the legislator recognised that state delay cannot be turned against someone who did everything right. Worth saying up front what it is not. It is not a shortcut, it does not…

Immigration 28 July 2026

Golden visa investors want the Constitutional Court to look at the nationality law, or they sue in September

A group of 1,260 golden visa investors has filed a collective complaint with Portugal's Ombudsman and wants the new nationality law sent to the Constitutional Court. If nothing moves, they go to court in September.

People who invested in Portugal counting on five years to a passport are now counting ten, and 1,260 of them have decided not to swallow the change quietly. The group has filed a collective complaint with the Ombudsman's Office and wants a meeting with the new Ombudsman, Luísa Neto, within weeks. The request has two legs. The first is that the Ombudsman refer the new nationality law to the Constitutional Court. The second is more practical: a transitional…

Immigration 26 July 2026

Portugal's new nationality law still has no regulation, and the government's deadline is 16 August

Organic Law 1/2026 gave the government 90 days to update the Portuguese Nationality Regulation. The deadline falls on 16 August 2026 — and the regulation is what defines the forms, proofs and paperwork.

The Portuguese government has until 16 August 2026 to update the Portuguese Nationality Regulation. That is the 90-day deadline written into the very law that changed everything — and until then, anyone with a citizenship application in progress lives in an odd gap: the new rules already apply, but the document explaining how to meet them is still the old one. 16 August 2026. Organic Law 1/2026 was published on 18 May, came into force the next day, and…

Immigration 25 July 2026

A return order issued in Spain can now be enforced in Portugal

The EU's new return regulation creates a European Return Order recorded in the Schengen Information System. Here is what actually changes for people living in the EU.

The short answer is: it will be able to, and it is not automatic yet. The EU's new return regulation lays the groundwork for a decision issued in one member state to be recognised and enforced in another without starting over. But recognition only becomes mandatory once the European Commission has checked, by 1 July 2027, that member states have the machinery to do it, and adopted the implementing decision that requires it. It is a standardised return…

Immigration 25 July 2026

You'll soon be able to sue AIMA in your own local court, not just in Lisbon

Portugal's government approved specialist immigration courts and an end to AIMA cases piling up in Lisbon. Here is what changes and when.

If you live in Faro and your AIMA file has been stuck for a year, your case is currently handled by a court in Lisbon. That is about to change. On Thursday the Council of Ministers approved a reform of administrative and tax justice that creates specialist immigration and international protection benches, and scraps the rule funnelling every case against AIMA into the Lisbon Administrative Circuit Court. The new rule is refreshingly plain: your case goes…

Immigration 23 July 2026

AIMA now lets you request permanent residency online, no in-person appointment

Since 1 July 2026, AIMA lets you request and renew permanent residency cards and certificates through its Renewal Portal. Who qualifies and how it works.

Good news for anyone who has lost a morning waiting at an AIMA desk: since 1 July 2026 you can sort out permanent residency without leaving home. The agency has opened up requests for permanent residency certificates and cards on its Renewal Portal, so an in-person appointment is no longer the only route. You can now request online the issue of the EU citizen permanent residency certificate and the permanent residency card for family members of EU…

Facade of the Polícia Judiciária headquarters in Lisbon

Immigration 20 July 2026

Golden visa applicants lost 1.2 million euros to their own lawyer — police have arrested him

A 58-year-old lawyer was arrested in Odivelas, accused of siphoning around 1.2 million euros from at least 33 foreign clients applying for Portugal's golden visa.

The person hired to protect the process was the one emptying it. Portugal's Judicial Police arrested a 58-year-old lawyer in Odivelas suspected of siphoning around 1.2 million euros from foreign clients who had trusted him with their residence-by-investment applications — the golden visa. At least 33 victims have been identified, many of them Chinese nationals, and investigators admit the list may grow. In the simplest, most painful way: trust. According…

Immigration 20 July 2026

Bringing your dog or cat to Portugal? The microchip comes first — and the order matters

To bring a dog or cat to Portugal you need a microchip, a rabies vaccine given after the chip and, from outside the EU, a health certificate. The full step-by-step guide.

The short answer: to enter Portugal, your dog or cat needs a microchip, a valid rabies vaccination given AFTER the microchip, and a travel document — the EU pet passport if you are coming from inside the EU, an animal health certificate if you are coming from outside. The order of those steps is not bureaucratic trivia: a vaccine given before the chip was implanted is considered invalid, and that is precisely where many journeys die at the border. From…

Euro coins scattered over bank cards of various colours

Immigration 19 July 2026

Opening a bank account in Portugal takes three documents — and one account costs 5.37 euros a year

To open a bank account in Portugal you need ID, a Portuguese NIF and proof of address. Non-residents can open one too, and the basic bank account is capped at 5.37 euros a year in 2026.

Opening a bank account in Portugal comes down to three documents: valid ID (passport or residence permit), a Portuguese tax number (NIF) and proof of address. With those in your folder, most banks will open the account the same day — and yes, non-residents can open one too. This guide covers the process, the costs, and the cheap legally-mandated account many branches forget to mention. The core set is the same almost everywhere: valid ID, the NIF and…

Immigration 18 July 2026

Emigrant families get priority places at Portuguese universities — but the special deadline is July 27

Portugal's priority quota for emigrants, their families and Portuguese descendants in university admissions closes on July 27, before the general August 6 deadline. Who qualifies and how it works.

If your family lives outside Portugal and there's a teenager dreaming of a Portuguese university, this year's calendar hides a friendly trap: the priority quota for emigrants closes on July 27 — ten days before the general first-phase deadline of August 6. It's a reserved share of places within the National Access Competition (Concurso Nacional de Acesso) for Portuguese emigrants, family members living with them, and Portuguese descendants — a way of…