Immigration takes centre stage: the new rules and what's at stake
Montenegro's government tightened immigration policy with Chega's support. We explain what changed and both sides' arguments, without taking a side.
Immigration has become the issue that dominates this parliament. Luís Montenegro’s second government has passed new legislation restricting migration policy, backed in parliament by Chega — a fact that says plenty about the political balance of the moment.
Update, 16 August 2026 — since we wrote this, the migration reform has been through the Constitutional Court twice. In the summer of 2025 the court struck down five of the seven provisions referred to it, in ruling 785/2025, and in August 2026 President António José Seguro referred eleven provisions of the new decree for preventive review. Until the court rules, the whole decree stays unsigned and the earlier rules apply.
Those who back the new rules frame it as management: a country that takes people in should be able to integrate them with decent conditions — housing, services, schools — and clearer rules would bring predictability to the system. Those who criticise it worry about closing doors on people who work, pay taxes and prop up sectors that need labour, from the fields to restaurants.
Why this matters if you live here
Because immigration isn’t only a Lisbon story. Outside the big cities whole sectors — farming, construction, restaurants, care work — rely on people who came from abroad, and communities have grown up over years. Whatever your view, it’s worth following closely: these rules are decided in São Bento and felt at the counter of the shop on the corner.
We don’t take sides here: our job is to give you the facts and the arguments so you can form your own opinion.
Image: Einaz80 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
