Author
National forms of protection
The Asylum Act does not provide for any form of national protection. Although not providing for a specific national protection, the Immigration Act provides for an exceptional regularisation regime that includes a humanitarian clause.[1]
This regime is intended for extraordinary situations to which provisions of a residence permit with exemption of residence visa requirement are not applicable,[2] as well as for cases of residence permits for humanitarian reasons under the Asylum Act. The issuance of these temporary residence permits to foreign citizens who do not comply with other requirements of the Immigration Act is dependent on a proposal from the Board of AIMA or an initiative from the Minister responsible for the field of migration.[3] The decision must be duly substantiated.[4]
This exceptional regularisation procedure may be applicable:
- For reasons of national interest;
- For humanitarian reasons;
- For reasons of public interest arising from the exercise of a relevant activity in the scientific, cultural, sports, economic or social field.
In the past, CPR observed that the previous asylum authority referred certain rejected asylum applications to the regularisation procedures through the humanitarian clause of the exceptional regularisation regime of the Immigration Act, including cases of unaccompanied children and young adults.[5] AIMA does not seem to follow this practice.
In the context of providing legal assistance, CPR has observed that access to this regime may be hampered by the lack of documents issued by the country of origin (e.g., passports and criminal record certificates).
While there is no publicly statistical data available on the application of this exceptional regularisation regime,[6] AIMA reported that 30 residence permits were granted in 2025.
Return procedure
The Asylum Act does not provide for a simultaneous decision to refuse the application for international protection and a forced removal from national territory.[7]
Notwithstanding, it establishes that, following notification of a decision to reject an application for international protection, the applicant is subject to the legal regime for the entry, stay, exit and removal of foreign citizens from national territory (Immigration Act), without prejudice to the suspensive effect of an appeal.[8]
Upon notification of a negative decision on an admissibility or accelerated procedure, and on a subsequent application, the applicant is simultaneously notified to voluntarily leave the national territory within 20 days, without prejudice to the suspensive effect of an appeal.[9]
PSP became responsible for processing and executing return procedures in August 2025. Until then, AIMA was responsible for processing these proceedings and PSP for their execution.
Although AIMA held this competence until August 2025, it did not provide any data on notifications regarding voluntary departure or removal proceedings for cases where the asylum application has been rejected. According to PSP, from August until the end of 2025, there was one case where the asylum application was rejected and it was not possible to remove the person from national territory due to practical obstacles.
In 2024, AIMA reported cases of Syrian citizens who did not apply for asylum and whose removal from national territory was not possible due to the principle of non-refoulement.
[1] Article 123 Immigration Act.
[2] Article 122 Immigration Act.
[3] Article 123(1) Immigration Act.
[4] Article 123(3) Immigration Act.
[5] Note that this practice was confirmed in the Statistical Report of Asylum (2020) in the case of Venezuelan asylum applicants: Migration Observatory, Entrada, Acolhimento e Integração de Requerentes e Beneficiários de Protecção Internacional em Portugal – Relatório Estatístico do Asilo 2020, May 2020, available Portuguese here, 62.
[6] AIMA’s ‘Report on Migration and Asylum – 2024‘ does not make any reference to residence permits under Article 123 Immigration Act. See AIMA, Report on Migration and Asylum – 2024, October 2025, available here.
[7] A draft law proposing that the two moments should coincide was put out for public consultation at the end of 2025. See: Public Consultation on the draft law amending Law 34/94 of 14 September, Immigration Act and Asylum Act, available here.
[8] Articles 21, 26, 31, 33 and 42 Asylum Act.
[9] Articles 21(2) and 33(9) Asylum Act.