Created in the middle of last year to address the pending requests in public services of approximately half a million pending cases from immigrants seeking regularisation, many under residence permits and others based on CPLP visas, the mission structure formally closed its activity on 31 December, while still maintaining the Porto office to provide support for unresolved cases.

In statements to Lusa, Rui Armindo Freitas highlighted that the structure resulted from a “very positive relationship between the public administration and civil society institutions, which were fundamental” to “an absolutely exemplary result of a unique number of services provided to around half a million” people and that “allowed for a massive verification of criminal records that had never been checked before”.

The structure had the support of solicitors and lawyers, as well as mediators from AIMA's partner associations, among other organizations.

According to the government official, this solution allowed “to solve a problem that affected everyone, that affected Portuguese society, because trust in the State was lost and it was necessary to recover that trust” on the part of those seeking public services.

The immigrants “who came to us, who sought a better life in Portugal and met the requirements, had their lives put on hold,” recalled the Deputy Secretary of State for the Presidency and Immigration, stressing that AIMA “continued to work and never stopped,” and now has the responsibility of being the sole institution that will manage the verification of the processes.

The relationship between the structure, led by former socialist governor Goes Pinheiro, and AIMA was “entirely virtuous,” and some staff will transfer to the state agency.

“There will be a reinforcement of the Agency's capabilities with parts of the mission structure as well, because we could not lose the knowledge that has accumulated over a year and a half of work,” considered Rui Armindo Freitas, who points to 2026 as the year in which the government will begin to discuss the integration of immigrants.

Integration

After the mass verification of pending processes and the regularization of those who met the procedures, it is time to “invest in the integration process,” he specified.

The Secretary of State emphasised that next year, civil society, associations, and stakeholders will be consulted to build “an integration plan with policies that work.”

“It’s time to look, understand what we have, and how we can make these integration policies more effective,” because “they are the next step for an immigrant to be in Portugal with their family and feel good in our society, according to our vision for immigration, according to our values, always observing our rules and the Portuguese way of life,” he added.

Initially, with more than one million pending applications, the data announced in December indicates that 93% of applications related to expressions of interest, 72% related to CPLP residence permits, 52% of transitional regime applications, and 10% of applications related to residence permit renewals have been decided.

In total, almost 387,000 pending applications were decided, and of these, more than 59,000 were rejected.

The Mission Structure for the Recovery of Pending Processes was foreseen in the Action Plan for Migration, was created in July 2024, and was valid for one year. However, in May of this year, the Government decided to extend this work until the end of 2025.