António Leitão Amaro participated in the fifth meeting of the National Council for Migration and Asylum, held in Lisbon, where he presented the new proposed amendment to the Foreigners' Law and admitted, in statements to journalists, that "the law that will be voted on tomorrow [Tuesday] does not have to be exactly the same as the proposal that was introduced last Wednesday."

"What is happening is a dialogue between the different parties, and it is normal that, in the context of this dialogue, all parties express their opinions on these laws," said the Minister of the Presidency, adding that "adjustments may be part of the process."

Leitão Amaro emphasised the need for serious dialogue and said he believes that by Tuesday morning, "the parties may have some sense of wanting to contribute to the solution of regulating immigration, including Chega, including the Socialist Party."

“Decisive point”

Shortly before the end of the National Council on Migration and Asylum meeting, Chega leader André Ventura set a condition for reaching an agreement regarding the Foreigners' Law: making foreigners' contributions for five years mandatory to receive social security benefits.

"I appeal to the Prime Minister on this absolutely sensitive point. Do you agree or disagree that immigrants arriving in Portugal must have at least five years of contributions before they can apply for Social Security benefits?" he asked. He also warned: "If you don't agree, we have no agreement. Because, for us, this is a decisive point."

On the government side, Leitão Amaro considered that this requirement has no bearing on the Foreigners' Law. "If someone wants to talk about unrelated issues, they can just bring up topics to confuse the issue. But that doesn't contribute to any solution," he added that mixing issues is "trying to excuse yourself and get out" of the debate.

The new proposed change to the Foreigners' Law, presented last week, maintains the two-year period of valid residence to request family reunification, but allows for several exceptions, including for spouses.

Last Thursday, António Leitão Amaro explained that, although the general two-year period indicated in the legislation rejected by the Constitutional Court will remain, it will increase to one year for spouses who cohabited with the applicant for family reunification in the year before they immigrated to Portugal.

The minister also said that the proposal, submitted to the Assembly of the Republic by the PSD and CDS-PP parliamentary groups, expands the possibility of immediate application, which was already provided for minors, incapacitated adults dependent on the immigrant, and the father or mother of their child.

As in the initial version, highly qualified professionals or those with a residence permit for investment will also be exempt from any deadline to request family reunification.