Background information

During the implementation of measure 17 of the Action Plan for Migration (case PT-2024-23/3737), presented on 3 June 2024, the government met with employers' confederations on 9 December 2024 to discuss how can labour migration address the needs of the national economy within the existing legal rules.

The government's proposal to the employers' confederations was "a Cooperation Protocol foe Regulated Labour Migration which, while not creating a new entry or residence regime or modality, clarifies and concretises the procedure for the controlled and responsible recruitment of foreign citizens with an employment contract. The entry visa requirements are not changed or reduced" (República Portuguesa, 9 December 2024).

Content of measure

Under the Cooperation Protocol for Regulated Labour Migration, large companies and business associations can directly hire workers abroad through Portuguese consulates in a streamlined five-step process:

1. Employers email the Directorate-General for Consular Affairs and the Portuguese Communities ((Direção-Geral dos Assuntos Consulares e das Comunidades Portuguesas, DGACCP) with documentation to schedule visa appointments for individuals or groups.
2. DGACCP forwards the request to the relevant consular post, which sets the appointment and processes the visa, which will be finalised within 20 days from the appointment.
3. The Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum (Agência para a Integração, Migrações e Asilo, AIMA) and the Border and Foreigners Coordination Unit (Unidade de Coordenação de Fronteiras e Estrangeiros do Sistema de Segurança Interna, UCFE/SSI) provide mandatory opinions within three working days to support visa issuance.
4. The Institute for Employment and Professional Training (Instituto de Emprego e Formação Profissional, IEFP) ensures access to Portuguese language classes and 40 hours of annual training, which may take place in the migrant’s country of origin.
5. Companies must provide all documentation and sign a term of responsibility to guarantee decent working conditions, including a labour contract, health and travel insurance, language and training plan and adequate accommodation.

Eligibility is limited to business associations with at least 30 members and a combined turnover of €250 million or companies employing at least 150 workers, with a turnover of €25 million and no outstanding social security debts.

The protocol was signed on 1 April 2024 by five major Portuguese employer confederations - Business Confederation of Portugal (Confederação Empresarial de Portugal, CIP), Confederation of Farmers of Portugal (Confederação dos Agricultores de Portugal, CAP), Confederation of Commerce and Services of Portugal (Confederação de Comércio e Serviços de Portugal, CCP), Confederation of Tourism of Portugal (Confederação do Turismo de Portugal, CTP) and Portuguese Confederation of Construction and Real Estate (Confederação Portuguesa da Construção e do Imobiliário, CPCI) - alongside DGACCP, AIMA, UCFE/SSI, and IEFP representing the State.

Use of measure

No information is yet available on the use of the measure. This ‘green lane for immigration’ (as usually called, notably in the media) entered into force on 15 April 2025.

However, the consular workers' union raised concerns about the ability to meet the established deadlines, citing a shortage of staff in consular posts. Similar concerns were echoed by the trade union representing migration services staff, highlighting the pressure on already limited human resources.

Migrant associations have also expressed concerns about an even greater overload on AIMA and its lack of human resources to respond to requests effectively.

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Migrants or refugees in employment	Applies to all businesses	Migrants or refugees

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
National government Employers' organisations	Companies Employers organisation National funds National Recovery and Resilience Facility

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

	Trade unions	Employers' organisations
Role	No involvement	Agreed (outcome) incl. social partner initiative
Form	Not applicable	Direct consultation outside a formal body

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

• Only employers' organisations
• Main level of involvement: Peak or cross-sectoral level

Involvement

The government met with employers' confederations on 9 December 2024 to discuss how can labour migration address the needs of the national economy within the existing legal rules.

The government then proposed to the employers' confederations, for discussion, a Cooperation Protocol for Regulated Labour Migration. This protocol was discussed and fine-tunned with five major employer confederations.

Trade union confederations were not involved.

Views and reactions

Business confederations support the protocol, considering this ‘fundamental’ for rescuing sectors that are largely dependent on foreign labour.

According to CNN Portugal (1 April 2025):

• The President of CIP applauded the ‘instrument for regularising workers, otherwise the activity of various sectors would be at stake’. He also reinforced the government's position on the need to put an end to the supposed ‘wide-open door policy’ on immigration - saying that entrepreneurs do not want ‘open-door migration, but a programme based on the needs of companies’.
• One of the points that generated a lot of debate in the negotiations was the question of the duration of the contracts to be signed. Initially, it was envisaged that the mechanism would only involve an ‘effective employment relationship’, but in a concession to companies it now includes ‘a valid employment contract in one of the modalities provided for in Portuguese legislation’, which includes fixed-term, uncertain-term, open-ended, short-term, part-time or temporary work contracts. This change is praised by the CAP, whose president reported to be ‘generally satisfied’ with the protocol because it allows companies to make use of labour ‘that is often seasonal’ and to have ‘a guarantee of speed’ in hiring.
• The secretary-general of CCP considers the agreement ‘positive’ because it allows companies to submit more than one visa application at a time, although she cites the issue of housing, which represents ‘a major difficulty’ for employers, as ‘perhaps the most sensitive point’ of the protocol.

Although trade unions confederations were not involved in the design of the protocol, trade unions have also expressed their views.

The President of the Union of Workers in Construction, Wood, Marble, Quarries, Ceramics and Construction Materials of Portugal (Sindicato dos Trabalhadores da Construção, Madeiras, Mármores, Pedreiras, Cerâmica e Materiais de Construção de Portugal), affiliated with the General Confederation of Portuguese Workers (Confederação-Geral dos Trabalhadores Portugueses, CGTP-IN), warned about the potential impact the new labour migration agreement could have on the sector. He pointed to the possibility of it favouring "mafia-like" networks and "recruiters" and believes that the union should've been involved in this process. (Observador, 4 April 2025)

The General Workers' Union (União Geral de Trabalhadores, UGT) expressed its deep dissatisfaction with the procedure adopted by the government, which excluded trade union confederations from the negotiations. In their view, "the protocol appears to allow for new areas of precariousness and to absolve Portuguese employers from their training obligations. The UGT voices its strong concern regarding such provisions, which seem to point towards a deregulation of working conditions and could, ultimately, contribute to the creation of new inequalities and sources of exclusion for migrant workers". (UGT, 24 March 2025)

Sources

• 09 December 2024: A imigração laboral em Portugal tem de ser regulada e responsáve (www.portugal.gov.pt)
• 24 March 2025: UGT manifesta preocupação com "Via Verde" para imigrantes. Um risco para os trabalhadores imigrantes Verde" para imigrantes. Um risco para os trabalhadores imigrante (www.ugt.pt)
• 01 April 2025: Governo prosseguirá política de imigração controlad (www.portugal.gov.pt)
• 01 April 2025: Após extinguir manifestação de interesse, Governo cria protocolo para empresas contratarem no estrangeiro. Os prós, os contras e como vai funciona (cnnportugal.iol.pt)
• 04 April 2025: Sindicato da Construção alerta sobre acordo para migração e quer estar envolvido sobre acordo para migração e quer estar envolvid (observador.pt)