After the Government ended the expression of interest regime of the Foreigners Law - which allowed foreign workers with Social Security deductions, but who were not yet legally in the country, to apply for a residence permit - the monthly average number of visas to seek work has fallen by 24%.

According to data from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MNE), cited by the newspaper Público, this year, from January to August, 22,121 visas to seek work have already been issued, that is, 65% more than in the same period in 2023 (in which 13,429 visas of this type were issued).

Work visas also increased by 15% in the same period from January to August - 9,262 work visas were issued, compared to just over 8,000 in the previous year.

However, in the three months since the end of the expression of interest, the monthly average of work search visas issued fell by 24% compared to the monthly average for the total 12 months of the previous year (from 1,666 to 1,266), writes the newspaper.