Portugal's parliament approves amended immigration law after veto

By Sergio Goncalves

Portugal's right-wing parliamentary majority approved a revised bill on Tuesday that aims to curb a growing inflow of immigrants after the Constitutional Court blocked its previous version for being too harsh on immigrants' family members seeking to join them.

All the left-wing parties voted against the bill, which offers a slight easing of such restrictions, addressing only the most critical points raised by the Constitutional Court, which could create further obstacles to its coming into force.

The legislation reflects the rightward shift in politics across much of Europe, as governments try to fend off the rise of the far right by being tougher on immigration.

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The revision was proposed by the ruling centre-right coalition and has the support of the far-right, anti-immigration Chega party despite its initial objections to immigrants having access to social security payments from the moment they start contributing.

While parliament kept the general requirement of a two-year period of valid residency for immigrants to request permission for spouses to join them in Portugal, that period can now be halved for couples who were together for more than a year before moving to Portugal.

Immigrants can now also request that children under 18 or dependants with disabilities join them regardless of the applicant's legal residency period.

Cabinet Minister Antonio Leitao Amaro said the revised bill "ensures that the right balance is struck - neither with doors wide open to immigrants, nor closed," as the country seeks to control immigration according to its labour market needs and integration capacity.

"... but the time for an irresponsible (immigration) policy is over," he told lawmakers before the vote.

The Iberian country of around 10.5 million people has seen a significant increase in immigration in recent years.

The migration and asylum agency AIMA estimates that more than 1.5 million foreign citizens were legally residing in Portugal last year, double the number three years earlier.

Brazilians are the largest group, with over 450,000 legal immigrants.

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