Return - IOM Publications - International Organization for Migration

Return Migration: Policies and Practices
Despite these latest initiatives to combat illegal entry and residence, the Portuguese authorities
are generally fairly tolerant towards unsuccessful asylum applicants and other irregular migrants.
There has been a tendency in recent years to de-criminalize illegal entry and residence, and focus
instead on individuals and companies that transport undocumented migrants. 2 Undocumented
migrants may face a fine for entering and staying illegally in Portugal, and are usually not
deported until they are deemed to present a threat to public order.
The majority of expulsion cases concern applicants who have been rejected at the border and at
airports for failing to satisfy the appropriate entry requirements.
1.2 LEGISLATIVE INSTRUMENTS AND PROVISIONS
Legal basis of current immigration and asylum policies:
The Constitution of the Portuguese Republic;
The Geneva Convention on Refugees;
Decree Law Number 15/981998 (Asylum Law 1998) of March 1998;
Decree Law Number 244/98 (Aliens Act 1998) of August 1998;
Decree Law Number 34/03 (Aliens Act 2003) of February 2003;
The EU Schengen Agreement and Dublin Convention;
Decree Law 34/94 on Provisional Accommodation Centres, of September 1994.
The main legislative instrument, which regulates the expulsion of foreign nationals, is the 1998
Decree Law Number 244/98 (Aliens Act 1998), amended by Decree Law Number 34/03. This
Law fundamentally differs from its antecedent, Decree Law Number 59/93, of March 1993,
which allowed expulsion for the mere breach of immigration rules.
In general, foreigners cannot be expelled to a country where they are liable to face persecution,
and the onus is on the individual concerned to raise the fear of persecution and to prove that this
fear is well founded. In accordance with Article 105 of the 1998 Aliens Law, such individuals
may be sent to any other country that is ready to accept them.
Rejection at the Border
Under Sections 9-16 of the 1998 Aliens Act, the Aliens and Border Service (Serviço de Estrangerios
e Fronterias – SEF) may refuse entry into Portugal if a person:
Does not hold a valid passport, travel document or visa;
Is not permitted to enter according to the Schengen common list or national list of nonadmissible
persons;
Does not prove that s/he has sufficient financial means to support him/herself during his/her
stay in Portugal;
Has, within the previous five years, benefited under an assisted voluntary repatriation scheme;
Has previously been expelled;
306