Brazilians make up biggest foreign community in Portugal

The figures come from a report on immigration drawn up in 2017

Published on 29/06/2018 - 16:59 By Marieta Cazarré - LISBON

Adding up to 85,426 people living in Portugal, Brazilians make up the biggest foreign community in the European country. The figures were collected in 2017 and show that Brazilians form 20.3% of foreigners in Portugal and are still the main community, up 5.1% from 2016. An increase in the number of Brazilians living in the country had not been reported since 2011.

On the other hand, Brazil also heads the list of nationalities most often barred on the Portuguese border. Last year, 1,336 Brazilians were prevented from entering the country—62.3% of denials. The next countries on the list are Angola (148 denials), Paraguay (131), Moldova (45), and Venezuela (40).

The figures come from 2017 Immigration, Frontiers and Asylum Report, published recently by the Portugal’s Lisbon-based Foreigners and Frontiers Service.

Lisboa - Português, com bandeira nacional, participa do cortejo fúnebre de Mário Soares, ex-presidente de Portugal, no Mosteiro dos Jerónimos  (Marieta Cazarré/Agência Brasil)
Portugal flag - Photo Marieta Cazarré/Agência Brasil/Arqiuivo

 

More foreigners

In 2017, foreigners living in Portugal increased 6% from the year before. Last year, a 31% surge was reported for new residence permits—61,413 residents. Brazilians were the ones who most applied for residence permits in Portugal—over 11,500 applications were filed—followed by Italians (5,267), the French (4,662), and the English (3,832).

As for the Italians, the report notes that 17% of those who hold an Italian citizenship are born in Brazil—“which may be accounted for by nationality concession policy in effect in that country (jus sanguinis), which poses no limit on the number of generations (provided that all predecessors on the Italian side are male), and [Italy’s] ties with the sizable community of descendants of Italians in Brazil,” the document reads.

Applications granted

On Portuguese citizenship, the Foreigners and Frontiers Service reported having granted 27,362 applications, 10,805 of which filed by Brazilians, the most benefited nationality, followed by Cape Verde (3,022), Israel (2,539), Ukraine (1,960), and Angola (1,613).

As for Portuguese citizenship granted for marriage or civil union, Brazilians stand out, with 2,378 applications. Far in the second place comes Cape Verde (498), then Angola (454), Ukraine (353), India (281), Guinea-Bissau (230), and Venezuela (188).

Translation: Fabrício Ferreira -  Edition: Kleber Sampaio / Augusto Queiroz

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