Portugal’s New Migration Strategy

by | Jun 10, 2024

A new action plan was announced on June 4 by the newly elected Government, immediately followed by a Decree-law revoking expressions of interest, to prevent the number of applications for residence permits without residence visas from growing.

The Plan considers 4 axes and 41 measures with a view to generally attain the following:

  • More effective regulations and control mechanisms, including entry rules into Portugal and border control systems;
  • Creation of a taskforce to deal urgently with the 400,000 pending case files;
  • Attraction of foreign talent, along with higher education students, and other professionals to bridge the labor market skills gap, but designed to match job offers;
  • A more effective integration of immigrants, by means, for instance, of facilitating access to public healthcare and to learning of Portuguese as a foreign language, along with making family reunification procedures easier;
  • Attraction of foreign investment to assist with providing affordable housing in general and better living conditions and facilities for immigrants and asylum seekers;
  • Assessment of the scope and competencies of immigration related public entities, while making more resources available to Consulates and AIMA and allowing for a wider participation of municipalities and society in general.

To implement this Action Plan for Migration, further amendments to the Aliens Act are expected in 2024, after approval by Parliament.

Find out more at Portugal.gov.

 

SOCIAL SECURITY – Employees and Managers

SOCIAL SECURITY – Employees and Managers

by | May 29, 2024

In Portugal, companies are required to pay monthly contributions to Social Security (TSU – Taxa Social Unica) over gross monthly salaries: employees will see deducted a 11% flat rate from their salary and the employer will pay 23.75% over that amount, handing 34.75% in total to Social Security if no incentives to hiring apply.

The same principle applies to remunerated managers. However, if managers prove that they are already contributing to a social security system in Portugal or abroad, both will be exempt from contributions (even so, absence of proof will lead to social security contributions being charged, whether or not managers are being paid).

Remunerated board members holding non-executive positions are equally subject to Social Security: in this case, the company will pay 20.30% and the individual 9.3% over the gross monthly salary, based, at least, on the amount set yearly for IAS – Social Support Index (€ 509.26 in 2024), even if the salary is in fact lower.

For further information or assistance with labor topics or tax and social security associated matters, please contact us through sbpslegal.com.

What is a certified translation?

What is a certified translation?

by | May 29, 2024

As a rule, to be presented in Portugal, documents written in a foreign language must be accompanied by a certified translation into Portuguese. A certified translation is therefore a translation whose content is confirmed as corresponding to an original document written in a foreign language, the translator declaring, to the person or entity certifying it, that the text has been translated accurately.

A translation is not required for public documents issued by the authorities of a Member State of the EU which, under the terms of domestic law, are intended to prove civil records, domicile, nationality or the absence of a criminal record, if they have been issued in, or are accompanied by, a multilingual standard form. If this is not the case, translations made by sworn translators in each Member State may also be accepted but will usually require legalisation.

In some situations, if the documents are written in English, French or Spanish, are duly legalised and the official to whom they are presented to is fluent in the language, the translation is not necessary as well.

In Portugal, translations can be made by notaries, registrars or registry officers, lawyers or solicitors, chambers of commerce and industry, or by the Portuguese consulate in the country where the document was issued or by the consulate of that country in Portugal. If the translation was made in Portugal by a translator, it will require certification by one of the entities mentioned previously.

If the translation is made abroad, it will only be accepted in Portugal if it has been legalised with an apostille seal or, alternatively, by the Portuguese consulate with jurisdiction, in cases where the issuing country is not a member of the Hague Convention on the Abolition of the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents.

If you require certified translations into Portuguese of certificates and other legal documents from English, French, Spanish or Italian, please contact us at sbpslegal.com.

Review and Recognition of Foreign Judgements in Portugal

Review and Recognition of Foreign Judgements in Portugal

by | May 29, 2024

All decisions (judgements) rendered by foreign courts, whether civil, compensatory, or other, must be reviewed and confirmed by the competent Portuguese court to be valid in Portugal. 

The review and recognition of foreign judgements is therefore a judicial action, which may be necessary in the context of, among others, applications for Portuguese citizenship, estate planning or litigation, to establish facts relating to, for instance: 

  • Divorces (consensual or contentious issued in a Notary or Registry Office or in Court); 
  • Civil/domestic partnerships (e.g. a public deed declaring the stable union by a Notary or Registry Office abroad); 
  • Adoptions; 
  • Regulation of Parental Responsibilities. 

To have a foreign judgement recognised by Portuguese courts, the following requirements must be met: 

  • The authenticity of the document containing the judgement cannot be in doubt and the exact content and scope of the decision should be clear; 
  • The judgement must have become final and unappealable under the law of the country in which it was rendered; 
  • The foreign court must have jurisdiction and be competent to hand down such judgements, which cannot fall within the exclusive competence of Portuguese courts; 
  • No judged or pending case in Portugal on the same facts can exist; 
  • Decisions cannot be incompatible with the principles of international public order of the Portuguese State; 
  • If applicable, the defendant must have been properly served with notice of the action, according to the law of the country of the originating court, and the principles of adversarial proceedings and equality of the parties must have been observed in the process. 

For further information or for legal assistance with reviews and confirmation of foreign judgements or with citizenship applications or estate planning, please contact us at sbpslegal.com.

Matrimonial Property Regimes and Debts of The Couple: Practical Guide

Matrimonial Property Regimes and Debts of The Couple: Practical Guide

by | May 29, 2024

Types of matrimonial property regimes

  • Community of after-acquired property: only assets acquired after the marriage are owned jointly by the couple. Assets owned before the marriage or inherited or bequeathed after, are owned singly by each spouse.

This is the statutory regime in Portuguese law, which means that if no specific regime is chosen, this is the one that will apply by default.

  • Full or absolute community of property: both property acquired before and after the marriage is owned jointly by the couple, except, for instance, clothing or usufruct and assets inherited or bequeathed to one of the spouses if the testator or bequeather expressly stated the assets are to be solely owned by the named beneficiary.
  • Separation of property: property acquired by each spouse after the marriage remains their own property, unless acquired jointly. Property acquired before the marriage remains the property of each spouse. Assets are there freely sold or leased by each owner, except for their common place of residence.

 

2)     Rules regarding debt within marriage

  • Shared debt:
  1. a)     debts to meet standard expenses of family life;
  2. b)     debts for the common benefit of the couple;
  3. c)     debts by one of the spouses, with consent of the other.
  • Own debt:
  1. a)     debts by only one of the spouses, without consent of the other;
  2. b) debts which are not mutually beneficial or are not intended to pay for the day-to-day family expenses;
  3. c)     debts resulting from criminal liability.

 

3)     Specific regime for civil/domestic and common law partnerships

Unfortunately, in Portugal, the law has not yet established or recognised any property regime for civil/domestic and common law partnerships. However, the co-ownership regime applies to property and each person is exclusively responsible for the debts he/she has contracted, no solidarity applying as to their payment.