Consulate paying ‘great attention’ to restrictions on Portuguese residency applications
The Portuguese Consulate General in Macau and Hong Kong is closely monitoring reports regarding restrictions on Portuguese nationals applying for Macau residency.
While on a visit to Macau, Nuno Fazenda, Secretary of State for Tourism, Commerce and Services of Portugal, assured the press that the Consulate has been “following the topic for some time. It is a topic that deserves attention,” as reported by Jornal Tribuna de Macau.
The assurance comes after Portuguese state agency Lusa reported that Macau is not accepting new residence applications from Portuguese nationals based on the “exercise of specialized technical functions,” and is only considering applications based on family connections or previous ties to the territory.
Fazenda stated that appropriate solutions will be considered to address to the issue.
The new guidelines dated from early August, to which the Lusa had access, depart from the practice established shortly after the 1999 handover to China.
Between April 2003 and November 2021, residence applications from Portuguese nationals were equated to residence applications from Chinese citizens. However, this changed with the new legislation, as cited in the report.
“For now, based on the information we have, any new applications for residence made by Portuguese citizens via the Immigration Services, through the Public Security Police, are only accepted based on the grounds of ‘family connections’ and a ‘previous connection to the Macau SAR’,” lawyer Pedro Meireles told Lusa.
“Residence requests from Portuguese nationals are no longer expressly mentioned (in law no. 16/2021 and in administrative regulation no. 38/2021).”
Speaking at a recent press conference, Consul General Alexandre Leitão, said, “As the Secretary of State said, the matter is not new. It is something we have known about for some time now. We have contacted the authorities, held meetings, and expressed our opinions on the matter.” Staff Reporter
