IMMIGRANT ASSOCIATIONS have lodged complaints against the government for favouring specialised and high tech immigrants as opposed to lesser qualified manual labour.
At the end of 2006, there were 410,000 immigrants officially registered in Portugal, although the true figure could be double that.
Although immigration policy within the European Union has always favoured highly skilled workers, the associations say that, this time, the government has gone too far by openly discriminating against unskilled labour.
They claim that differences in treatment are particularly glaring when Temporary Stay Visa application procedures are analysed.
Negative comments
At the heart of the complaints is the prototype for a new immigration law which states that non EU citizens wishing to come to live and work in Portugal should be involved in investigation, research, be highly qualified or have a degree which is acceptable as desirable by the Ministry of Sciences, Technology and Higher Education.
The same document states that, in these cases, such applicants should be “fast tracked” for their work visa documents.
The issue has generated some negative comments at the last meeting of the Consultative Board for Immigration Matters (Conselho Consultivo para os Assuntos da Imigração (COCAI)) which took place on Tuesday.
Heliana Bibas, representing the Casa do Brasil (the largest immigrant association in Portugal), spoke out against a “fall in the right to equal opportunities” and talked about the “danger of discriminating against those who normally have most difficulties in integrating”.
“Portugal also needs lesser qualified immigrants and they should not be left to defend themselves with no rights particularly since they are often the least protected and vulnerable,” she said.
Under qualified workers have to have, for example, a document which proves they have a job lined up in Portugal; and this job has to fall within a list of employment laid down by the Institute of Employment and Professional Training (Instituto de Emprego e Formação Profissional) which favours Portuguese and EU citizens.
But for those prospective highly qualified employees regardless of their origin, the application procedures for a working visa are fast tracked and dealt with by the company intending to employ them in much the same way that Indian and Pakistani computer and research scientists are given preferential status in the UK.
The new immigration law, which also fixes as yet unspecified quotas, is supposed to come into force on August 23.
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