On Monday, the amendment to the law establishing the legal regime for the entry, stay, exit and removal of foreigners in Portugal was enacted, which ended the exception regime that allowed immigrants to regularize themselves in the country through the legal form of manifestation of interest.
Regarding the changes, Rosa Maria de Castro, who is currently in the process of applying for a visa to Portugal, said she believes that they will also affect citizens of the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP), as immigration to Portugal is increasing.
The Angolan, who is trying to enter Portugal for the first time, considered the Portuguese Government's measure important, recognizing that there are people being enticed to go and work in the country, but, once there, they cannot find work or are exploited.
"I think it's a method of control, people can only enter Portugal to make their stay worthwhile, they have to enter Portugal with a goal, to help its growth. Portugal needs people who help its economy grow", she told Lusa.
Rosa Castro highlighted that the CPLP visa helped many families in difficulty, who managed to establish themselves in Portugal, and considered it difficult for the changes to the law published on Monday to allow greater control over immigration in that European country.
"Africa is going through a difficult time for its economy and people's objective is to go out in search of better conditions", added Rosa Castro.
In her process, the biggest difficulty she encountered was scheduling the visa application, she said.
In turn, Manuel Queta, an employee at a travel agency, expressed concern because the information is not clear regarding CPLP visas.
"Just today we submitted some CPLP visa applications and we did not receive any notification that any document was missing, due to something having been changed", he said.
Manuel Queta highlighted that the CPLP visa is not bureaucratic and easy to obtain, hoping that there are no substantial changes.
For this Angolan, better control over immigration is necessary, but not preventing entry, remembering that Portugal has agreements with several countries and must respect them.
"We need Portugal as Portugal also needs us, the interest is on both sides", he highlighted.
Edinaldo Borges, a travel agent, said he was "relaxed" about these rules, because the interests of the Portuguese-speaking community "are being safeguarded" by the Portuguese authorities.
"The only rule they added is that the CPLP community must present means of subsistence upon entry, which prove their livelihood in Portugal, I think that so far our interests are well safeguarded", he noted.
Edinaldo Borges is of the opinion that all countries must have control over the people entering, for security reasons, to monitor and safeguard the country's interests.
Concerned about the new rules is Flora Sebastião, a civil servant, who went to the visa center this Thursday to obtain information about the requirements for a student visa for her son.
"My son is going to finish high school now and I want to send him to Portugal to attend university, but I heard that the rules for immigration in Portugal have changed, so I came here today to find out what is needed and I am already clear", she said.
Flora Sebastião stressed that she knows that the measures taken by Portugal aim to "make the entry of immigrants more difficult", but argued that the ties between Portuguese-speaking peoples should deserve attention.
From now on, a foreign citizen only has access to a residence visa if they have handled their case in their country of origin, in many cases with a prior employment contract, with the exception of CPLP citizens, because Portugal has signed an agreement of mobility.
Among the 41 measures foreseen in the plan, there is also the transformation, in the long term, of the current mobility visa for CPLP immigrants into a community visa (Shengen), which allows movement around the European Union, and the creation of a Foreigners and Borders Unit (UEF) at PSP to monitor the presence of immigrants and create emergency care centers.
