Requests for residence permits in Portugal for work reasons have been growing, reaching 115,000 in the period from 2018 to 2021, according to Diário de Notícias. There were 35,886 temporary residence permits for work granted in 2021, twice as many as those submitted in 2018.

According to SEF, around 140,000 cases were filed between 2012 and 2021 for work reasons, so the figure reached in the four years since 2018 represents 80 percent of this volume. In the total period, since 2012, only 20 percent of the almost 705,000 residence permits approved are for the exercise of a professional activity.

As for origins, applications for residence by citizens of the European Union and their family members represented, until 2017, the main basis for granting residence. Looking at permanent and temporary residence permits, including also citizens who obtained a golden visa, Brazilians led the way in all years in terms of granting temporary permits (257,414). The Italians (40,496 permits), the British (39,483) and the French (35,587) follow.