Is the entry declaration in Portugal mandatory for all foreign citizens traveling to the country?
Article 14(1) of Law No. 23/2007 of July 4 states that “Foreign citizens entering the country through a border not subject to control, coming from another Member State, are required to declare this fact within three working days from the date of entry.”
Therefore, not all foreign citizens traveling to Portugal are required to declare their entry. This obligation only applies in specific cases. Which cases are these?
The legal provision is very clear when it refers to foreign citizens entering Portugal through a border not subject to control, coming from another Schengen Area Member State. This applies, for example, to a Brazilian citizen whose final destination is Portugal but who enters the Schengen Area through another country, such as Spain. Once in Spain, they may take another flight to Portugal or enter the country by another means, such as by car.
In these situations, border control takes place only in Spain and not in Portugal, even though the foreign citizen’s final destination is Portugal. This means that, once in Portugal, the Portuguese authorities would have no knowledge of the foreign citizen’s presence if it weren’t for the obligation established by Article 14(1) of Law No. 23/2007 of July 4.
Therefore, the foreign citizen must notify the Portuguese authorities of their entry into the country — specifically the Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum (AIMA) — within three working days from the date of entry.
However, there are some exceptions to this rule, which are set out in Article 14(3) of Law No. 23/2007 of July 4.
On one hand, if the foreign citizen stays in a hotel or similar accommodation immediately after entering the country, it is the accommodation itself that must make this notification through the lodging form.
On the other hand, foreign citizens who live in Portugal or are authorized to stay in the country for more than six months are not required to make this entry declaration.
Finally, this obligation also does not apply to citizens of the European Union or of a country with an equivalent regime, such as Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
