SDP Blog Series - Portugal at a crossroads: ensuring effective protection for stateless people

The invisibility of statelessness in Portugal

Without a formal procedure, authorities face significant challenges in accurately identifying and recording stateless individuals. This legislative gap contributes to a broader problem: the invisibility of statelessness. Stateless individuals are often absent from official statistics and administrative registers. This is particularly evident in Portugal. Organisations working with migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees have reported very few cases of statelessness; but this does not necessarily mean that statelessness is rare. Rather, it reflects the difficulty of identifying stateless individuals in the absence of a formal statelessness determination procedure (SDP).

Administrative barriers may further contribute to this invisibility. In practice, access to many public services often requires proof of regular residence or an ongoing regularisation process. Stateless people who lack documentation or lawful residence status may therefore remain outside these systems, making it even harder for authorities and organisations to identify them.

Currently, the only way to be recognised as stateless in Portugal is if someone has already been considered stateless abroad and has documentation to prove it. So, the relatively small official number of stateless people in Portugal (12 people) should be interpreted with caution.

This does not necessarily mean that statelessness is widespread in Portugal. Rather, it underscores the structural difficulty of detecting a phenomenon that, by its very nature, often remains hidden.

Affected populations and the impact of under-identification

Previous research, including UNHCR’s mapping of statelessness in Portugal (2018), has already highlighted that statelessness remains poorly understood in Portugal and is inconsistently recorded, due to gaps in legislation and guidance for key institutions. The study notes a few key profiles where statelessness is most likely to be found but remains hidden: unresolved cases of people from Portugal’s former colonies and their descendants, children in care, people held in immigration detention who could not be removed, and stateless asylum-seekers or refugees. More broadly, UNHCR mapping exercises across Europe show that, in the absence of SDPs, stateless populations remain systematically under-identified.

The consequences of this invisibility can be significant. Stateless individuals may face barriers in accessing fundamental rights such as employment, healthcare, education, or the ability to travel. More broadly, the absence of a clear legal framework creates uncertainty both for individuals and for the authorities responsible for administering migration and social protection systems.

Current safeguards and legislative gaps

The Portuguese Asylum Law, adopted in 2008, explicitly recognises that stateless people may apply for international protection. Likewise, the Nationality Law provides certain safeguards that help prevent statelessness, including more favourable provisions to access nationality in specific situations. Despite these references, Portugal has never established a dedicated mechanism to formally identify and determine statelessness.

This situation began to change in 2023, when Portugal adopted Law No. 41/2023. This law incorporated the concept of statelessness into the national legal framework and acknowledged the need to establish mechanisms to recognise and protect stateless people. However, the law did not create the procedure itself, leaving the concrete rules governing the determination of statelessness to be regulated through subsequent legislation.

As a result, despite the legal recognition of statelessness, Portugal still lacks a dedicated SDP. Without such a mechanism, it remains extremely difficult to identify stateless people and provide them with an appropriate protection status.

A Statelessness Determination Procedure is a necessity

Introducing an effective SDP is therefore not merely a technical reform. It is a necessary step to ensure that people who lack any nationality can access legal protection and rights.

In December 2025, several political parties presented legislative proposals aimed at regulating Law No. 41/2023 and establishing an SDP, which are currently being discussed in Parliament. These proposals represent an important opportunity for Portugal to align its legal framework with international standards and good practices across Europe. Crucially, the decisions taken now will determine whether the future system provides meaningful protection for stateless people or risks reproducing the same structural gaps that have contributed to their invisibility.

At JRS Portugal, we drafted a legal opinion analysing the different legislative proposals currently under discussion, with the support of the European Network on Statelessness. The analysis highlights both positive elements and areas where further clarification or improvement may be needed to ensure that the future procedure is effective in practice. Some of the key points we made are:

• General alignment with international standards: the proposal presented by the ruling Social Democratic Party (PSD) establishes a procedure largely aligned with best practice, including access to legal assistance, interpretation, and individualised assessment, but has some concerning elements (e.g. in relation to residence status and access to rights).

• Access to a residence permit: the type of residence granted is a key point of divergence in the different proposals. Both the PSD proposal and the proposal submitted by the LIVRE party suggest granting a temporary or provisional residence permit during the procedure and following recognition. This risks reinforcing a perception of temporariness that does not reflect the structural nature of statelessness. By contrast, the proposal presented by the Left Bloc (Bloco de Esquerda) introduces a more robust approach by providing for a permanent residence permit for recognised stateless people. This option offers greater legal certainty, reduces the risk of administrative precariousness, and better supports long-term integration, in line with international guidance and comparative European practice.

• Access to support and integration: this is another are which differs across the proposals. While the PSD proposal recognises the role of UNHCR, other proposals (of the Socialist Party and LIVRE) go further by explicitly requiring authorities to inform applicants about organisations providing legal and social support. This reflects a more comprehensive understanding of the needs of stateless people beyond the formal recognition process

Portugal at a crossroads

Portugal has historically demonstrated a strong commitment to international human rights law and has ratified the key international instruments addressing statelessness. The introduction of an effective SDP would represent a natural continuation of this commitment – but it must be fair, accessible, and linked to meaningful protection mechanisms. Recognition alone is not enough. Stateless people must also have access to stable, lawful status and protection pathways that allow them to rebuild their lives.

Portugal is therefore at a crossroads. The recognition of statelessness in national legislation was an important first step in 2023. The legislative process now underway will determine whether this recognition translates into effective protection.

By adopting a robust and well-designed framework, Portugal can demonstrate how national legislation can transform international commitments into real protection for some of the most legally invisible people in the world.

Interested in learning more about SDPs in Europe? 

Read our briefing on statelessness determination and protection. 

Watch our webinar exploring what needs to happen next to improve the identification and protection of stateless people in Europe. 

Visit our StatelessnessINDEX for analysis of law, policy and practice in 35 countries. 

Watch this space for more blogs from our members over the coming weeks.