Portugal: Information for stateless people and those at risk of statelessness fleeing Ukraine
2. ROUTES TO INTERNATIONAL PROTECTION
Portugal offers three forms of protection for stateless persons or persons at risk of statelessness: refugee
status, subsidiary protection, and temporary protection under EU law. These routes to protection are
summarised in the table below:
What is it?
Refugee Status
Subsidiary Protection
Temporary Protection
Protection under the 1951
Geneva Convention
Relating to the Status of
Refugees, as implemented
by Portuguese national law
Subsidiary protection, as
implemented by
Portuguese national law,
for persons who are not
refugees under the 1951
Convention, but who
cannot return to their
country due to systematic
violation of human rights or
the risk of suffering serious
harm
Yes
Temporary protection for
eligible persons fleeing the
war in Ukraine
Can stateless
Yes
and/or
undocumented
persons apply?
Where to
apply?
At point of arrival before
the Borders and
Immigration Service (SEF),
or at any other location
before the police
Same as Refugee Status
Procedure &
rights
Procedure: biometric data
collected if over 14 years;
supporting document
validating stay in Portugal;
accommodation in an
Same as Refugee Status
Yes, if they meet eligibility
criteria (i.e., beneficiaries
of international protection
or equivalent national
protection in Ukraine who
are unable to return, their
family members, or
permanent residents in
Ukraine, holders of a
temporary residence
permit, or a long-stay visa
in Ukraine who cannot
return safely to their
country of origin)
Adults can apply online at
the Borders and
Immigration Service (SEF)
website; or in person at:
(i) National Centres for
Support to Migrant
Integration (CNAIM) in
Lisbon, Porto, and Faro; or
(ii) Borders and
Immigration Service (SEF)
counters exclusively for
Ukrainian citizens.
Minors need to apply at
one of the exclusive
Borders and Immigration
Service (SEF) counters
Procedure: fill out a form
(possibility to choose
nationality or origin as
“unknown”); biometric
data collected;