Over the past decade, the number of Macao Resident Identity Cards issued to Portuguese citizens has fallen by more than 80 percent, Ponto Final reports.
According to figures obtained by the Portuguese-language newspaper, 309 Portuguese citizens were given the cards – known as BIRs after the initials of their Portuguese name, Bilhetes de Identidade de Residente – in 2013.
Last year, just 59 BIRs were given to Portuguese nationals.
While Covid-19 restrictions certainly impacted numbers, Ponto Final showed that the decline is nevertheless a longer-term trend.
[See more: Residency permits for Portuguese nationals come under the spotlight]
There were 307 Portuguese nationals given BIRs in 2014, Ponto Final says. In 2015, 194 Portuguese obtained them, followed by 188 in 2016, 152 in 2017, 170 in 2018 and 144 in 2019 – the last year before the pandemic hit.
This year to date – with pandemic restrictions lifted – just 52 residency permits have been issued.
While Macao’s immigration laws once contained special provisions for Portuguese citizens, the group is not mentioned in a new law on talent recruitment that came into effect in July.
In recent months, Macao’s authorities have reportedly only been granting residency permits to Portuguese citizens with close relatives in the city or to those with prior connections to Macao.
Negotiations between Portugal and Macao over the situation are ongoing.
