Portugal has given nearly 2,000 Nepalis facing deportation and fines an opportunity to apply for temporary residence permits (TRC), offering relief to migrants caught in a document fraud scandal that had pushed them into a serious legal crisis.

Portugal’s Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum (AIMA), the authority responsible for regularising migrants, has allowed affected Nepalis to apply for legal residency despite irregularities linked to forged certification stamps on official documents.

The migrants had submitted genuine police clearance certificates issued by Nepal Police, but the documents carried forged stamps and signatures purportedly from the Portuguese Embassy in New Delhi and the Nepali Embassy. Many said they were deceived by intermediaries who handled the paperwork on their behalf.

“When the certification stamps on the police reports were found to be fake, the Nepalis became victims themselves,” Nepali Ambassador to Portugal Prakash Mani Paudel told Kantipur. “We had been in regular discussions and coordination with senior Portuguese officials on this issue. Portuguese authorities have provided the necessary facilitation, and all affected Nepalis now have the opportunity to apply.”

A total of 1,760 people have already submitted applications to the Nepali Embassy, claiming they were victims of the fraud. The embassy forwarded the list to Portuguese authorities.

The applicants had been placed in deportation proceedings after authorities confirmed that forged stamps and signatures had been attached to otherwise genuine police clearance certificates. Many had already received notices instructing them to leave the country within a specified period.

According to one Nepali who spoke to Kantipur, some of those notices warned of deportation and possible prison sentences of up to one year.

The Nepali Embassy appealed to Portuguese authorities to consider the matter from a humanitarian perspective and grant the migrants a second chance despite the legal irregularities.

Among those affected is Binod Sunar, who said the decision had freed them from a legal trap.

“We spent hundreds of thousands of rupees to reach Portugal and found ourselves in a legal situation we never imagined,” Sunar said. “We were victims of fraud. Thanks to the embassy’s efforts, we can now remain in Portugal and apply for residency. Some of our friends have already started receiving approvals.”

Portugal recently introduced a policy aimed at clearing a backlog of immigration cases, tightening scrutiny of new applications and preventing future document disputes. Under the policy, migrants who had obtained Tax Identification Numbers (NIF) and Social Security Identification Numbers (NISS) by June 3, 2024, became eligible to apply for temporary residence permits.

Applicants are also required to submit police clearance certificates along with their tax and social security records.

The affected Nepalis were caught in a transitional period before Nepal established a resident embassy in Portugal. According to the migrants, the problem emerged during a roughly 10-month gap after consular services were suspended and before the embassy became operational.

Investigations later revealed that intermediaries and cyber operators had charged between 150 and 200 euros to provide forged stamps and signatures purportedly issued by the Portuguese Embassy in India.

The Nepali Embassy in Portugal began providing consular services only in the third week of February 2025. Before that, the Nepali Embassy in France handled consular affairs for Portugal.

An honorary consulate in Lisbon had operated under the embassy’s authority since March 2014 and authenticated police reports, marriage registrations and birth registrations. However, those services were suspended on April 30, 2024.

“At that time, we had tax and social security numbers, but we did not have police clearance certificates,” one affected migrant told Kantipur. “The honorary consulate in Portugal had been closed. To get documents authenticated, we would have had to travel to France, which was not realistic for many of us. Local operators running cyber services told us they could obtain certification from the Nepali Embassy and the Portuguese Embassy in New Delhi online. We trusted them, and that is how we were deceived.”

The migrants had urged the Nepal government to help secure another opportunity to apply, arguing that they were victims of fraud rather than participants in document forgery.

“We did not create fake documents ourselves. We were victims of a scam,” Sunar said. “Through the embassy’s efforts, we were recognised as victims of fraud. That has brought enormous relief. We can now continue living and working here. The future of thousands of Nepalis like us has been protected.”

Around 40,000 Nepalis are estimated to be living legally in Portugal. Another 10,000 or more Nepalis who entered Portugal on visas issued by countries such as Romania, Greece, Croatia and Malta are believed to be either waiting for residence permits or currently undergoing the application process.