Portugal's immigration authority AIMA was working through a backlog of outstanding court decisions in May 2026, slowing residence permit issuance for new applicants. The delays are landing on Americans mid-application at a moment when the U.S. population in Portugal has never been larger.
U.S. asylum claims in Canada reached 634 in 2025, more than triple the 204 filed the year before and the highest annual total on record outside the first Trump administration, per Immigration and Refugee Board data. Another 858 U.S. claims were pending as of December 31.
