Clarification on New Portugal Job Seeker Rules vs Schengen Tourist Entry

Realizing this is not strictly about standard Schengen short-stay visas, I see a lot of confusion crossing over in the community. Just letting you know that the Portuguese government has effectively ended the ‘expression of interest’ route for regularization.

The Update: The issuance of the Job Seeker Visa will now depend on the prior existence of an employment contract involved. This ultimately will be the law for all non-EU nationals.

The Constraint: You cannot enter on a standard Schengen tourist visa and “switch” status easily anymore. You must apply for the specific work visa IN your country of origin before traveling.

Just a heads-up to prevent wasted trips and entry bans. Safe travels.

Logic check here. Does this update invalidate pending applications submitted before the change? I am planning on pushing to prod (submitting) my application next week and need to know if I should abort or refactor my approach. Optimized code—or laws—usually mean edge cases get deleted, and I don’t want to be one of them.