Washington, DC – Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT) have introduced the bipartisan Advancing Mutual Interests and Growing Our Success (AMIGOS) Act, which would extend trade and investor visas to Portuguese citizens to increase international business between the United States and Portugal.
“The cultural and economic contributions of hardworking Portuguese immigrants are an important part of Rhode Island’s rich heritage,” said Whitehouse. “The bipartisan AMIGOS Act furthers that tradition by removing an obstacle to strengthening our reciprocal economic relationship with Portugal and encouraging job-creating investments in the United States.”
“The AMIGOS Act will help strengthen our economic ties with Portugal, an important European ally,” said Hatch. “International business relationships are increasingly important in the global economy, and this bill will help deepen those relationships for the benefit of both the United States and Portugal.”
The legislation would allow Portuguese citizens to apply for trade (E-1) and investor (E-2) temporary entry visas. These types of visas are eligible to citizens from countries that have treaties of “Friendship, Commerce and Navigation” with the United States. However, Portugal never entered into such an agreement before the country joined the European Union, making it ineligible to enter into one.
Portugal is an important cultural and business partner of the United States. Bilateral trade with Portugal reached $4.2 billion in 2015, a thirty percent increase from five years earlier.
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