Residence Permits (ARs) for foreign students living in Portugal, delayed since August, will be issued this December. Confirmation is from the Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF), who failed to comply with the legal deadline for submission after 60 days of renewal, as stated in the country’s law.
To Now Europe, the body states that the documents are being sent to the Imprensa Nacional Casa da Moeda, responsible for issuing the cards: “We hope to conclude this process by the end of this year”, guarantees the SEF. Once printed, the ARs will be mailed to the immigrants’ address.
The agency’s justification for the delay is “adaptations within the scope of issuing residence permits for higher education students”, because of changes made to the law this year. From now on, the validity of the document will be three years and not more than one year. In practice, it means that the renewal process will no longer need to be carried out annually by students.
If the duration of the course in which the foreigner is enrolled was less than three years, the visa will be granted for the entire term of the university activity. For example, if a Brazilian is approved to attend a two-year course in Portugal, that will be the validity period of the document and not just one year, as occurred before the legislative change.
Currently, renewal is carried out through the SEF online portal, a measure implemented in 2020, during the Covid-19 pandemic. The opening of the service on the website occurs quarterly. This year, two delays have already been registered, one of three months and another of almost 30 days-
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