CPLP immigrants in Portugal can obtain residence permit online from Monday – Society – RTP Madeira

The new platform for obtaining residence permits in Portugal for citizens of the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP) under the mobility agreement between the Member States of the organization was presented today by the Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF) in a ceremony that took place at the Ministry of Internal Administration.

In addition to CPLP immigrants with processes pending at the SEF until December 2022, citizens with CPLP visas issued by Portuguese consulates after October 31, 2022 can also obtain a residence permit “fully automatically and ‘online’”, explained the national director of the SEF.

Fernando Silva noted that this measure has a “maximum reach of 150,000 citizens”, which corresponds to visas issued and expressions of interest made at the SEF until December 2022, but may translate into a smaller number, since many of them may have already left Portugal.

The same official explained that these citizens can, as of Monday, access the ‘CPLP portal’, through the SEF and ePortugal.gov websites, and apply for a residence permit.

The director highlighted that these grants of residence permits are “exclusively ‘online’, without the need for any other type of interaction with the service or physical travel to a service point”.

However, in the case of minors involved in the legalization process, it is necessary to go “afterwards to a SEF service point”.

According to the same official, the residence permit for CPLP immigrants will cost 15 euros and the availability of this document in an electronic model will take “as a rule 72 hours”.

Fernando Silva advanced that, in a second phase, this process will be extended to CPLP citizens who are in Portugal and who have not yet applied for a residence permit with the SEF or who have done so after January 2023.

The SEF director also said that, in the near future, the ‘CPLP portal’ for obtaining residence permits will only be available on the ePortugal.gov website.

The same person in charge underlined that the data verification is automatic, since the SEF already has access to all the citizen’s data previously entered in the system, being “a much faster, safer and simpler process”, which has very detailed tutorials. clear and in which the information to be provided by the applicant is very limited.

CPLP citizens who, from now on, intend to come to Portugal do not need to establish any contact with the SEF, having only to go to the Portuguese consular representations in their countries of origin to obtain a visa for Portugal.

According to the SEF, the residence permit under the CPLP mobility agreement is initially valid for one year, renewable for two successive periods of two years.

A SEF source told Lusa that CPLP immigrants with pending cases are mostly Brazilians who, between 2021 and 2022, completed expressions of interest on the electronic platform, the Automatic Pre-Scheduling System (SAPA) (application formalized with the SEF to obtain an authorization of residence).

In addition to Portugal, Cape Verde, Brazil, Timor-Leste, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, São Tomé and Príncipe, Angola and Mozambique are part of the CPLP.

This process takes place at a time when the Government is preparing the restructuring of the SEF, whose administrative functions in terms of immigration will be transferred to the Portuguese Agency for Migration and Asylum (APMA).

Within the scope of the restructuring, which was postponed until the creation of the APMA, the police powers of that body will pass to the PSP, the GNR and the PJ, while the current attributions in administrative matters regarding foreign citizens will now be exercised by the APMA and the Institute of Registries and Notaries.

The restructuring of the SEF was decided by the previous Government and approved by the Assembly of the Republic in November 2021, having already been postponed twice.
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