The government announced on Monday that more than 6,300 residence permit requests were received in the first two hours of the new SEF portal for Portuguese-speaking immigrants with pending cases.
Despite these numbers, the portal is registering access restrictions, the Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF) said, adding that “due to the large number of visitors to the new CPLP portal, traffic has increased significantly on the SEF network.”
Lusa tried several times to access the SEF website but failed with the message “Your request could not be granted. Please try again later.”
About 150,000 immigrants from the member states of the Community of Portuguese-speaking Countries (CPLP) in Portugal, whose cases are pending before the SEF, can automatically receive a residence permit from this Monday through the “CPLP portal”, which is available on the websites of the SEF and ePortugal. gov.
A joint statement from the Home Office and the Deputy Minister for Parliamentary Affairs said that “in the first two hours of operation of the new portal that the SEF provides to Community citizens, more than 6,300 residence permit requests were received.” Portuguese-speaking countries (CPLP) with expressions of interest until December 31, 2022”.
The government adds that by Monday afternoon, the SEF had already issued 561 documents with reference to the payment of residence permits obtained through digital platforms accessible through the SEF.pt and ePortugal.gov.pt websites.
In addition to CPLP immigrants whose processes are 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”.
According to the SEF, these residence permit benefits are provided “only online, without the need for any other interaction with the service or physical movement to the service point.”
However, in the case of minors participating in the legalization process, it is necessary to go “then to the SEF service point”.
A residence permit for CPLP immigrants will cost 15 euros, and it will take “generally 72 hours” to have this document in electronic format.
The CPLP Mobility Agreement Residence Permit is initially valid for one year, renewable for two consecutive two-year periods.
An SEF source told Lusa that CPLP immigrants with pending cases are mostly Brazilians who, between 2021 and 2022, filled out an expression of interest on an electronic platform, the Automatic Pre-Planning System (SAPA) (application filed with SEF for a residence permit). ).
In addition to Portugal, Cape Verde, Brazil, Timor-Leste, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Sao Tome and Principe, Angola and Mozambique are part of the CPLP.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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