Government confirms new consular posts and powers in Jersey

Portugal’s honorary consulate in Jersey will move to new premises and issue documents such as a citizen’s card and passport later this year, the Secretary of State for Portuguese Communities announced this Saturday.

Paulo Cafofo called Friday’s visit to the island a “success” because it was able to uncover this “old demand from our community”.

According to him, the new premises of the Honorary Consulate will be “more modern, more comfortable and more accessible for people with disabilities”, in addition to being located in the center of St. Petersburg. Helier.

In the coming days, an agreement on the lease of premises should be formalized, after which adaptation work will be carried out, but Cafofo is confident that “this year we will have better premises and better conditions.”

In addition to the new premises, the Honorary Consulate will begin operating with increased hours and new powers such as the issuance of citizenship cards and passports, thanks to the permanent placement of an officer from the Consulate General of London.

Until now, thousands of Portuguese living on the island of Jersey, located in the English Channel, near France, had to fly to the Consulate General in London or Portugal or wait for the consulate to issue or renew their identity and travel documents.

This “new phase of Portuguese public services in Jersey” will also benefit the neighboring island of Guernsey, despite the fact that the Secretary of State is willing to support consular assistance travel from time to time.

Paulo Cafofo acknowledged that the investment in the Jersey Honorary Consulate is also a response to an increase in citizenship and documentation requests from Portuguese descendants after the United Kingdom left the European Union (EU).

Despite having autonomous and independent administrations from the United Kingdom, Jersey and Guernsey are under the British crown and have suffered from Brexit, namely the end of freedom of movement between the islands and the EU.

The program of the trip to the two islands on Friday and Saturday included visits to companies led by Portuguese and descendants of the Portuguese, bilateral meetings with local authorities and meetings with associations, businessmen and members of the Portuguese community.

On Friday, Cafôfo hosted a ‘tablet’ awards ceremony in Jersey as part of the Portuguese Language Study Abroad Digitization Program, which took the opportunity to encourage young people to become more involved in political and civic life.

“It is very important that this community of ours, which represents about 10% of the population of Jersey, can, in addition to the influence it already has in various sectors of the economy, also have a participation in proportion to its proportionality in relation to the population that lives here,” the Secretary of State emphasized.

There are currently two Portuguese-born local MPs in Jersey, Beatriz Pore and Karina Alves.

Statistics show that almost 9,000 Portuguese citizens on the island of Jersey correspond to 8% of the island’s total population, while in Guernsey about 1,700 Portuguese citizens have resident status.