A group of 12 Cape Verdeans have publicly denounced a case of alleged fraud in which they paid to fast-track a Portuguese visa process and were left without the money, they told Lusa on Tuesday.
They first filed complaints on social networks, then got together and some filed a complaint with the judicial police of Assomada, a city on the island of Santiago, complaining of the loss of various amounts of money, some up to 700 euros.
The supposed coordinator of the process said he had “a friend who works at the embassy” to speed up the processing of documents without an appointment, said Silvana Martins, 34, who is actively seeking opportunities in Portugal.
Nothing promised turned out to be true in this case or in other similar cases that constitute one of the most common types of fraud in the capital of Cape Verde, Praia.
Justifying this by the “complexity of obtaining a visa on the VFS Global website” of the company that manages the processes, Silvana took a risk and agreed to transfer 80 thousand escudos (725 euros) to the intermediary.
In November he paid 31 thousand escudos (280 euros) and the rest will be paid after the whole process is completed.
In addition, he spent another 50 thousand escudos (453 euros) on “purchasing documents to look for work in Portugal,” one of the ways to obtain a visa.
Three months later, without any news, Silvana asked for documents and money but received no response – she only managed to get her passport back – and desperation led her to complain on social media, posting conversations and photos of the intermediary and then PJ.
After posting on Facebook, the complainant was contacted by other people with similar cases and decided to create a group of 12 people on this network.
Sofia da Veiga, 28, from the same city, said she received recommendations in private conversations from the same intermediary to overcome the “complicated” visa process and thus be reunited with her husband, who already lives in Portugal.
“I talked to my husband and he sent me money. [80 mil escudos, 725 euros]because I really wanted us to live together,” he said.
He handed over the money and documents in December, but only managed to return his passport.
Ivanilson Varela, 37, from Saltos Baixo, wants to emigrate to join his girlfriend, who is pregnant with his child, due in Portugal.
“Cape Verde lacks living conditions,” he explained, and this scenario led him to seek out a prospective intermediary to manage the visa process, he said.
“Portugal is not a bed of roses, but I want a better life. I earn the minimum wage and pay rent for a house of 13,000 escudos.” [117 euros, pouco abaixo do salário mínimo] and there is nothing else to do,” said another complainant, Edna Furtado, 37, from Praia.
He complains of “anguish, anxiety and despair” as he chooses a method he admits is illegal to avoid “stress” on the VFS website.
In a conversation with Lusa, representatives of the judicial police confirmed that the investigation is ongoing, but declared the preservation of judicial secrecy in order not to provide any additional information – neither on this nor on other cases.
Complaints about Portuguese visa fraud are recurring in Cape Verde, where there is a parallel network (of people and offices) collecting visa application passwords that can be obtained for free online.
The vacancies are then resold to the public as part of a package of visa support services, which also includes obtaining documents and fulfilling other requirements.
Portugal called for reporting of all types of cases, and a diplomatic source told Lusa that the Portuguese mission was cooperating with Cape Verdean police to advance the investigation.
At the same time, the capacity to process visa applications has increased to try to meet the growing demand, and information has been shared about how the process works, with many people taking unconventional routes simply due to a lack of information. .
In 2023, the consular section of the Cape Verdean Embassy issued 12,644 visas out of a total of 13,520 applications received – more than 5 thousand for study and more than 6 thousand for work.
These values exceed the amount of visas issued in the previous two years, and there has been a steady increase in visa issuance of approximately 30% per year over five years.