Residence permit requests from CPLP immigrants clog up new online service

More than 6,300 applications for residence permits were received in the first two hours of operation of Portugal’s immigration and borders service, SEF, new portal for immigrants from Portuguese-speaking countries with pending cases, the government announced on Monday.

Despite these numbers, the portal is experiencing access constraints, said the SEF, adding that “due to the large influx of people using the new CPLP portal, there was a substantial increase in traffic on the SEF network”.

Lusa tried several times to enter the SEF website and was unable to do so, with the message “it was not possible to satisfy your request. Please try again later”.

The around 150,000 immigrants from member states of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP) in Portugal with cases pending at SEF can from today obtain a residence permit automatically through the ‘CPLP portal’, which is available on the SEF and ePortugal.gov websites.

A joint statement from the ministry of the interior and the deputy minister and of parliamentary affairs says today that “more than 6,300 applications for residence permits were received in the first two hours of operation of the new portal that SEF makes available to citizens of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP) with expressions of interest delivered by 31 December 2022.”

The Government adds that by noon today, SEF had already issued 561 documents with reference to payment for residence permits received through the digital platforms accessible through the websites SEF.pt and ePortugal.gov.pt.

In addition to CPLP immigrants with cases pending at SEF until December 2022, citizens with CPLP visas issued by Portuguese consulates after 31 October 2022 can also obtain a residence permit in a “fully automatic and ‘online’ manner”.

According to SEF, these residence permit concessions are “exclusively ‘online’, with no need for any other type of interaction with the service or physical visit to a SEF reception centre”.

However, in the case of minors involved in the legalisation process, it is necessary to go “at a later stage to a SEF office”.

The residence permit for immigrants from the CPLP will cost €15 and the availability of this document in electronic format will take “as a rule, 72 hours”.

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

A source from SEF told Lusa that CPLP immigrants with pending cases are mostly Brazilians who between 2021 and 2022 filled in the electronic platform Automatic Pre-Scheduling System (SAPA) expressions of interest (formal request to SEF to obtain a residence permit).

In addition to Portugal, the CPLP includes Cabo Verde, Brazil, Timor-Leste, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, São Tomé and Príncipe, Angola and Mozambique.