SEF simplifies procedures for residence permit applications

SEF will have simpler procedures for applications for the granting and renewal of residence permits, allowing them to “substantially” reduce service times at the counters for around 250,000 foreign citizens.

In a statement, the Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF) states that the procedures envisage “mitigating the consequences that resulted from the health emergency situation, adopting exceptional and temporary measures that allow for a recovery of pending issues and an efficiency gain in the document management of foreign citizens”, said a spokesman from SEF.
SEF maintains that, in the context of pending applications for renewal of residence permits, the citizen does not need to go to a service desk and instead can make their request on the SEF Portal.
Subsequently, SEF will carry out all security consultations to confirm the suitability of the applicant, as well as consultations with the databases necessary to assess the fulfilment, by the applicant, of its tax obligations and before Social Security, explains SEF, adding that, after paying the fees, the citizen will receive a residence permit at his / her tax address.

In relation to requests for the granting of a residence permit with a visa waiver, citizens do not need to submit new documentary evidence, for this purpose, documents submitted together with the visa waiver request (expression of interest), regardless of expiration date, provided they are valid on the date of presentation, according to SEF.
With this measure, SEF foresees “a substantial reduction in the service times at the counter, which should decrease from 40 to 15 minutes”.
Meanwhile, according to a decree-law published this May, the approximately 130,000 immigrants who were provisionally settled in Portugal due to the Covid-19 pandemic will continue in this situation until 31 October.
The 130,000 foreign nationals who remained in good standing were those who had pending cases at SEF until 18 March, when it was decided to declare a state of emergency due to the Covid-19 pandemic.