Portugal issue??

I believe SEF are concentrating on renewal of residency for other EU nationals that expired during the pandemic - A friend with Irish passport has an appointment for late September also granting D7 Visas to new immigrant and finally working through issuing of EU biometric cards to Brits and foreigners starting in Azores and Madeira then Cascais. No doubt they will slowly cover other areas on a geographical basis.
 
Sailfree said:
I believe SEF are concentrating on renewal of residency for other EU nationals that expired during the pandemic - A friend with Irish passport has an appointment for late September also granting D7 Visas to new immigrant and finally working through issuing of EU biometric cards to Brits and foreigners starting in Azores and Madeira then Cascais. No doubt they will slowly cover other areas on a geographical basis.
Click to expand...
We saw an immigration consultant last year who suggested there was a 50,000 person backlog on immigration applications! SEF were disbanded by the Portuguese government due to incompetency. He said that SEF would be replaced by a new organisation with the same staff but new management.
We got our temporary residency on the 4th Jan this year based on being able to prove our presence in Portugal in 2020.
 
Graham376 said:
What a load of rubbish - Brits in Portugal face arrest if they enter another EU country as they STILL lack residency cards (msn.com)
Click to expand...

I now get the Daily Express daily news e mail so I have a better chance of understanding others point of view.

They loved this article originally published in the Guardian I believe.

They regularly have anti EU news. I suspect this anti EU rants will continue for the rest of my lifetime - unfortunately.

I think the posts on here from people that actually live in Portugal are more representative of the actual situation.
 
Last edited:
geem said:
We saw an immigration consultant last year who suggested there was a 50,000 person backlog on immigration applications! SEF were disbanded by the Portuguese government due to incompetency. He said that SEF would be replaced by a new organisation with the same staff but new management.
We got our temporary residency on the 4th Jan this year based on being able to prove our presence in Portugal in 2020.
Click to expand...

Not sure whether the disbanding procedure was reversed due to strikes and the difficulties of transferring SEF duties to another organisation without the co-operation of SEF staff.

At airport passport control I have shown documents at various time to Police and at other times to SEF.

Our 5yr residency expired in 2021 but waiting to be called for an appointment.

The Portuguese government enacted legislation that extends the validity of all documentation initially until Dec 2021 and this was further extended until Dec 2022. I would mot be surprised if its not further extended.

I attended IMF after a GRN road check and they said get my temporary licence sorted. IMF just said GRN are wrong and printed a copy of legislation and told me to give it to GRN in event of any other roadside checks!
 
We originally obtained our residence in Cascais in November 2020 and our official address is Cascais marina.

We have now had emails inviting us to make appointments at Cascais camara in the next 20 days for our biometric residency cards.

I believe we need to take proof of address, which is going to prove a bit difficult as we have been all over the place since leaving Cascais in April last year. The boat is currently on the hard at Bruce's. Should we give that as our current address and take a couple of months statements as proof?

(We will need an address anyway and getting them sent to Bruces would be as convenient as anywhere)

- W
 
Last edited:
webcraft said:
We originally obtained our residence in Cascais in November 2020 and our official address is Cascais marina.

We have now had emails inviting us to make appointments at Cascais camara in the next 20 days for our biometric residency cards.

I believe we need to take proof of address, which is going to prove a bit difficult as we have been all over the place since leaving Cascais in April last year. The boat is currently on the hard at Bruce's. Should we give that as our current address and take a couple of months statements as proof?

(We will need an address anyway and getting them sent to Bruces would be as convenient as anywhere)

- W
Click to expand...

Pleased to see what was publicised in Portugal News actually happening.

They said they were starting on EU residency cards for mainland Portugal in Cascais!
 
webcraft said:
I believe we need to take proof of address, which is going to prove a bit difficult as we have been all over the place since leaving Cascais in April last year. The boat is currently on the hard at Bruce's. Should we give that as our current address and take a couple of months statements as proof?
Click to expand...

If queried, I would suggest the reason for not yet having a shore address is that you're touring the country deciding where to settle.
 
nortada said:
Best of luck with your application.

I suspect a lot of liveaboards will be very interested to hear how you get on.
Click to expand...

It;s not really an application for residency thopugh, is it? It;s just a card to confirm the residency we already have.

They were pretty keen at the end of 2020 to give us residency, in fact after we got it the SEF guy on the desk in Cascais took me into his office and said he thought we should get residency and he could help us. When he heard that we had already got it he was delighted. A bit strange if less than two years later they decided to take it away.

But then, it's Portugal . . . . and our original experience in Cascais was not the same as that of other people elsewhere . . .

- W
 
Clancy Moped said:
Is this not just a change of address?
Click to expand...

Unlike the UK where most things can be done over the phone or by email, something as simple as change of address in Portugal usually needs proof that one lives at that address. Mentality and systems in gov depts. date back to the dictatorship and police state which only ended in 1974.
 
webcraft said:
It;s not really an application for residency thopugh, is it? It;s just a card to confirm the residency we already have.

They were pretty keen at the end of 2020 to give us residency, in fact after we got it the SEF guy on the desk in Cascais took me into his office and said he thought we should get residency and he could help us. When he heard that we had already got it he was delighted. A bit strange if less than two years later they decided to take it away.

But then, it's Portugal . . . . and our original experience in Cascais was not the same as that of other people elsewhere . . .

- W
Click to expand...

Very true but as you will recall, before 2021 temporary residency was managed by the local camras on a municipal bases. SEF was responsible for permanent residency, subsequently SEF was to assume total responsibility for issuing residency and the biometric residency permit. As we know SEF is going through it’s own set of problems but SEF isa branch of the GNR and as such, has a rather different attitude to issuing residency to the camras.

Hearing about what has gone on in the Azores over the issue of biometric permits, I suspect it could be more difficult to convince SEF/SEA of the validity of the case for a permit.

I had wondered if Portugal was going to leave the issue of biometric cards to coincide with the update from temporary to permanent residency. It could simplify things significantly but of course, not the Portuguese way.
 
Graham376 said:
Unlike the UK where most things can be done over the phone or by email, something as simple as change of address in Portugal usually needs proof that one lives at that address. Mentality and systems in gov depts. date back to the dictatorship and police state which only ended in 1974.
Click to expand...

'only' 1974? That is 58 years!

— W
 
nortada said:
As said, wish you well and hope you are right. Only 10 minutes - that would be a first in Portugal.‼
Click to expand...

Reports are on FB from people who went through the process yesterday and today in Cascais.

I will book Catherine and I's appointments tomorrow. It will be nice to get back to Cascais for a day or so. It's a good place to be resident.

- W
 
webcraft said:
'only' 1974? That is 58 years!

— W
Click to expand...
. Actually 48 years and very much in living memory pre 1974 still covers a lot of Portuguese bureaucratic thinking.

Anybody over 60 remembers well yet atrocities of the Salazar dictatorship and I suspect the recent revelations of SEF brutality has reawakened fears in some.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top