Portugal launched a web based automated residence allow for Portuguese audio system. Web site has difficulties supporting the excessive visitors

A brand new on-line process opened in Portugal to hurry up the method of the hundreds of residence allow requests nonetheless pending approval. However the web site’s server may be overloaded by excessive visitors at instances.

Residents from Portuguese-speaking international locations have benefited from a simplified, digital, and fast process for receiving a residence allow to dwell in Portugal since March 13.

On the primary day of operation of the portal, authorities already obtained greater than 9,700 requests for residence permits on Monday at 6 p.m., based on a written assertion from the Portuguese authorities.

The brand new portal permits immigrants from the Group of Portuguese Talking International locations (CPLP) to acquire a residence allow mechanically, with out the necessity to go to a service heart of the Portuguese Immigration and Borders Service (SEF), besides if minors are concerned.

The SEF issued 1,515 paperwork by the top of the primary day. Earlier than launching the portal, authorities anticipated candidates to obtain paperwork inside 72 hours.

The process prices 15 euros (16 {dollars}), about the identical value as making a Portuguese identification card. The visa is legitimate for one yr and is renewable for 2 successive durations of two years. Of the practically 10,000 requests already obtained, 109 want additional safety checks.

However the website has been experiencing difficulties supporting the influx of tourists keen to obtain a residence allow since its launch yesterday.

The brand new on-line process is a part of an operation that seeks to scale back paperwork and velocity up the method for the numerous visa requests nonetheless awaiting a solution. It’s, for now, solely obtainable to folks from CPLP international locations who’ve already formalized a visa request and are ready for a solution. The service will then be prolonged to all residence allow requests from Portuguese-speaking international locations.

Member states of the CPLP whose residents are eligible for this new quick immigration course of are Brazil, Angola, Cape Verde, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, São Tomé and Príncipe, and Timor-Leste. Most requests to dwell in Portugal come from Brazil.

And there are about 150,000 pending requests from Portuguese-speaking international locations. Nevertheless, some folks could not intend to learn from the sort of visa anymore, SEF Director Fernando Silva famous throughout a press convention on Friday.

From all international locations mixed, Portugal has 300,000 long-term visa requests from 2021 and 2022 nonetheless caught in limbo and ready to be processed.

Portugal attempting to scale back paperwork for residence requests

The federal government of Portugal has launched a collection of measures to facilitate procedures for migrating into its territory, together with amendments to the Regulation on Foreigners in November. The middle-right opposition Social Democratic Get together (PSD) and Folks’s Get together (CDS) criticized the amendments.

The brand new portal for Portuguese audio system follows an settlement signed in July 2021 between CPLP members to advertise mobility between the international locations by enhancing migration procedures.

Since November, the requests of residents from CPLP member states to obtain and renew residence permits are exempt from presenting legitimate journey insurance coverage, proof of technique of subsistence and a replica of the return journey. Furthermore, the visa software doesn’t have to be made in particular person anymore however may be proceeded on-line, besides if a minor is concerned.

The brand new almost-automatic residence allow nonetheless has preliminary approval earlier than the precise to request a residence authorization, whose situations depend upon whether or not persons are employed digital nomads, job seekers, college students, researchers, volunteers, or minors.

In February, the minister of Inside Administration, José Luís Carneiro, mentioned that immigrants from CPLP international locations would profit from a protected standing for as much as one yr, equal to what was given to residents escaping the conflict in Ukraine and welcomed by Portugal.

Since August 2022, driving licenses of residents from CPLP and OECD international locations have been legitimate in Portugal while not having a Portuguese one.

Work visas for all migrants are now not granted on an “distinctive” foundation however solely want a contract provide and registration to Portuguese social safety. Furthermore, foreigners from all international locations can apply for a Job Search Visa, granted for 120 days and extendable to a different 60 days, so long as persons are registered within the Portuguese Public Employment Service as job seekers.

The Immigration and Borders Service can also be being restructured into a brand new Portuguese Company for Migration and Asylum, coping with administrative affairs and separate from police points. The restructuring, anticipated to come back into impact on the finish of the month, has been taking longer than introduced and has been postponed a number of instances.

The international inhabitants legally residing in Portugal elevated in 2022 for the seventh consecutive yr, totaling 757,252, based on SEF knowledge. Brazilian residents stay the primary international neighborhood within the nation, with a complete of 233,138 folks, 13 p.c greater than in 2021.

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