Portugal Has Issued Over 93,000 Residence Permits to Immigrants From Portuguese-Speaking Countries in a Month
On March 13 this year, the platform for obtaining a residence permit in Portugal for citizens of the Community of Portuguese-Language Countries (CPLP) began its work, targeting Portuguese-speaking immigrants with pending processes at the immigration and border service until December 31, 2022, and for those holding a CPLP visa issued by Portuguese consulates after October 31, 2022.
Through a post on Twitter, SEF revealed that since March 13, it had received a total of 114,131 applications for residence permit certificates from CPLP citizens through the new platform, AtoZSerwisPlus.pt reports.
According to the agency, from the total of the above-mentioned figure, SEF has issued over 103,572 documents with reference to payment, of which 97,631 have been resolved and resulted in the granting of 93,209 residence permits.
SEF data also show that Brazilian nationals accounted for 86.5 per cent of CPLP residence permit applications, followed by citizens of Angola, at 3.8 per cent, and from Sao Tome and Principe, at three per cent.
The cost of a residence permit application for CPLP immigrants is €15 and the processing period usually takes up to 72 hours.
The Portuguese authorities issue this residence permit to CPLP citizens based on the mobility agreement between the Member States of the organization. The countries included in Portugal’s CPLP are as follows:
- Angola
- Brazil
- Cape Verde
- Guinea-Bissau
- Equatorial Guinea
- Mozambique
- Sao Tome and Principe
- East Timor
Furthermore, if a person holds a residence permit under the CPLP mobility agreement in Portugal, the permit will initially be valid for one year. The same is renewable for two consecutive periods of two years.
Based on SEF data, last year, there was an increase in the number of people who legally resided in Portugal, thus reaching 757,252. The highest growth was recorded amongst the Brazilian community, as in 2022 there were 233,138 Brazilians living in Portugal.
Last month, as soon as the system became operational, SEF noted that the country began to receive a large number of applications, and thus in the first two hours alone, the system received over 6,300 requests for residence permits submitted by CPLP citizens.
