Portugal to Restructure Foreigners and Borders Service in 2023
The news was announced by the Minister of Internal Administration of Portugal, José Luís Carneiro, who said that the restructuring of SEF will, among others, allow for better management of borders, AtoZSerwisPlus.pt reports.
According to Portugal News, Minister Carneiro also said during the specialist assessment of the State Budget proposal for 2023 that the restructuring of SEF will also help the administrative functions of reception as well as the integration of immigrants.
“The restructuring of the SEF will be carried out, allowing the separation of the police functions, control and border management and the administrative functions of reception, integration of immigrants and asylum seekers,” the statement of Minister Carneiro reads.
In addition, the same source explains that the SEF police powers will pass to Public Security Police, National Republican Guard, and the Judiciary Police. As for the current attributions in administrative matters that have to do with foreigners, it has been explained that they will be passed to the Portuguese Agency of Migration and Asylum and the Institute of Registries and Notaries.
The decision to restructure SEF was taken by the previous government, and it was approved by the Assembly of the Republic. However, since then, the restructuring process has been postponed twice.
Now that it has officially been decided that the restructuring of SEF will take place in 2023, Minister Carneiro also pointed out that in the same year, the development, as well as the implementation of the interoperability of border controls in the context of the Second Generation Schengen Information system, will also be carried out.
Additionally, Minister Carneiro noted that in 2023 the country would also make the necessary adaptions for the entry into operation of the Entry/Exit System (EES) and the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS).
The Entry/Exit System is a new scheme whose main purpose is to register the entry and exit of nationals of third countries in the EU. Moreover, the main objective of the EES is to modernise the management of the eternal borders, to help EU Member States deal with an increasing number of travellers reaching the EU, and reduce irregular migration by identifying and addressing the overstaying phenomenon, among others.
On the other hand, ETIAS is an electronic system that keeps track of those who do need to obtain a visa in order to be able to enter the Schengen zone. The procedures to pass ETIAS started back in 2016, and the system is expected to be operational in November 2023.
