Pedro Pessoa e Costa, who left Angola on the 28th of February, was speaking to journalists after being received in audience by the President, João Lourenço, from whom he said goodbye this Monday.
Asked about the complaints of Angolans regarding the scheduling and obtaining of visas for Portugal, he admitted that the demand for visas "is very high and the consulate has to process visas, namely Schengen visas, in consultation and coordination with the Schengen area", which implies some delays.
"The consulate has enormous activity, almost equivalent to seven consulates in France, but it also handles visa applications for other European Union countries and the work is a lot", he justified.
But a large part of the problems, namely in terms of scheduling, he added, has to do with the fact that the available spaces are used by some intermediaries that limit the access of users.
Even so, according to the diplomat, "the result of the work and effort of the consulate employees", these visas have been issued without major delays, namely health, study and visiting family members, while tourist visas are suspended across the Schengen area.
Pedro Pessoa e Costa warned that all visa applications that follow the normal procedure must be delivered "duly organized" and with the necessary information and documentation, so "there will be no reason for major delays" and some visas have even been approved in five days, if the whole process is properly prepared.
The diplomat pointed out that it is not up to the embassy to take action against intermediaries, as they will continue to exist whenever there are Angolans who resort to them instead of submitting their own process, appealing that whenever "there are added costs or what calls the 'gasosas' (bribes), say no because it's corruption".
At the end of this mission, Pedro Pessoa e Costa said that he had had two years "of intense activity", even in a period of pandemic, as the relationship between Portugal and Angola touches on all areas of cooperation, he underlined, having reviewed issues of defense, justice, education and health in the meeting with the President.
"It's a relationship that touches all sectors and, therefore, demanding", he stressed.
"After two years I leave with the feeling of having done everything I should have done to strengthen this relationship", he said, considering the Angolans as a "resilient" and "extraordinary" people that deserve the bet of Portuguese companies.
The diplomat, who will take over the Portuguese Embassy in Norway, also stressed that the African country will miss him.
"I miss Angola very much and that is the fault of the Angolans. I quickly felt at home and I will miss you a lot, whether from the Angolans, whether from the jindungo (piri-piri), or from the paracuca (peanuts with sugar), or from the sunset, I miss these people who have this ability to make us feel at home", he declared.
