The announcement was made by the Portuguese Minister of the Presidency, António Leitão Amaro, at the press conference following the Council of Ministers.
“The ordinance, signed by the Ministers of the Presidency, Justice and Internal Administration, has just been published, which allows us to resolve a precarious situation with the residence permits of 220 thousand foreign citizens”, he said, referring to citizens of the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP).
Under a 2023 ordinance, these citizens obtained an administrative residence permit, a document issued on an A4 sheet of paper that did not allow them to travel within the Schengen area.
Leitão Amaro announced that these CPLP citizens will start to be called from next week for the collection of biometric data and verification of the documents necessary for the replacement and renewal of the residence permits issued.
These 220 thousand Portuguese-speaking citizens will be called by the Integration, Migration and Asylum Agency (AIMA).
Among the necessary documents is, according to the order published in the Official Gazette, the presentation of the criminal record from the country of origin at the time of renewal and replacement of residence permits that resulted from conversions of expressions of interest.
"Whenever a residence permit has been issued based on this model, now revoked, without the criminal record of the country of origin of its holder having been verified, this being a requirement for obtaining any residence permit, it is necessary to ensure its compliance", says the dispatch.
Leitão Amaro highlighted that these 220 thousand citizens are not included in the 440 thousand immigrants with pending processes when the SEF was extinguished and are being treated at AIMA.
“We are not talking about the 440,000 that AIMA is dealing with. We are talking about the 220,000 who came to Portugal, received a residence permit, but which was demonstrated by a paper, which did not allow them to circulate and did not have fundamental security controls for a country that is strict”, said the minister.
The minister stressed that this diploma puts an end to this precarious paper title, replacing it with “a residence card whose granting implies the collection of biometric data and verification of the necessary documents”.
“We were able to provide dignity and eliminate this negative discrimination. Provide greater security for the country and the process because we collect biometric data and check the documentation,” he highlighted.
The ruling also states that “this model, now abandoned, led to the Portuguese State being taken to court for alleged non-compliance with the provisions of Council Regulation (EC) No. 1030/2002 of 13 June 2002, which establishes a uniform format for residence permits for third-country nationals, with certain specifications that ensure and standardise the security and quality of residence permits in the European Union”.
In this regard, Leitão Amaro stated that this change has resolved “the European infringement process for non-compliance with European law” that Portugal was going through.
In this sense, the residence card uses the uniform model issued in accordance with the rules in force in the European Union.
Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Mozambique, São Tomé and Príncipe and East Timor are the countries that are part of the CPLP.
