Despite these numbers, the portal is registering access constraints, indicated the Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF), adding that, "due to the large turnout to the new CPLP portal, there has been a substantial increase in traffic on the SEF network".
Lusa tried several times to access the SEF website and failed, with the message "it was not possible to satisfy your request. Please try later".
The approximately 150,000 immigrants from the Member States of the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP) in Portugal with cases pending at the SEF can, as of this Monday, obtain a residence permit automatically through the 'CPLP portal', which It is available on the SEF and ePortugal.gov websites.
A joint statement from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Deputy Minister of Parliamentary Affairs says that "more than 6300 requests for residence permits were received in the first two hours of operation of the new portal that SEF makes available to citizens of the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP) with expressions of interest delivered by December 31, 2022".
The Government adds that, by midday on Monday, the SEF had already issued 561 documents with reference to the payment of residence permits received through the digital platforms accessible through the SEF.pt and ePortugal.gov.pt websites.
In addition to CPLP immigrants with processes pending at the SEF until December 2022, citizens with CPLP visas issued by Portuguese consulates after October 31, 2022 can also obtain a residence permit "fully automatically and 'online'".
According to the SEF, these residence permit concessions are "exclusively 'online', without the need for any other type of interaction with the service or physical travel to a service point".
However, in the case of minors involved in the legalization process, it is necessary to go "afterwards to a SEF service point".
The residence permit for CPLP immigrants will cost 15 euros and the availability of this document in an electronic format will take "as a rule 72 hours".
The residence permit under the CPLP mobility agreement is initially valid for one year, renewable for two successive periods of two years.
A SEF source told Lusa that CPLP immigrants with pending cases are mostly Brazilians who, between 2021 and 2022, filled out the expressions of interest on the electronic platform, the Automatic Pre-Scheduling System (SAPA) (application formalized with the SEF to obtain a residence permit).
In addition to Portugal, Cape Verde, Brazil, Timor-Leste, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, São Tomé and Príncipe, Angola and Mozambique are part of the CPLP.
