It has been impossible for a long time to get an appointment at the SEF | June 2023.
We know that it is necessary to make an appointment with the SEF in order to get a residence permit. As a rule, the only way to get this appointment is through the SEF call center (the number has recently changed). Therefore, the immigrant must call and ask for the respective appointment.
However, there are rarely any spots available. This is without considering the hours of waiting and numerous attempts to actually get through to the call center. Sometimes it is simply impossible to get through. Incredibly, there is no solution.
The call center is the only form of service for such cases. Therefore, not even lawyers can solve the issue. In other words, a lawyer would also have the same problems trying to get an appointment, i.e. he would spend hours trying to get an appointment and, finally, he would be told that there are no slots available.
The exception is for the expression of interest procedure, because the slots are informed by email. Besides, those who arrived in Portugal with a visa already have an automatic appointment to go to the SEF (in theory).
In short, the only solution is for the Portuguese government to invest in the structure responsible for attending to immigrants. It is necessary to invest in hiring staff and in the development of efficient systems to facilitate and speed up the procedures. Without investment, there is no solution. The demand has grown a lot and there hasn’t been a proportional investment.
We must remember that Portugal is receiving more and more immigrants. People from all over the world are immigrating to Portugal; and the demand only grows. Thousands of families arrive from countries like Brazil, India and China. Because they are populous countries, the tendency is to arrive more and more. As already said, the problem is the lack of Portuguese investment to meet the demand. This is because, if the country intends to receive immigrants, it must create the conditions for this.
Finally, we know that the SEF is in the process of extinction and the Agency for Integration, Migrations and Asylum (AIMA) is being created. Therefore, many changes are happening and the future is uncertain. The only option is to observe. Until now (June 2023), there are thousands of immigrants suffering the consequences of illegality, without residence permits and subject to marginalization and miserability.
Author: Adriano Martins Pinheiro, a lawyer in Portugal, writer and international consultant.
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