The constraints related to the issuance and renewal of Golden Visas at the Foreigners and Borders Service – SEF – have led foreign investors to sue the Portuguese State in court – namely the Ministry of Internal Administration (which oversees the SEF) – and to date have won about of two dozen cases.
According to information released by CNN Portugal, the SEF lost 18 cases and there are dozens of cases under review in the Portuguese courts.
What is at stake?
- Foreign investors in Portugal were forced to resort to the Portuguese courts to obtain, for example, an appointment at the SEF branches.
- Portuguese legislation provides for a period of 90 days for the granting of a Golden Visa, but in practice, some people wait around two years or more to receive the residence card.
Delays related to SEF appointments are not recent. The pandemic started this delay with foreign investors waiting more than 18 months to (finally) get an appointment. The result of this can be translate for the dozens of court cases. Furthermore, between January and June 2022, it was not possible to make any appointments on the online portal where all these processes are submitted – the ARI portal.
“This situation is unsustainable for investors and the State has failed to keep its word”, says Diogo Capela, partner at Lamares, Capela & Associados ( Home – Lamares, Capela & Associados (lamarescapela.pt). The lawyer adds that “there are investors who currently live in Portugal and who have been waiting for several months for their processes to be concluded so that they can travel, something that they are currently prevented from doing, either to the other countries of the European Union or to their countries of origin because in this case, they run the risk of being stopped at the border on their return to Portugal”.
For Lamares, Capela & Associados, in the words of Diogo Capela: “we are facing a very unfair situation when, it is known, that these investors can only file their cases after the completion of their investments in the order of hundreds of thousands of euros and what currently happens is that they have to wait much longer than anyone else interested in obtaining a residence permit in Portugal (for example, a pensioner who wants to live in the country)”.
It should be remembered that the Portuguese State created the Program so that it would last for 5 years, but in practice, with all these delays in granting Golden Visas and in renewals (which are only now automatic, similar to what happened already with other residence permits), instead of having that duration, it ends up lasting two or three years.
“In addition, this situation becomes more pernicious when we observe that the SEF fee table is updated annually and the values keep rising and the quality of the service keeps going down”, stresses Diogo Capela.
Currently, when an investor at the end of 5 years in the country, intends to obtain a permanent residence permit in Portugal as promised by the Portuguese State, in addition to the investment and any taxes that he has to pay due to its implementation, he will pay the SEF around 20,000 euros in fees, an average of 4,000 euros per year.
Mandatory scheduling at SEF
The face-to-face service at the SEF is mandatory for obtaining the Golden Visa and takes place after the process receives pre-approval by the SEF. At that moment, it becomes necessary to deliver the documentation that was gathered electronically, and the biometric data of foreign investors are collected for future issuance of the residence card.
After scheduling, the SEF makes a new analysis of the documents presented and only then issues the final approval decision.
With the scarcity of vacancies, the successive delays, the lack of availability for face-to-face appointments – even in the post-pandemic period – foreign investors whose applications met all legal requirements, resorted to the Portuguese courts and to date the Portuguese State has lost 18 cases (were unfavorable to the SEF), while still others are under analysis by the Portuguese Justice.
Lamares, Capela & Associados receives requests on a daily basis from clients in order to formalize judicial proceedings to condemn the SEF, and it is now inevitable to resort to the Courts to resolve a problem that has “dragged on” for so long, without it existing, on the part of the Government, any initiative to solve it in the short term.
This situation, in addition to tarnishing the reputation of the Portuguese State and the quality of institutions, does not fail to create in foreign citizens the sad image of a country that does not fulfill its promises.
“As a lawyer, I cannot help but be on the side of my clients in this situation that I consider to be totally unfair for investors and vexing for my country”, concludes Diogo Capela.
