COVID-19 – Appointments, Schedules and Pending cases at SEF

COVID-19 – Management of appointments, schedules and pending cases at Immigration and Borders Services (SEF)

Automatic regularization of foreigners in Portugal

The Government, through Order No. 3863-B/2020, of 27 March, determined that foreign citizens who have made requests for regularization of their stay in Portugal, under the Immigration Law (in a generic way), are in a regular situation in Portugal, from March 18 – the day when the state of emergency was declared.

Which documents certify the legal residence?

• Applications submitted under Articles 88 (subordinated workers), 89 (self-employed workers), and 90-A (Golden Visa) of Law No. 23/2007 of July 4 (Immigration Law) through an Expression of Interest document or requests issued by the registration platforms used by SEF;
• In other situations of proceedings pending before the SEF, namely concessions or renewals of residence permits, either of the general regime or the exceptional regimes, using a document proving the scheduling at the SEF or a receipt proving that the application was made.

Note: The above-mentioned documents are considered valid for all public services, namely for obtaining the SNS’s user number, access to the National Health Service or other health care rights, access to social support benefits, signing of tenancy contracts, signing of employment contracts, opening of bank accounts and procurement of essential public services.

Scheduling and appointments at SEF

The scheduled appointments will be suspended and all the appointments that were scheduled up to 27 March 2020 will be rescheduled in chronological order, starting from 1^st of July 2020, guaranteeing equal treatment among foreign citizens.

Urgent Scheduling

Urgent scheduling is allowed by a decision of the Regional Directors of SEF that attests to these reasons, in the following situations:

1. Citizens who need to travel or who prove the urgent and unavoidable need to be absent from national territory, for imponderable and unavoidable reasons;
2. Citizens from whom necessary documents have been stolen or lost.

Note: For the urgent issue of passports, only requests in compelling cases of greater force or other duly proven emergencies will be considered by SEF.

Visits to SEF

In cases where SEF must guarantee assistance, by means of a scheduling request sent to the email address <gricrp.cc@sef.pt> or through the Contact Centre, the operation of the following network of SEF’s exclusive service stations or in other cases, in articulation with the managing entities, is ensured:

1. Algarve Regional Directorate;
2. Portimão Regional Delegation;
3. Regional Directorate of Azores;
4. Regional Directorate of Madeira;
5. Regional Delegation of Porto Santo;
6. Regional Directorate of Lisbon, Tagus Valley and Alentejo;
7. Regional Delegation of Setúbal;
8. Coimbra’s Loja do Cidadão;
9. Aveiro’s Loja do Cidadão;
10. Porto’s national Support Centre for the Integration of Migrants;
11. Asylum and Refugee Office.