Those summoned by appointment appear at the service points without the necessary documents. Some immigrants do not even bring their passports. Many try to hire lawyers at the last minute.
The task force (mission structure) of the Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum (AIMA) reached, in early November, the capacity to serve 4 thousand immigrants per day, with the opening of 20 posts spread throughout Portugal. However, the agency is unable to complete this number of processes. The responsibility does not lie with AIMA, but with the immigrants. In addition to those who fail to attend appointments, which has already led the immigration agency to issue a statement on the matter, many people show up at the oces without the necessary documents, which must be entered into the system to complete the regularization process that will result in the long-awaited residence permit in Portugal. The documents most often missing are criminal record certicates and proof of address. However, some people even show up at AIMA centers without their passports. If documents are missing, the regularization process is stalled and may be rejected. According to lawyer Tatiana Kazan, Brazilians are not the majority of these cases. “This happens mainly with Asian immigrants. They look for a lawyer or a solicitor at the last minute of the appointment to obtain the documents, but this takes time,” she says.
She says that this is a recurring situation. “On Tuesday (11/19), I attended to a person who did not have a criminal record certicate. For Brazilians, it is faster, but in other countries it can take weeks,” adds Tatiana. Unlawful prosecution The lawyer believes that immigrants are often victims of people who commit the crime of illicit representation, that is, who act as if they were lawyers without being qualied to do so.
“Several of these cases involve people who receive 50 euros (R$306) to upload the Expression of Interest documents, but do not provide the login or password or even disappear with the immigrant's money,” she says. Tatiana says that immigrants often end up hiring a lawyer one or two days before the date they have to appear at an AIMA oce or even on the day of the appointment. The problem is that professionals can't do much if documents are missing. She recommends that immigrants don't wait for the appointment to be conrmed to obtain the documents. "The ideal would be to start preparing the necessary documentation on the day the Expression of Interest was made," she notes.
The lack of documents can be a hindrance even for those who have gone to court and led a lawsuit against AIMA. If the judge decides that an appointment is necessary, this will not help legalization if the immigrant does not have the necessary documents. “The process will not move forward and the residence permit may be rejected,” he notes. For Tatiana, showing up for an appointment without documents reveals the attitude of the person seeking residency. “I think that, in this person’s case, immigration is not taken seriously,” she says. When asked by media, AIMA did not respond about the percentage of processes that are not completed because immigrants appear at service points without the necessary documents, nor about the average number of daily cases.