Residence permits, visas and other documents for immigrants to live in Portugal will be considered valid until December 31 of this year, if expired. The measure was approved this Thursday (30) by the Council of Ministers.
The previous determination, published in February of this year , was scheduled to end today (30). The measure was created at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic and has been periodically extended. This is the fifth renewal of the decree.
According to the Council's statement, to be considered valid, it is necessary for the person to prove that he has already made a request for an appointment for the renewal. The document has not yet been published in the Diário da República (DRE), but does not need new approvals other than that of the Council.
The extension of the measure comes a few days after the government released the renewal of Residence Permits that expired between April 1st and June 30th . The release had a delay of almost three months, without justification from the Ministry of Internal Administration, responsible for authorizing the procedure.
According to the Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF), approximately 20,000 immigrants should benefit from automatic renewal. Since 2020, the process has been carried out through the SEF website, without the need to go in person to a branch of the agency, as was the case until then.