Experts advise those who have received messages from the migration agency but have not moved forward to quickly resume the process to obtain a residence permit in Portugal.
Those who missed the deadline set by the Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum (AIMA) to regularize documents in Portugal may have a second chance, believe expert. In their understanding, the Government is willing to make a second call among those who did not appear at the agency's offices on the scheduled days, did not present the appropriate documents or did not pay the fees stipulated by law. “This became clear to me when AIMA announced that it would give another chance to the 108,000 immigrants who were rejected in the first phase of evaluation of the approximately 450,000 pending applications,” says Fábio Knauer, CEO of Aliança Portuguesa.
The guidance in these cases, says Knauer, is that immigrants who really want to have a residence permit in Portugal should seek out one of the 20 service centers set up by AIMA to introduce themselves and find out what needs to be done. “In these centers, no matter how chaotic they are, there is always someone willing to help. There are those who understand the shortcomings of the process and seek to help those who have doubts,” he says. “But it is crucial that people are in Portugal to resume the process, so that they do not miss another opportunity,” he adds.
According to lawyer Catarina Zuccaro, people who received the message from AIMA summoning them to appear at one of its posts must click on the indicated location to insert the requested documents and pay the amount specified in the Single Collection Document (DUC). “Once this is done, within two days, people will receive a message back with a call to one of the call centers. This speed is explained by AIMA's need to overcome the first phase of the process of resolving pending issues, delivering documents, checking them and collecting biometrics”, he highlights.
In the second phase, which is very slow, lawyers and attorneys hired by AIMA review all the processes. The obstacle occurs because the Government has hired only 100 of the 300 professionals promised. Each of them can, at most, evaluate 200 cases per month. “There are too few people for so many processes. Therefore, there has been a delay in issuing residence cards for those who were assisted in September and October last year”, highlights Catarina. “AIMA has been cleaning up the processes, but the cleaning stops halfway,” he adds.
Employment contract
Lawyer Larissa Belo highlights that one document is vital when asking AIMA for a second chance: the employment contract. “Without this, there is no way for the process to move forward,” he emphasizes. She says that, during the period of expressions of interest, which were terminated in June last year, many immigrants inserted blank pages in the files sent to AIMA to save time. When they were called, they presented the royal documents. “This is the reason why AIMA is once again demanding the presentation of documents. It’s a way of correcting past mistakes and ensuring that everything is correct,” he says.
For Larissa, it is possible that this second chance will be given by AIMA by May. From then on, everyone who failed to comply with what was requested will be left out for good. “AIMA is trying to resolve as many processes as possible”, he reinforces. There is information that people returned, for example, to Brazil and, months later, received the email from the agency. “These people can still obtain a residence permit. But it is essential that you return to Portugal quickly, as time is running out,” he advises.
Citizens of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP) who will try for a second chance with AIMA will have to pay a fee of 56.80 euros (R$ 364). The other immigrants must each pay R$398.80 (R$2,553). It is worth mentioning that the migration agency reopened the processes involving Golden Visas, for investors who allocated at least 500 thousand euros (R$ 3.2 million) to Portugal.
Many of them have had their residency applications stuck for two years. To serve them, starting January 15, AIMA created a specific website so that they can insert documents and pay fees. They will be able to decide when and where they want to be seen for biometric collection. Golden Visa holders will have to pay 605.10 (R$ 3,873) to receive documents from the agency and 6,045.20 euros (R$ 38,700) for a residence permit.