"Based on the principles of equality, opportunity and availability, the Foreigners and Borders Service notified for scheduling, in just three months, about 30,000 foreign citizens holding expressions of interest since 2017", says SEF in a statement.

SEF explains that it has been developing this work in chronological order, taking into account the date of acceptance of the expression of interest and “taking care of the security verification mechanisms”.

The expression of interest, a formal request with SEF to obtain a residence permit, is made through the electronic platform Sistema Automático de Pre-Agendamento (SAPA), the automatic pre-scheduling system.

According to SEF, the processes concluded between August and October are related to immigrants who made the expressions of interest in 2017, 2018 and 2019.

The Aliens and Borders Service states that, with the end of the processes between 2017 and 2019, the notification to foreign citizens with expressions of interest for the month of January 2020 had begun started last week, representing a total of 7,300 citizens notified for scheduling.

SEF also states that “the notification for the remaining months of 2020 will follow”.

Author
TPN/Lusa