Luís Botelho Miguel requested the end of the “service commission as national director of the Foreigners and Borders Service”, a position he had held since December 2020, says the order signed by the Minister of Internal Administration, Francisca van Dunem.

The order, dated March 28, also indicates that the end of the service takes effect from next Wednesday.

Botelho Miguel, a retired lieutenant general, was appointed in December 2020 to replace Cristina Gatões, who left office following the death of a Ukrainian citizen at the SEF premises at Lisbon airport in March 2020.

When he took office, Botelho Miguel, who appointed by former Minister of Internal Administration Eduardo Cabrita, had as his main objective the extinction of SEF, which was postponed from January to May due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The law passed in parliament in November 2021 and establishing the extinction of SEF determines that the current administrative powers of SEF in relation to foreign citizens will be exercised by a new institution, the Portuguese Agency for Migrations and Asylum (APMA), and by the Institute of Registries and Notaries, in addition to transferring police powers to the PSP, GNR and the Judiciary Police.