"We maintain the political objective of having the legislative process concluded by the end of March. If the commitment was until the end of March, we have to wait until March 31 to be able to verify if the political objective is fulfilled or not," said the Minister of Internal Affairs in parliament.

PSD deputy André Coelho Lima maintained that the SEF only formally exists and "already has been extinguished since April 2021", while IL deputy Patrícia Gilvaz considered the situation "unsustainable" and BE deputy Pedro Filipe Soares said that this security force lives "in limbo".

As part of the restructuring of SEF, which was postponed until the creation of the APMA, the police powers will pass to the PSP, GNR and PJ, while the current attributions in administrative matters regarding foreign citizens will now be exercised by the APMA and the Institute of Registries and Notaries.

"We are in a very advanced process to meet the established goals and by the end of March we will have the legislative process closed", explained the Minister of Internal Administration.

José Luís Carneiro underlined that, in relation to police cooperation, the security forces and services "have all been working together since December under the police agreements".

According to the minister, SEF is working with the PJ with regard to combating illegal immigration and human trafficking, the PSP is with SEF at air borders, as had already happened in the summer.