The largest social network of consumers in Portugal, found that, at the beginning of 2020, complaints registered against SEF tripled compared to the same period last year.


According to the statistical analysis of the Portal da Queixa team, between 1 January and 29 February 2020, 126 complaints were sent to the platform about SEF, while in the same period of 2019, only 50 complaints were received. The average of the data reveals that, in the analysed period, at least two complaints were made against the SEF per day.


In 2019, there were a total of 707 complaints, an increase of 128 percent compared to 2018 (total of 310 complaints).
The delay in the delivery of documents and problems with scheduling continue to be the main reasons for complaints, and both are related to the process of expression of interest by foreigners to settle in the country.


According to the data analysed, only in 2020, of the 119 registered complaints, 63 are related to the issue of the intention to regularise. In 2019, there were only six complaints related to the same topic.


For Pedro Lourenço, CEO of Portal da Queixa: “The phenomenon of increased complaints against SEF can be seen as natural, since the number of foreigners in Portugal has increased. However, it also reveals that the Complaint Portal is accessible and intuitive, being the platform sought by foreign citizens to expose their questions, share experiences and see complaints made by other people.”


The SEF page on the Complaint Portal reflects the dissatisfaction of consumers looking for the service, since it has a Satisfaction Index of only 12.5 out of 100 and, in the last 12 months, has a response rate of 10.8 percent and a solution rate of 11.2 percent.


“Inevitably, the lack of response from SEF to complaints generates a negative reputation for the service, even with the Complaint Portal offering all its features free of charge to public entities, in order to promote trust in public services. Institutions like IMT and IEFP already use the Complaint Portal in this way”, stresses Pedro Lourenço.


It should be noted that the Portal da Queixa implemented a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) project aimed at public management entities. The objective is to provide state agencies with free access to a set of services and special conditions through the platform, namely to improve the performance of bodies in managing complaints and communicating with consumers.