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Hundreds of foreign investors are "stuck" in Portugal because they cannot extend their residence permits based on investment activity. According to the newspaper Público, holders of expired "golden visas" are not allowed to enter the country or leave Portugal.
Situation. The decision of the Service for Foreigners and Borders in Portugal (SEF) to freeze the process of granting a residence permit for investments at the beginning of 2022 put many holders of "golden visas" in a difficult position since they also stopped issuing appointments for the extension of a residence permit.
As a result, holders of expired residence permits are stuck in the country, as the document granting the right to free entry into the Schengen area has expired.
Numbers. According to the data provided by SEF to the newspaper, as of June 28, 2022, 1,256 applications for the extension of investment residence permits and 1,939 applications for family reunification were under consideration.
In the general flow of applications, there are cases when the validity of the residence permit expired two years ago, and applicants still do not know when they will be able to extend them.
What to expect? SEF states that it is working on solving technical issues related to the extension of the validity period of documents and simplifying the system of updating a residence permit. The Border Guard Service also announced that at the end of the year it plans to launch a new service platform for processing and extending permits for staying in the country.
Source: The Portugal News
Photo: Paulo Evangelista
