New law gives automatic residence to Brazilians in Portugal: what is known?

On Tuesday (28), Portugal enacted Ordinance No. 97/2023, which approved “the model of the administrative residence permit”, also popularly known as the “automatic visa” for citizens of the Member States of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries, of which Brazil is part.

The text published in the Diário da República (equivalent to the Union’s Official Gazette in Brazil) alters the current Foreigners Law and reduces bureaucracy for immigrants – including Brazilians – to settle in the European country.

How? Brazilians can get a faster and cheaper residence permit for their first season in Portugal. Understand:

WHO WILL BE ABLE TO APPLY FOR RESIDENCY?

Foreigners currently in Portugal with a short-term or temporary stay visa or who have legally entered national territory can apply at the Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF) for a “CPLP Residence Permit”.

According to the rule, Brazilians who intend to go to Portugal will also go through a simplified process to obtain a residence permit, but the procedure for them has not yet been detailed.

WHAT WILL THE NEW ‘VISA’ LOOK LIKE?

The Portuguese government has already revealed the model of the authorization, which will be issued digitally, and has given some details:

• It will cost €15 (R$82.80);
• It will have a QR Code to facilitate its verification;
• It will have an initial validity of one year.

The SEF informed on February 17 that the implementation of the system for issuing the document “is planned for the coming weeks.

However, no details have been disclosed yet, such as, for example, what the issuing platform will be, what documents will be needed for the procedure, and what the deadline is for obtaining the authorization.

WHAT HAS CHANGED?

With authorization, citizens from Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Mozambique, São Tomé and Príncipe, and East Timor will decrease their expenses upon arrival and gain more time to get a job and settle down in Portuguese lands.

In addition, they will have access to social security, tax number, and health benefits.

Currently, there are other immigration models to the country, all more expensive and time-consuming than the CPLP Residence Permit.

These are work visas, job-seeker visas, digital nomad visas, and highly qualified professionals visas.

The issuance fee costs more than R$600 in all these strands, as UOL’s report in January revealed.

However, this was not the last hurdle for many migrants.

Visas to seek employment, for example, only last four to six months, and the foreigner needs to prove to have in his pocket about R$13,000 as a reserve to stay in the country.

Digital nomads, for example, have to prove a minimum income of around R$17,000 per month.

Modalities such as the visa for highly qualified professionals still require that the move to the country only happens through an invitation letter for a new job or a contract already signed, in addition to a qualification to exercise the profession in Portugal.

*With information from UOL