[ad_1]
The Portuguese authorities have announced that 27,080 citizens of the United Kingdom residing in Portugal have received residence permits by the end of February.
According to a joint statement issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Justice of Portugal, the majority of the residence permits, 91.4 per cent of them, were issued in the last four months, Portugal News explains
This means that from November 2022 until the end of February 2023, the authorities processed and issued a high number of residence permits for British citizens, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
Apart from sharing data on the number of residence permits issued to Brits, the Portuguese authorities also stressed that all those who have been issued the document had been notified last year to “schedule the collection of their biometric data”.
According to the Portuguese authorities, following the exit of the United Kingdom from the European Union, Portugal took several measures to ensure that all Brits and their family members who were residing in the country until December 31, 2020, could be able to undergo less strict rules.
Data show that after a pilot phase on the issuing of residence permits carried out by the Portuguese Foreigners and Borders Service in the Azores and Madeira, 95 per cent of the British citizens who filed an application in these areas were granted a residence permit.
As for the other regions, the number of unprocessed applications remained high due to the delays caused by the Coronavirus pandemic, and for this reason, the government decided to permit other public entities to issue and renew residence permits.
As soon as the government gave the right to other entities to issue and renew residence permits, the processing times got accelerated, and more Brits received their residence permits.
The government noted that there are currently 28 service stations that offer services to those wishing to renew and apply for a residence permit. The same stressed Algarve and other parts with a higher number of British citizens have more so-called service stations.
Just recently, SchengenVisaInfo.com reported that the majority of Brits residing in the EU do not plan to return to their home country.
A survey conducted by the Royal Society of Edinburgh with Tanja Bueltmann showed that 60.7 per cent of respondents said that they feel their rights in the EU/EEA and Switzerland are secure, and another 76.6 per cent said that they plan to continue living in the bloc permanently.
[ad_2]
Source link