According to the Lusa News Agency, the SEF stated that in the past three weeks, the SEF has cooperated with the British Embassy in Lisbon to propose an agreement through the new Brexit portal launched by the SEF on December 14 regarding 18,000 requests by UK citizens for residence permits.
According to SEF, a new card with a residence permit for British citizens will be issued soon, and the resident status will be confirmed in accordance with the withdrawal agreement between the European Union and the United Kingdom, thus ensuring the protection of rights.
“Before the card is issued, after submitting the registration form on the new portal, British nationals can download the proof of the request in digital format-supporting documents with a “QR Code”-which can be used while traveling as a proof SEF clarified : “Their residence in Portugal”.
From January 2021, SEF began to notify British nationals to arrange visits to service points in one of the country’s 20 selected city halls to collect biometric data, which will be included in the new residency.
SEF recalled that the current EU residence permit will continue to be “accepted before a new residence permit is issued”. According to data from the 2019 Border Immigration and Asylum Report, there are 34,358 British nationals living in Portugal.