The Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF) said that the portal made it possible to grant more than 113,000 residence permits to CPLP citizens in about two months, with Brazilians representing almost 83% of new immigrants regularised in Portugal.

The platform for obtaining a residence permit in Portugal for CPLP citizens came into operation on March 13 and is aimed at Portuguese-speaking immigrants with pending processes at the SEF until December 31, 2022, and for those who have a CPLP visa issued by consulates Portuguese after October 31, 2022.

SEF reports that, since March 13, it has received more than 131,000 requests for the attribution of residence permit certificates by CPLP citizens.

According to SEF, Brazilian nationals represent, so far, 86.8% of CPLP residence permit applications, followed by citizens of Angola, with 5.5%, and São Tomé and Príncipe, with 4.3%.

According to the SEF, these residence permits are automatic and “exclusively 'online', without the need for any other type of interaction with the service or physical travel to a service point”.

However, in the case of minors involved in the legalization process, it is necessary to go “afterwards to a SEF service point”.

The residence permit for CPLP immigrants costs 15 euros and the availability of this document in an electronic format generally takes 72 hours.

In addition to Portugal, the CPLP includes Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Mozambique, São Tomé and Príncipe and East Timor.