With the end of SEF, on 29 October 2023, maritime and land border control skills passed to the Republican National Guard through the GNR Coastal and Border Control Unit.

In a response sent to Lusa, the GNR gives a “very positive” assessment and highlights the reinforcement made in the control and inspection actions of foreign citizens, with “special priority being given to the creation of conditions, in terms of human and material resources, to the new structure created within the Coastal and Border Control Unit".

According to security forces, the GNR inspected 2,819,284 passengers and crew and 43,286 vessels at maritime borders, mainly in the Lisbon cruise terminal and in the ports of Leixões and Funchal, where cruise ships have registered “significant increases in the number of passengers ”.

The corporation emphasises that it has “priority given to preventive and in-person action on vessels” through onboard control of passengers and crew and all restricted areas of ports, considered international zones, to regulate the presence of people in these areas.

The GNR also reports that it carried out 674 inspection operations to control 29,312 foreigners and 5,206 vehicles, mainly at the land border, which resulted in 12 arrests and 49 notifications for voluntary abandonment of national territory due to being irregular.

Last year, the Guard also notified 129 people to appear at the Integration, Migration and Asylum Agency (AIMA) to regularise the situation and issued 1,424 infraction notices, the vast majority of which were due to failure to declare entry.