[Trending News] President of Portugal signs law that favors Brazilians and other citizens of CPLP

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The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, promulgated, on Tuesday (11/2), the law that allows citizens of the community of Portuguese-speaking countries (CPLP) to enter Portugal as tourists and ask for the country the title of residence. Law 23/XVI/1 will make life easier for Brazilians who want to emigrate to Portugal, making it no longer necessary to ask for work search visa – it will be enough to arrive in Portugal and, after getting the work, do the Request of residence authorization. But this will only be possible after government regulation.

The new law will bring two more important modifications. The first of these is that CPLP residence permit is no longer on an A4 sheet of paper and becomes a card, such as the other titles of residence, following the standards of the European Union. This will allow Brazilians and other CPLP citizens to travel to other European countries, as the paper document is not accepted in the Schengen space. Another change will be that authorization is no longer valid for only one year and goes to two years. They should benefit, only with the exchange of documents, more than 150 thousand people.

Once the law is enacted, the link to the request for residence authorization of those who have not seen on the page dedicated to the agency portal CPLP for integration, migrations and asylum (AIMA) should be opened. At this time, the site does not work and about the space dedicated to requests of residence appears on it the image of a lock.

For several lawyers consulted by the public Brazil, including Catarina Zuccaro and Tatiana Kazan, the law regulation still lacks. That is, it is necessary to define which documents are required to obtain the titles of residence, if they are the same requests in the past stage, how they will be delivered – whether only online or online and on paper – and what procedures and Where will be the delivery of documents and biometrics, besides the deadlines. It seems that the documentation process will be carried out at AIMA's mission centers.

Years of waiting

The approval of the law represents the end of a process that lasted over 22 years. The first official mention of a CPLP mobility agreement took place at the meeting of the international body held in Brasilia on August 1, 2002.

However, the agreement was only formalized on November 5, 2021, being ratified in March of the following year. The agreement stated that “mobility is one of the main means of strengthening bonds between people who are part of a community, and that, therefore, the mobility of citizens in the territories that compose it must be as free as possible.”

Repercussion

For Ana Paula Costa, the president of the Lisbon House of Brazil, the oldest association of immigrants in Portugal, the promulgation of the decree by the President of Portugal represents the recognition of a right. “We hope that people will be able to request the residence authorization, which is a right in the CPLP mobility agreement, and that overdue documents are quickly replaced. It is important to emphasize that, with the new law, Portugal is complying with the agreement, ”he says.

She considers that the new law comes to fill a gap in the legislation. “It will be very important for Brazilians living in Portugal, because, with the end of the manifestation of interest, unfortunately the possibility of regularization was over,” he adds.

Alexandra Gomide, president of the UAI Immigrant Association – Braga Support and Integration Union, it will be necessary for the Portuguese government to have reception strategies for immigrants. “In a context already complicated with immigration, I understand that this ease can overload essential public services, such as health, education and housing, if there is no proper planning. I also see that the integration of immigrants requires effective policies to avoid social and professional tensions, ”he says.

Alexandra defends the existence of barriers to immigration. “If Portugal needs the Brazilian immigrant, who clarifies which profile and for what and not only release the entrance,” he argues.