A total of 36,000 citizens living in Portugal will be able to hold the new post-Brexit residence cards by the end of this year. Such an announcement has been made by Portugal’s Minister of Internal Administration. “By 31 December, we really hope to have responded to these 36,000 Britons,” José Luís Carneiro pointed out during a visit to the United Kingdom citizens’ service desk at the Lisbon regional office of the Immigration and borders service (SEF).

According to a report provided by Portugal Resident, with two counters exclusively for British citizens, the new post in Portugal’s capital is the fifth to open in this country for the collection of biometric data, for the issue of the new residence permit, following the agreement of the United Kingdom’s exit from the EU. The report also emphasizes the fact that this phase of the process began in February in the autonomous regions of Madeira and the Azores and from July in the municipalities of Loule and Cascais, with two other posts set to open in October in Porto as well as Quarteira.

“We are fulfilling the commitments we have made, with a view to guaranteeing the rights, freedoms, and guarantees of Britons who seek our country as a country of residence, investment, and living,” the Minister pointed out in this regard. Authorities in Portugal announced that by September, there were nearly 36,000 registration applications since the end of 2020, during which period they were able to file for a new residence permit following the UK’s exit from the EU.

But, José Luís Carneiro has stressed that this document does not ensure the right to access to Portugal’s national health service, stressing that the services of the tax authority as well as the ministry of labor, solidarity and social security, nor the right of the movement within the borderless area of Schengen. “This service point aims to respond to that need,” he pointed out.

In addition, the Minister also stressed that a total of 13 more service points for citizens of the UK would open from next month, in an agreement with the Agency for Administrative Modernisation (AMA) and the Institute of Registration and Notary Affairs (IRN). The number of Britons living in Portugal is continuously increasing. A total of 42,071 Britons became Portuguese residents in 2021, securing the second largest nationality for another year, based on the data provided by Portugal’s Foreigners as well as Borders Services (SEF)