Through “family reunification”, citizens with a valid residence permit in Portugal are entitled to have their family members come and live in Portugal, provided they meet the requirements of Law n.º 23/2007, of 4 July.
The request for family reunification is formulated by appointment for in-person submission of the required documents and collection of the family member’s biometric data at a Service Station of the Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF).
Since October 14, 2022, the SEF has not opened any appointments for family members of residents in Portugal, so, since then, there is no possibility for immigrants to apply for family reunification.
According to the official SEF page on the social media “Facebook”, last year, the organ made available almost 38 thousand vacancies for the modality, being: 9,577 in the month of February; 13,005 in the month of May; and 15,184 in the month of October.
Since then, several family members of the residence permit holders have been residing in the country without regularization and the immigrants continue to wait for new appointments, without any forecast of opening by SEF.
Nationality Department
Ana Santos Fontes | Maria Moura Fonseca | Ana Luíza Fronczak
