The articles written by the PÚBLICO Brasil team are written in the variant of the Portuguese language used in Brazil.
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Family reunification of immigrants that include minors has become a priority for the Portuguese government. THE Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum (AIMA) informed PÚBLICO Brasil that the request for the reunification process involving children and young people up to 18 years of age must be made on the digital platform that deals with this issue. Minors must be proven to be in national territory on the date on which the request was or will be made.
This decision was taken in compliance with the objectives outlined in the Action Plan for Migration, approved last June by the Council of Ministers of Portugal. AIMA explains that applicants do not need to make any telephone contact to schedule an appointment. Everything will be done automatically, in chronological order, based on registration on the existing platform. The agency emphasizes that, for greater speed in the analysis and decision-making process, it is essential to have all the necessary information and documents inserted into the platform up to date, so that the instruction can be carried out correctly.
“Using updated and more efficient computer systems is the best way to unlock the 400 thousand processes of immigrants being processed at AIMA. Investment in technology by the Portuguese State, outsourcing of services and issuing reunification visas in the immigrants’ country of origin are fundamental”, says lawyer Fábio Knauer, from Aliança Portuguesa.
In his assessment, in the case of Brazilians, who were clearly elected as preferred immigrants by the Portuguese Government, the residence permit for the family group should be issued from Brazil. “If we have a wave of people seeking visas, those for family members could already be resolved in Brazil, avoiding getting into this big current pie”, he states.
Appointments
The lawyer explains that those who emigrate to Portugal looking for work have around four months to find work. When they get a job and meet all the requirements, they acquire a residence permit. “It is in this second moment that the problems are happening. The immigrant already has a job and is unable to bring his family”, he points out.
The service only works by appointment, explains Knauer. “If it were allowed to serve some people without an appointment, the queues would be shorter. It is often found that there are staff and times available for service at AIMA. The best option would be to hire companies to carry out the analysis, deal with the bureaucracy and provide explanations about the procedure. The final decision, of course, would be made by someone within the government structure. It is a very serious decision to grant a residence permit”, he says.
For Fábio Knauer, if some people were allowed to serve the counters without an appointment, the queues would be reduced
Personal file
Another point he highlighted is the lack of advanced technological services. “Technology is very advanced in the world, and it is there to help us. A new platform has been launched this week by the Institute of Records and Notaries (IRN) to monitor citizenship applications, but with numerous flaws. Some people received orders with new requirements. Others, that the analysis was completed and the request approved. In the meantime, they changed the system that showed the progress of orders. There were seven balls and they became four. Whoever was on ball four is now on ball two. None of this was explained clearly. The old system, in my opinion, had many redundancies. Some bulletins seemed to deal with the same subject”, emphasizes Knauer.
The current concentration of cases in hubs such as Lisbon and Porto is another criticism of the lawyer. For him, there should be a distribution of processes across the country. Which would alleviate service in large centers. “They should use Cidadão stores for this service. The Citizen’s store could have an AIMA station”, revenue. Another aspect that does not seem to be being observed is the emotional issue of the immigrant.
“The person planned to spend four months away from their family and stays for a year, because they cannot obtain a residence permit and, automatically, cannot bring their wives and minor children. The cost of living and the distance from family can generate loneliness and depression ”, he highlights.
Long wait
Portugal’s delay in resolving these obstacles is directly reflected in the economic issue, in Knauer’s opinion. “People have the possibility of conquering and moving the economy and generating jobs, and they are being held back by not being able to obtain a document. At the end of the day, this document will stay in your wallet or drawer”, he adds.
He is emphatic: “The immigrant wants to be served because he has a life. He cannot wait a year. He cannot wait six months. He cannot wait two years. The loser is Portugal. The Portuguese economy stops moving money without these 400 thousand people who cannot buy, sell, negotiate and undertake”.
Currently, in Knauer’s office alone there are more than 250 people in Portugal waiting for residence authorization, 120 in the AIMA queue waiting for regrouping and more than 400 in Brazil in the process of applying for visas. “It’s a very large contingent”, he concludes.
