SEF investigates fraud in the residence permit for immigrants

• 23 August, 22

At least three parish councils in the municipality of Lisbon are in the investigation of SEF

Having a fixed address in Portugal is a mandatory requirement for foreigners to legalize their stay in the country. Now the Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF), facing several problems in terms of golden visas, has suspicions that there are at least three parish councils in the municipality of Lisbon involved in fraudulent schemes to obtain a residence permit for immigrants. The issue of several hundred true certificates of residence, but with false address data. Some are garages, stores or offices.

It is being investigated in a case about a network to help illegal immigration that uses facilitators, who, in exchange for money, provide immigrants with addresses and accompany them to services at the time of requesting the certificate of residence as witnesses that foreign citizens habitually reside at the presented address.

Portuguese citizens can request a certificate of residence through the Finance portal or via Social Security Direct, online and free of charge. But foreigners need to go to the parish council of the area of residence and, in these cases, the requirements vary depending on the place. In the Lisbon area, a physical document proving that the person lives at a certain address is almost always required. However, alternatively, this requirement can be replaced by the testimony of two people who live in the parish. From here, the illegal schemes can be of the most varied.

Cre: idealista