In 2018 the Portuguese government launched a new citizenship card for registered foreigners in Portugal, as part of the 'Simplex + 2018' programme. The aim was to streamline administration of all foreign citizens and reduce much of the country's bureaucracy. Instead of the current 'residency card', by the end of 2019, all foreign nationals living in Portugal were to have a valid Citizen's Card (Cartão do Cidadão).
Read our previous article regarding the launch of this Citizenship card HERE.
Unfortunately there have been issues, initially with the fact that the EU ID cards would have to conform to new standards containing biometric data and that all EU28 residents in Portugal were supposed to have to swap their paper/card residency for this new card by the end of the year. In addition to these issues causing delay in proceedings Covid has arrived, causing the implementation date to pushed back further.
It is though that SEF are keen not to have to do the job twice for Brits and having spoken to the British Embassy, they are as much in the dark as the rest of us about how and when all this will now take place.
However, as soon as the British Embassy are aware of the SEF plans there will be notofication on the offical government website.
We suggest, to keep up to date on this issue and others you subscribe for updates at: https://www.gov.uk/email-signup/?topic=/world/living-in-portugal, and visit https://www.gov.uk/guidance/living-in-europe
