VFS global pledges to assist Portugal in addressing its visa backlog

Lisbon: VFS Global has vowed to help Portugal resolve its visa backlog. The company’s announcement came following delays in processing work visa applications in particular for Brazilians in Portugal.

The processing of work visa applications for Brazilians in Portugal sometimes exceeds 200 days.

The outsourcing and technology company for governments and diplomatic missions, VFS Global has vowed to help resolve the visa backlog concerning Brazilians in Portugal “as quickly as possible”.

The company that is assisting Portuguese consulates made this announcement after some local media in Portugal reported that delays in processing work visa applications for Brazilians in Portugal sometimes surpass 200 days, Schengen.News reports.

VFS Global told Publico that it has intensified its efforts to resolve the backlog, in spite of the fact that responsibility for a final response rests with the Portuguese representation.

Ricardo Cardoso told Publico that he has been waiting for a work visa in Portugal for a total of 202 days. Cardoso said that the request was made through the Portuguese consulate in Salvador.

I haven’t worked since August, because the expected date (for the visa to be issued) was the first half of that month. In addition to the financial loss, there is also the emotional one.

Earlier this month, the Minister of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, António Leitão Amaro, said that Portugal aims to grant work visas to immigrants in less than a month.

The Minister’s comments came following reports of long delays in obtaining a work visa in Portugal.

Extended delays related to visa issuance by Portuguese embassies and consulates have significantly increased following the termination of the Expression of Interest program in June last year, which allowed all persons to enter the country as tourists and then apply to work legally in Portugal.

In this regard, the lawyer, Elizabeth Lima, who works in immigration told Politico that the proposal of the Portuguese’s government to issue work visas in less than a month is unrealistic.

Today, it takes months to get a visa. Just 50 more employees in the various consulates will not solve the problems. Portugal has many consulates.

Lima considered that there are not enough resources that would allow authorities in Portugal to achieve this goal of issuing visas in such a short period of time.

In spite of the extended waiting times for those interested to obtain a visa in Portugal, in particular for work purposes, the country needs a significant number of foreign workers to maintain its economy.

A study introduced by the General Union of Workers (UGT) revealed that due to the low number of births and the ageing population, Portugal will need between 50,000 and 100,000 foreign workers yearly.