British nationals residing in Portugal They’re unable to entry healthcare, change jobs or journey in and in another country after his ministers did not difficulty them post-Brexit residency playing cards, it has emerged.
The UK authorities has raised the problem at ministerial stage and urged Portugal to completely implement the withdrawal settlement and shield the rights of the 34,500 Britons who beforehand made the nation their residence. Brexit.
Individuals have been left stranded at airports, paying to deal with damaged bones or danger shedding their jobs due to delays in getting a biometric card that’s important to on a regular basis life and proves their authorized standing.
beneath UK-EU Withdrawal Agreement, British residents in Portugal had been assured that their social and employment rights could be protected. Nonetheless, the Portuguese authorities has not but issued biometric residence playing cards, as a substitute issuing a brief doc and QR code, which the British say just isn’t acknowledged domestically or at worldwide borders.
James Campbell, a pc programmer, mentioned: “I really feel extra like an unlawful immigrant in the meanwhile.” He listed 25 issues that had occurred to him due to a scarcity of documentation, together with a £four,000 non-public hospital invoice for a damaged limb as a result of he couldn’t entry state healthcare.
A British-South African couple residing exterior Lisbon have informed how they had been stopped at Frankfurt Airport with out the proper EU residency documentation and are actually dealing with felony costs of breaching immigration legal guidelines, in addition to a virtually €four,000 invoice (£three,375) for brand new flights again to Portugal.
The husband, who didn’t need to be named due to ongoing authorized motion, mentioned: “We had been in transit and after we had been going to the gate to Seychelles they pulled us apart and requested for our residency papers. We had been informed that what we had was not sufficient. We supplied to indicate them utility payments, tax payments, to show that we had been resident in Portugal, however he did not pay attention. His solely concern was that ‘you’re in Germany illegally’. He went on to say that it does not matter what the Portuguese authorities tells you.”
He mentioned it was “virtually felony” what had occurred to him and his spouse, including that people shouldn’t flip to the media to resolve a government-created drawback. He was informed he risked arrest in the event that they returned by way of Germany, so they’d to surrender their authentic tickets and purchase new flights to Lisbon by way of London.
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Tig James, who heads the British marketing campaign group in Portugal, mentioned round 41,000 British nationals had been affected and she or he has spent the previous three years “shouting from the rooftops” about the issue – however no person is listening. She blames the Portuguese immigration and border service, SEF.
“The SEF willfully, intentionally and systematically fails to stick to the withdrawal settlement, ensuing within the bodily, emotional and monetary struggling of hundreds of UK nationals residing in Portugal,” she mentioned.
James has compiled a six-page report outlining the influence of the state of affairs dealing with British nationals in Portugal and had deliberate to current it in particular person to the European Fee in September, however says he is not going to go as a result of he fears he will probably be arrested within the border.
The UK authorities mentioned it had raised the problem at ministerial stage and thru its embassy in Portugal on a number of events. He additionally formally raised it in June to the UK-EU specialist committee on residents’ rights, the physique tasked with guaranteeing the settlement is applied.
“We proceed to name on the Portuguese authorities to finish the method of issuing biometric residence playing cards to UK nationals legally residing in Portugal with out additional delay,” a UK authorities spokesman mentioned in a press release . “Portugal should instantly and totally implement the commitments of the withdrawal settlement it signed in 2018, in order that UK residents have the safety they want.”
Alex Braithwaite, an easyJet pilot primarily based in Portugal, mentioned he was prone to shedding his job due to a scarcity of documentation and needed to get assist from the British embassy to show he was eligible to work within the nation for the airline. He has additionally been unable to register together with his native GP or trade his German driving license for an area one.
The SEF mentioned in a press release: “The present residence paperwork of British nationals residing in Portugal proceed to be accepted, even after the top of the transition interval (31 December 2020) and till a brand new residence card is issued.
“The trade of the present residence doc (both an EU registration certificates issued by the municipality, or an EU everlasting residence certificates issued by the SEF) was carried out by the Brexit portal (brexit.sef.pt), which allowed British residents to use on-line to trade the doc.
“Till then, the certificates with the QR code, which may be downloaded from the portal, continues to be an official residence doc for these underneath the withdrawal settlement. It’s legitimate till the brand new card is issued. As well as, legitimate EU residence paperwork proceed to be accepted for journey functions till the brand new card is issued.”
A European Fee official mentioned he had been assured by Portugal that the delay in issuing bodily residence playing cards doesn’t have any “structural influence” on British nationals or their proper to entry social and well being providers.
The official mentioned he continues to watch the state of affairs. It was additionally reported that the brand new legal guidelines had been to develop the variety of state our bodies allowed to difficulty these playing cards.
