Five Portuguese vice-consulates in Brazil were recently elevated to the category of consulate. One of them, located in Recife, capital of Pernambuco, now has the status of consulate general, with more duties. “The reform of Portuguese consular posts, which has now been completed, has long been considered, but always postponed, aimed at strengthening the bilateral relationship with Brazil and, simultaneously, better serving the Portuguese and Brazilian communities”, explains, in a note, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MNE).
Now, the cities of Belém (PA), Curitiba (PR), Fortaleza (CE) and Porto Alegre (RS) also host Portuguese consulates. These posts were, until last week, vice-consulates, with less service capacity and autonomy. In addition to these changes, the MNE initiated internal procedures to speed up visa processing.
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Brazil is the country that issues the most visas to Portugal. The average is around 95 visas per dayand criticism for the delay in processes is common. Some requests can take more than nine months, which leads many Brazilians to give up on moving to Portugal.
The reform was led by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, headed by Paulo Rangel, and by the Secretary of State for Portuguese Communities, Emídio Sousa. The new secretary’s first official working visit was to Brazil, in July. At the time, Sousa stayed in the country for 11 days, visiting several consular posts.
amanda.lima@dn.pt