Expiration date of the identification documents and documents related to permanence of foreign citizens on national territory

With the emergence of the Sars-Cov-2 pandemic that globally affected all countries, it was necessary and urgent to promote measures and norms that could respond to the constraints and difficulties that immediately began to arise in most sectors of activity in the country, as well as in all public and private services. Unable to secure their services with the usual diligence.

In order to respond to this situation, since March 20, 2020, the Presidency of the Council of Ministers decided, through several Decree-Laws and Dispatches, to change the legal regimes that until that date were mandatory, as well as the creation of legal solutions that could provide answers to the crisis that continues to affect us, respectively with regard to public procurement and its procedures, medical documents, acquisition of services, school activities, access to establishments, legal and administrative deadlines, among several other matters.

Entry, stay, departure and removal of foreign citizens from national territory regime was one of the regimes that suffered substantial changes regarding expiration dates of legal documents that are required for the purpose of permanency of foreign citizens in national territory.

For this motive, inside that scope, we should contemplate the following laws:

1. Decree-Law number 10-A/2020- Came to rule, in its number 2 of article 16, the extension of validity term of identification documents and certificates issued by the services of civil identification, as well as documents concerning permanency in national territory that have expiration dates from 9^th March 2020, until 30^th June 2020.
2. Decree-Law number 20/2020- Came to alter the previous Decree-Law number 10-A/2020, extending the expiration date, with the addition of a number 3 on article 16, defining now that the same documents are still valid after 30^th June 2020 if the holder has proven the scheduling of the request for renovation.
3. Decree-Law number 22/2020- This too came to alter Decree-Law number 10-A/2020, establishing that identification documents and certificates issued by the services of civil identification, as well as documents concerning permanency in national territory that have expiration dates from 9^th March 2020 or 15 days immediately prior would be accepted until 30^th October 2020 and after that if the holder has proven the scheduling of the request for renovation.
4. Decree-Law number 87-A/2020- New alteration on Decree-Law number 10-A/2020 establishing that identification documents and certificates issued by the services of civil identification, as well as documents concerning permanency in national territory that have expiration dates from 9^th March 2020 or 15 days immediately prior would be accepted until 31 March 2021 and after that if the holder has proven the scheduling of the request for renovation.
5. Decree-Law number 22-A/2021- New alteration on Decree-Law number 10-A/2020 establishing that identification documents and certificates issued by the services of civil identification, as well as documents concerning permanency in national territory that have expiration dates from 9^th March 2020 or 15 days immediately prior would be accepted until 31 December 2021 and after that if the holder has proven the scheduling of the request for renovation.
6. Decree-Law number 119-A/2021– This one come to establish the last extension of the term of the referred documents, defining that identification documents and certificates issued by the services of civil identification, as well as documents concerning permanency in national territory that have expiration dates from 9^th March 2020 are valid until 31 March 2022 and after that if the holder has proven the scheduling of the request for renovation.

Regarding that, since now is ruling Decree-Law number 119-A/2021, the extension of the terms of the identification documents and certificates issued by the services of civil identification, as well as documents concerning permanency in national territory is only on 31 March 2022.

In all cases, the same documents are still valid after the term date, 31 March 2022, if the holder has proven the scheduling of the request for renovation.

Considering this last option, the request for renovation can be done at SEF online platform, it is personal delivered, with the form signed by the claimant or by his legal representative, in case of minors or incapables and can be delivered in any SEF delegation.