Denmark
Fees charged for residence cards under EU Association Agreement with Turkey can be refunded
The Danish Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (SIRI) and the Danish Immigration Service have notified interested parties that they have adjusted their practice so that no fee is charged for issuing replacement residence cards to economically active Turkish nationals covered by the Association Agreement framework and their family members.
This follows the decision of the Ministry of Immigration and Integration, communicated to these agencies on 4 April 2024, that fees cannot be charged for issuing replacement residence cards to economically active Turkish nationals covered by the EU Association Agreement with Türkiye and their family members, as this is considered to be contrary to Denmark’s obligations under EU law.
In cases where a fee has been paid for issuing a replacement residence card before the adjusted practice took effect, the applicant may be entitled to a refund. This applies to cases where the fee was charged between 4 April 2021 and 4 April 2024. Cases before 4 April 2021 are not eligible for a refund due to the limitation period.
Those who may be entitled to a refund of a fee paid for a replacement residence card can submit a request to have the case reopened by the Danish Immigration Service or SIRI.
Applications processed by the Danish Immigration Service
If the application for a replacement residence card case was processed by the Danish Immigration Service, those who wish to request a reopening of their case must submit the following information:
- The personal ID;
- The case number from your original application;
- Documentation proving that they were economically active at the time of applying for the replacement residence card, such as for example payslips.
Applications processed by SIRI
If the application for a replacement residence card was processed by SIRI, those who wish to request a reopening of their case must submit the following information:
- The personal ID;
- The case number from your original application.
Those who do not hold a residence permit based on a work scheme or as an accompanying family member under a work scheme must provide documentation proving that they were economically active at the time of applying for the replacement residence card. To expedite case processing, they may submit such documentation, for example in the form of payslips.
Portugal
President signs new law for nationals of Portuguese-speaking countries
On 11 February 2025, the government announced that the President has signed the decree amending Law No.º 23/2007, of 4 July, approving the legal regime for the entry, stay, leaving and removal of foreigners from the national territory, implementing in the internal legal system Regulation (EU) 2017/2226 of the European Parliament and of the Council, of 30 November 2017, and modifying the time validity of residence permits to citizens of Member States of the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (CPLP).
The law creates a new visa regime for citizens of the CPLP, under which:
- residence permits will be issued in card format, and existing paper permits will be replaced with cards;
- The validity of residence permits will be extended from one year to two years;
- Residence permit applications can be submitted from within Portugal by applicants holding a short-stay visa (a work visa is no longer required).
The new rules will have to be implemented via new visa regulations.
