Barred from boarding
The articles by the PÚBLICO Brasil team are written in the variant of the Portuguese language used in Brazil.
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Anyone who has been to Sardinia knows that the following lines are no exaggeration. The beaches blend hues ranging from petrol blue to aquamarine and even emerald green. The fine, soft white sand completes the picture of a paradise with crystal-clear, sometimes almost warm, waters. It's a shame that the trip, initially planned for three, could only be enjoyed by two. My seventeen-year-old son was unable to travel because his residence permit expired in May of this year.
And why did I try to travel with it anyway? First, because the ticket was already purchased before I went through all the hassle of renewing the document. Second, because I trusted the airlines' good sense. It's important to note that, according to Decree-Law 85-B/2025 , issued on June 30 of this year by the Luís Montenegro government, the expired residence permit is valid in Portugal until October 15.
My son's passport was renewed this year here in Portugal, and his domicile certificate was updated through the Tax Portal. I also brought a document from the school proving his enrollment, and we had round-trip tickets purchased, but none of that was enough. When boarding, a Vueling employee stopped him from entering.
A dilemma arose, and decisions had to be made minutes before missing the flight. My son almost kissed the flight attendant, because all most teenagers want is to be home without their parents, preferably with friends. But I was devastated, and I boarded with a heavy heart.
I quickly called some friends and the mother of a classmate of his to ask for support during my absence, and I had to trust that he would handle the challenge of being “responsible” for the house for nine days.
The ironic thing about this story is that the same airline that prevented my son from boarding in Lisbon didn't ask for my residency permit to board the flight to Olbia, Sardinia, in Barcelona. I boarded with just my passport. The same thing happened with two other airlines on the return flights to Portugal.
Obviously, my trip wouldn't have been as smooth if my son had been with me, and my dissatisfaction remains. Besides losing a round-trip ticket to Italy, my biggest annoyance was being prevented from traveling for reasons I didn't cause—quite the opposite.
Since the beginning of the year, I've been trying to schedule an appointment to renew my document, but all emails sent to the IRN (Institute of Registries and Notaries), which until recently handled renewals, have gone unanswered. And the AIMA (Agency for Integration, Migration, and Asylum) , which recently took over the service, only informed me that I should wait for contact from the office in my place of residence to renew the authorization.
And in the meantime? Can't people whose title expires leave Portugal? Can't they travel to visit family in another country? Do they have to stay in Portugal and wait for a call that, who knows when, will come?
It's not fair, much less legal. It's unacceptable that, in addition to failing to meet the demands of new immigrants, the legalization service has allowed those who were in good standing under the country's rules to fall into irregularity.
I'm still trying to schedule the appointment and waiting to be called.
October 15th, the deadline for expired residence permits, is fast approaching. Will I have been able to renew my permit by then? If not, what will be the solution? Will I remain illegal? Or will they extend the deadlines once again? What about our right to come and go? Does anyone remember that?
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