Portuguese bureaucracy…

Mmmm… life isn’t always a bed of roses here in Portugal. Well, not for some people, anyway.

To be honest, in my various dealings with Portuguese bureaucracy, as I’ve written before, I’ve found it all to be rather efficient. Sadly, this is not the case for everyone.

A friend of mine lost his residency card (his Residençia) a couple of years back. Or to be more exact, it was actually stolen when he was mugged in Olhão. As I said, life isn’t aways a bed of roses here in Portugal.

He reported it to the police at the time, as well as to SEF, the immigration people. Indeed, he also received paperwork acknowledging this fact. However, subsequently, he never received a replacement card, despite being promised an appointment to sort everything out at some undefined date in the future.

Unfortunately, this was around the time that SEF became AIMA, and we all know what has happened since then. Chaos for residents attempting to renew their Residençias, let alone residents replacing lost cards. He chased it for a while, but eventually gave up. He knew that he remained a legal resident despite not having his card.

It wasn’t a great state of affairs, but he never really needs to show his card anyway, since he rarely, if ever, leaves the country. So, he decided to leave things until his stolen card runs out – in November, 2027.

Unfortunately, things never quite work out as expected.

A couple of months ago, whilst driving his car, he was stopped by the GNR for a routine document check. Surprisingly, his lack of a residency card wasn’t a problem. But even more surprisingly, the fact that his driving licence had expired was – one month before. It was sod’s law, as they say. He accepts the blame, obviously. It was his fault. He should have been more aware; he should have noticed. Now it was just something else to sort out.

So, with a €120 fine, and his out-of-date card confiscated, he was told that he needed to go to IMT for a replacement driving licence. After spending more money (on a medical), he arrived at IMT only to be told that they wouldn’t replace his card without proof of residency. Wouldn’t you just know it?

And so, the saga continued.

The next day he went to AIMA at 07:30am to try and sort his residency card once more. Unfortunately, there were already thirty-one people in the queue waiting for the twenty available appointments. Bollocks.

He tried again a couple of days later, this time arriving at 06:30am. On this occasion, he was fifteenth in the queue – woohoo! And was then told that there were only five appointments available that day. Bloody hell…

At this point, I think it fair to say that he was getting rather frustrated. So, he decided to ask a lawyer for help, and amazingly managed to secure an appointment with AIMA in Portimão for this coming July.

In the meantime, he was told that confirmation of the appointment, together with all his supporting documents, would be sufficient to renew his driving licence.

If only life were that easy.

The next day, he returned to IMT once again. He had copies of his Residençia and driving licence, he had the police report concerning the theft, he had notification of his appointment with AIMA, he had every bit of paper under the sun… accept one. He didn’t have the piece of paper that you receive when you actually attend the AIMA appointment – obviously, he didn’t have this, since his appointment isn’t until July. And apparently, without this bit of paper, you have no proof that you are a resident according to IMT’s internal procedures, despite having a police report and copies of his cards…

Sometimes you just have to laugh – or cry…

He argued his corner. The lady even went upstairs to discuss with management – but no, without that bit of paper (or your actual residency card), you cannot renew or replace your driving licence.

He went back to the lawyer, but apparently, there was nothing further he could do. The system here works as follows: as soon as you report anything stolen, it gets cancelled. This means that his residency card was cancelled, which, obviously, in turn means that he is unable to replace his expired driving licence.

So, what are his options now?

Stop driving until July? This really isn’t practical since he lives in the middle of nowhere, and to be honest, the way the system works here, there’s no guarantee that July will sort matters.

Drive and pay €120 every time he gets stopped for not having a licence? That’s the road to ruin, methinks.

I think that that if Kafka were alive now, he could well be basing his literature on this prime example of Portuguese bureaucracy.

So, my friend’s plan of action is as follows: if he gets stopped again, he will not pay the fine on the spot. He will not pay the fine subsequently either. He will show the documentation that he does have, and demand a court case to show how ludicrous the system is. And if that fails? He may very well simply leave the country and look for a life elsewhere, a life that is a little less complicated. This is how life-changing one simple mistake or oversight can be.

So, how does this make you think? Are you now reconsidering carrying your driving licence and Residençia with you everywhere you go? What if you lose your wallet or purse? What if you get mugged?

Apparently, if you’re an immigrant with a foreign passport, you should carry that passport with you at all times. And if you have a car, you should carry all pertinent documentation with you – registration, insurance etc. What if your car gets stolen? Surely, the thief would then know where you live and probably realise (depending on where your car was, when it was stolen) that you are not at home currently.

Bloody hell. The whole situation is ridiculous.

So, alternatively, do you carry notarised documents with you rather than the originals? It sounds like a plan, but I’ve heard rumours that notarised copies aren’t always accepted

Then, I suppose that there’s always the option of becoming a citizen. But that would mean taking the A2 language test, and even then, there’s a waiting time of two years or even longer. Bloody hell. Every avenue appears to be blocked.

So, what to do?

Stick your head in the sand? Bang it against the wall? Scream to the heavens?

The choice is yours, but whatever you do, I don’t think you’ll beat the system.