Travel Advice for Portugal

Travel Advice for Portugal

Regarding Passport Stamping……..as at 1^st June 2022

Information about passport stamping on arrival in Portugal is available on:

www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/portugal/entry-requirements

For Residents

If you are resident in Portugal, your passport should not be stamped. You should proactively show proof of residence, as well as your passport at Portugese Border Control. Proof of residency can be an existing residency card or an application for residency with the relevant QR code. Many individuals have applied for residency and are still awaiting their Residency Card, and may be waiting for some considerable time yet so its important to carry your application for residency with the QR code at all times.

However, despite this, some people have had their passports stamped. If this has happened to you, it is worth noting that the stamp in no way impact a person`s established legal status as a resident of Portugal, as long as you have the proper residency documents.

The 90-day rule is NOT applicable to a person with residency status in Portugal, even is the passport is stamped.  SEF can be requested to void a stamp, contacts for specific airports is www.sef.pt/pt/Pages/contactos-aereos.aspx

For Visitors

Check that your passport is stamped by the Border Control officer when you enter and exit Portugal as a visitor. You can use the staffed immigration booths or, if you are aged 18 and over, the E-gates designated for UK and some other non-EU nationals. If using the E-gate then hand your passport to the Border Control Officer for stamping once you have exited the e-gate.

Border Guards use passport stamps to check you`re complying with the 90-day visa-free limit for short stays in the Schengen area. If the relevant entry or exit stamps are not in your passport then you may be deemed to have overstayed your visa-free limit.

If you are missing entry or exit stamps are not in your passport you can ask for details to be added if you can show evidence of when and where you entered or exited Portugal so it´s a good idea to keep copies of boarding passes and tickets etc.

Whether you are a resident or a visitor there does not seem to be a consistent approach across the EU with different approaches being taken by Border Control in France, Spain etc.so if you are transiting through Schengen countries you may find passports being stamped when they shouldn't be!