London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Jul 31, 2025

Britons' lives in Portugal 'paralysed' by post-Brexit ID cards failure

Britons' lives in Portugal 'paralysed' by post-Brexit ID cards failure

Britons living in Portugal are complaining of being deprived of access to basic rights such as healthcare, employment and social security because they have not been issued with post-Brexit residency cards.

Some have been blocked at airports as they attempt to travel to other EU countries, being told at the border that their documents are not in order.

"We are in desperate straits," Tig James, co-president of the British in Portugal campaign group, told Euronews. "It has paralysed and damaged UK nationals' lives emotionally, physically and financially."

James cites cases of British workers unable to sign work contracts, with some having job offers retracted, because of the lack of residency documentation — "most notably, five EasyJet pilots who had moved to Portugal, with their families, solely for that purpose".

"Two people were recently detained in Germany because of out-of-date residency documentation," she added. They had to buy alternative return tickets back to Portugal via another route outside the EU, at a cost of some €5,000.

The couple have employed a German immigration lawyer and are hoping for a court hearing. "They have done everything legally," James says.

Like British nationals living elsewhere in the European Union, the tens of thousands living in Portugal were guaranteed residency and associated rights under the Brexit divorce treaty.

As long as they had moved to the country before the new rules took effect in 2021, the UK-EU Withdrawal Agreement (WA) protects rights such as residency, housing, employment, health care and social security, for them and their family members.

The new rules covering travel state that UK nationals with residence rights in an EU country "do not need a visa to enter their country of residence or any other EU country". But they stress the importance of having new official documentation "in the form of a biometric residence card".

Tig James says the Portuguese authorities have been promising her that the new Withdrawal Agreement biometric cards (WABCs) would be arriving "soon" since July 2019. But three years on, they have yet to be issued.

In an email seen by Euronews, Portugal's Immigration and Borders Service (SEF) "clarifies that the current residence documents of British nationals living in Portugal continue to be accepted".

SEF explains that British residents can download proof of their application in the form of a supporting document with a QR code. This, it says, "allows to travel, serves as proof of their residence in Portugal and guarantees access to public health and social services".

But British resident Nicola Franks told Portuguese TV channel SIC that she encountered difficulties on a trip to Amsterdam with her husband this summer without a new biometric ID card.

"The border control official looked at these papers he had obviously never seen before and decided they were not legitimate, that, in fact, they were only applications for residency. To make a long and frightening story as short as possible, he turned me back to Portugal," she said.

"SEF are consistent in saying the paperwork they have given is sufficient which it most certainly isn’t," James told Euronews, arguing that the "dreadful consequences" are "devastating lives".

"Without a WABC you can’t register for health care if you move address (people seriously ill, potentially terminally ill, cannot get treatment), doctors refusing treatment, appointments cancelled."

She adds that "repeatedly" Britons have had problems trying to exchange UK driving licences for Portuguese permits to comply with the law. Tax offices and banks are refusing to change addresses, while car owners are unable to register, repair or import vehicles. Parents are forking out tens of thousands of euros because applications for EU university fees are being rejected.

"Portuguese institutions or businesses are simply refusing to deal with UK nationals or provide a service," James says.

"The Portuguese social security office has ceased family allowance payments until a WABC can be produced and the birth of a child cannot be registered. Only on one family employing a lawyer were they able to finally register their child and, by the time all the negotiations were completed, the child was ten months old."

British nationals have been unable to bring "third country" spouses into Portugal.

James cites the case of one man whose own residency document has expired and is waiting for his wife to be allowed in.

"He cannot get a renewal nor can he leave the country as he is not allowed to start the renewal process until his wife has her WABC. His mother is now seriously ill and he cannot leave to see her. In the meantime, as his residency has expired, his dermatologist has refused to see him for his skin condition. Families are being torn apart," she says.

"The reasons for the three-year delay by the immigration department? Staff shortages, holiday periods, the pandemic, and now Ukrainian refugees," James explains.

A pilot programme has been set up by SEF to process biometric data for Britons living in the Azores and Madeira. But this concerns only a fraction of the overall number of UK nationals in Portugal.

The immigration and borders service says staff training in collecting biometric data will begin "very soon" and Britons will begin being issued with their new cards. But Tig James says she has heard that the programme has still to get off the ground.

The campaigner adds that she has been lobbying British and Portuguese politicians for years, but "all that has happened is the situation has got worse".

"SEF are wilfully, deliberately and systemically not adhering to the Withdrawal Agreement resulting in the physical, emotional and financial suffering of thousands of UK nationals in Portugal."

James has turned down an appointment in September to present evidence of the Britons' difficulties before the European Commission's Economic and Social Committee.

"My residency has expired and we already have incidents of UK nationals having terrible problems in Brussels trying to leave as their documentation, as is mine, is out of date, expired, being detained. I cannot afford to get arrested," she says.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Former Judge Charged After Drunk Driving Crash Kills Comedian in Brazil
Jeff Bezos hasn’t paid a dollar in taxes for decades. He makes billions and pays $0 in taxes, LEGALLY
China Increases Use of Exit Bans Amid Rising U.S. Tensions
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
Procter & Gamble to Raise U.S. Prices to Offset One‑Billion‑Dollar Tariff Cost
House Republicans Move to Defund OECD Over Global Tax Dispute
Botswana Seeks Controlling Stake in De Beers as Anglo American Prepares Exit
Trump Administration Proposes Repeal of Obama‑Era Endangerment Finding, Dismantling Regulatory Basis for CO₂ Emissions Limits
France Opens Criminal Investigation into X Over Algorithm Manipulation Allegations
A family has been arrested in the UK for displaying the British flag
Mel Gibson refuses to work with Robert De Niro, saying, "Keep that woke clown away from me."
Trump Steamrolls EU in Landmark Trade Win: US–EU Trade Deal Imposes 15% Tariff on European Imports
ChatGPT CEO Sam Altman says people share personal info with ChatGPT but don’t know chats can be used as court evidence in legal cases.
The British propaganda channel BBC News lies again.
Deputy attorney general's second day of meeting with Ghislaine Maxwell has concluded
Controversial March in Switzerland Features Men Dressed in Nazi Uniforms
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
Thai Civilian Death Toll Rises to 12 in Cambodian Cross-Border Attacks
TSUNAMI: Trump Just Crossed the Rubicon—And There’s No Turning Back
Over 120 Criminal Cases Dismissed in Boston Amid Public Defender Shortage
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
The Podcaster Who Accidentally Revealed He Earns Over $10 Million a Year
Trump Announces $550 Billion Japanese Investment and New Trade Agreements with Indonesia and the Philippines
US Treasury Secretary Calls for Institutional Review of Federal Reserve Amid AI‑Driven Growth Expectations
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Severe Flooding in South Korea Claims Lives Amid Ongoing Rescue Operations
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
×