A Brazilian woman, who had been living in Portugal for over two years with her husband and their two children, aged 6 and 8, was deported while returning from a vacation in Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil.
The incident occurred on Tuesday, August 19, at Lisbon Airport.
The issue for immigration agents was that the Brazilian woman’s process had not yet been validated by the Agência para a Imigração e Asilo (AIMA).
Her husband, Hugo Silvestre, revealed that he holds a residence permit via the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP), obtained upon arriving in Portugal in 2023 after receiving a job offer from a Portuguese law firm.
He had applied for family reunification for his wife and two children, but the application has been stuck in AIMA’s backlog for over two years.
Nevertheless, the family leads a normal life in Portugal. The children are enrolled in school, the husband works at the law firm, and the wife has a remote job working for Brazil. They reside in Cascais.
They have awaited AIMA’s response for two years to regularize the family’s status in Portugal.
Family decided to appeal to the courts in February of this year
Last year, when the government began giving priority to family reunification for couples with children aged 5 to 10 (which was the case for this family), Silvestre received an email instructing him to appear at AIMA’s headquarters in Figueira da Foz, more than 200 kilometers from Lisbon.
“My wife and I lost a day of work, the kids missed a day of school, and when we arrived, we were informed that our names were not on the list, despite having received a confirmation email,” Silvestre recounted. “They blamed a system failure.”
Frustrated with the endless process, the couple decided in February to follow the same path as thousands of other immigrants: turning to the courts.
Nearly 8,000 people a month are resorting to courts just to secure an appointment with AIMA for a residence authorization (or renewal) request. More than 54,000 cases are pending.
They obtained a provisional judicial measure requiring AIMA to respond to the family reunification request within seven days, but even this did not resolve the issue.
In response to the courts, AIMA claimed that Silvestre had been attended to on May 25 and that once his residence permit renewal was completed, the family reunification process would begin.
Airport agents disregarded the judicial documents
With summer vacations planned in Recife and fearing issues upon re-entry into Portugal, Silvestre submitted a travel request with AIMA, attaching a work visa, a CPLP visa, and judicial authorizations – everything to ensure a smooth airport process.
Despite this, his wife was stopped at the entry, with agents questioning why she had overstayed the legal 180-day limit and disregarding all documents, including court decisions, presented by Silvestre.
The woman was taken to a custody room at the airport, where she lost contact with her family. “She was unreachable until eight in the evening, when no legal institutions were operating,” her husband stated.
“We filed a reconsideration request, and she slept at the airport. The next day, before even receiving the refusal, I received a TAP notification for my wife’s boarding, indicating the return ticket was already prepared,” Silvestre recounted.
Agents refused to hand over a suitcase with personal belongings to the woman
The family tried to arrange a suitcase for the woman to take to Brazil to have a few personal items for orientation upon her return.
The luggage was taken to the airport by a lawyer hired by the family, Tatiana Kaza, who requested authorities hand over the belongings, but the request was denied.
“They took her to the plane as I was parking at the airport. I asked to deliver the suitcase with her things, but they refused. She was rushed onto the plane as if she were a criminal,” the lawyer stated. “This police behavior is far from humane; in fact, it’s abusive,” Kaza emphasized.
“It was a humiliating situation. My children won’t stop crying”
The attorney reported to Folha de São Paulo that the situation was humiliating and that the children were devastated by their mother’s deportation.
“It was a humiliating situation. She was almost handcuffed. My children, aged 6 and 8, who had never been away from their mother, won’t stop crying,” the husband shared.
Back in Brazil, the saga continued, according to the Brazilian woman’s husband.
“To access her passport, she was escorted off the plane by an agent to the Federal Police counter at Recife airport. There she had to recount all that happened in Portugal. Moreover, having no luggage, at Customs, she was redirected to a room and had to explain everything she went through at Lisbon airport once more,” Silvestre explained.
Family says it will not “give up on Portugal”
The family will now file a new judicial process under the Foreigners Act, which provides for the family reunification of spouses and minor children.
The regulation was nearly amended by the Portuguese government but was eventually deemed unconstitutional and vetoed by the President of the Republic.
“I’m certain that right did not prevail in this episode, but rather issues related to the current political environment,” Silvestre stated. “We came to contribute resources, not to drain them.”
Despite all the issues, Silvestre stated he would not give up on Portugal.
“Despite all they did to my wife, I will not give up on Portugal. My life is in this country. I work, my children study, we have a home, friends, pay taxes,” Hugo stated. “I will only leave Portugal if expelled with my children.”
