What is SEF? Portugal's Former Immigration Service
SEF (Serviço de Estrangeiros e Fronteiras) was Portugal's border and immigration service. In October 2023, SEF was dissolved and its responsibilities were transferred to AIMA and other agencies. Border control functions moved to GNR and PSP, while immigration processing moved to AIMA.
Related Processing Data
Many older forum posts and guides reference SEF. If you see mentions of SEF processing times, those refer to the old system. Current processing is handled by AIMA under a different framework.