New SEF office  opening in Tavira

IT HAS been announced that a new branch of Serviço de Estrangeiros e Fronteiras (SEF), the institution that controls immigration, residency documentation, visas and work permits, is to open in Tavira in April this year. Tavira Câmara is making the former magistrates court building available for the SEF branch, which is located in Rua Dr. Augusto Carlos Palma nº 13 in the centre of town, close to the police station and the Segurança Social office. Due to the number of foreigners living in the borough, which has increased significantly in recent years, the council felt that locating a SEF office in Tavira made sense, as it would save its foreign residents the time and money spent travelling to the nearest SEF office in Faro. According to the Alto Comissário para a Imigração e Minorias Étnicas (ACIME), the high commission for immigration and ethnic minorities, the majority of foreign residents in Tavira are from Eastern Europe, Poland and various African countries, but the borough also has a large number of British, French and Swiss residents.