The Portuguese government has given an opportunity to apply for a temporary residence permit (TRC) to nearly 2,000 Nepalis who have been facing deportation and fines.

The Integration, Immigration and Refugee Agency (AIMA), the body authorized to grant legal status to immigrants in Portugal, has given an opportunity to Nepalis who are in serious legal trouble due to the fake stamp case to apply to stay in Portugal. They were trapped by a broker and were trapped in a legal trap when the fake stamp and signature of the Portuguese and Nepali embassies in Delhi were used in their original police reports.

‘The Nepalis ended up being victims when the certification stamp in the police report was found to be fake. We have been regularly discussing and coordinating this issue with high-ranking Portuguese officials,’ Nepali Ambassador to Portugal Prakash Mani Poudel told Kantipur, ‘Necessary facilitation has been provided by Portuguese officials in this matter.’ Now all Nepalis who have become victims have got a chance to apply.'

1,760 people have already applied to the Nepali Embassy claiming to be victims. The embassy has sent that list to the Portuguese government. They were already in the process of being deported from Portugal after it was confirmed that the original character certificate (police report) issued by the Nepal Police had used fake seals and signatures from the Portuguese and Nepali embassies in Delhi. Most of them had been sent letters by the Portuguese authorities via email to return home on their own within a certain time. According to a Nepali who came in contact with Kantipur, some emails even warned of imprisonment of up to a year and deportation.

Although there was a legal error in this case, the embassy had looked at it from a humanitarian perspective and requested to give them a chance.

Among the victims, Binod Sunar said that they were freed from the legal trap. ‘We had arrived in Portugal after paying lakhs. We had fallen into a legal trap that we had not thought of. We had fallen victim to fraud. When the embassy took the initiative, we were allowed to apply while staying in Portugal,’ he said. ‘Some friends’ applications have already started being approved.’

Portugal had introduced a policy to issue TRCs quickly to quickly complete old pending files, tighten new applications, and create a system to prevent document disputes in the future. It had adopted a policy to issue TRCs to those who had obtained a Tax Identification Number (NIF) and a Social Security Number (NISS) by June 3, 2024. There is also a provision to submit a police report along with the tax and social security numbers.

Those Nepalis became victims at a time when the Nepali embassy was not established in Portugal. The victims say that the problem arose during the ‘gap’ period of about 10 months after the consular service was closed and until the Nepali embassy was established in Portugal. But at the same time, it has been revealed that fake stamps and signatures of the Portuguese Embassy in India were used for 150 to 200 euros through brokers and cyber groups.

The Nepali Embassy in Portugal started providing consular services only from the first week of Falgun 2081. Before that, the Nepali Embassy in France was providing consular services to Portugal. The office of the honorary consulate general in Lisbon was in operation under the embassy since March 2014. Where the verification of Nepali police reports, marriage registrations, birth registrations, etc. was stopped from April 30, 2024.

‘At that time, we had tax and social security numbers. But, there was no police report,’ a victim told Kantipur, ‘At that time, the honorary consulate general office of Nepal in Portugal was abolished. We had to go to France to get the police report stamped. Which we could not go ourselves. Local cyber operators were taking online jobs saying that they would get the stamps from the Nepali Embassy in Delhi and the Portuguese Embassy. We trusted them. In that process, we were cheated.’

The victims had requested the Nepal government to facilitate them to apply again, recognizing themselves as ‘victims of fraud’. ‘We were not the ones who made fake documents ourselves, but the victims of fraud. At the initiative of the embassy, ​​we were certified as victims of fraud,’ said Sunar, ‘This has given us great relief. We will be able to settle by doing this. The future of thousands of Nepalis like us has been saved.’