Portugal's PSP oversees Lisbon Airport border checks amid new procedures

Since November 2023 the Polícia de Segurança Pública (PSP) has taken over border control at Lisbon Airport, replacing the former Serviço de Estrangeiros e Fronteiras (SEF). Travelers are first screened by document‑verification software and then interviewed by specially trained agents. Those who do not meet the Schengen entry criteria are held in a small, cramped area – still colloquially called the “SEF room” – where they may wait for hours and, in some cases, sleep due to a lack of space.

The process determines whether migrants, victims of human‑trafficking, war‑displaced persons or other foreign nationals can cross the border and enter the Schengen Area. The PSP’s expanded role reflects Portugal’s tightened immigration controls and the continued use of the same procedural steps despite the agency’s dissolution.