News from afpop - Friday 23rd of December 2022

Good morning my friends and welcome to the last Member Briefing of 2022. It may interest you all to know that this year we have sent over 322,000 e-mails to you all, which is really quite a staggering amount for a Members’ Association. I wanted to take this opportunity to thank those of you who have contacted us with your comments about the Briefings. It is always very rewarding for the team to hear how much their efforts are appreciated and so many of you have taken the time to actually come and tell me how much you’ve appreciated the mailings again this year. Thank you on behalf of all the gang here for your kind words.
 
As we head into the Christmas break a reminder that the 23rd and also the 30th of December there will be no services at the government departments across Portugal. Also remember that the police have already begun their annual Christmas road safety campaign, and whilst I’m sure that none of you will need to worry about the breathalyser, they are also going to be looking at speeding and mobile phone use, so to avoid their fines and more importantly for your own safety, please be careful on the roads over Christmas.
 
I would like to record my thanks once again to my colleagues for their professionalism and their dedication to keeping you all informed and updated. I am sure that Members will want to join me in congratulating the office team, the councils and the AEOs for their excellent work and in wishing them all a well-deserved and much needed Christmas break. We all look forward to seeing you and assisting you again in the New Year.
 
Finally, the afpop Council members, office staff and AEOs would like to send to you and your families our very warmest greetings for the festive season, whatever your religious beliefs, and our hope that 2023 is a happy and prosperous time for you all.

COVID Booster
If you are 50 and older, then you can now go to the Casa Aberta (Open House) at your local vaccination centre or Centro de Saúde without appointment. You can find further information in our Factsheet FS/26.
Please note: In the period from 23^rd of December 2022 to 2^nd of January 2023, some of the vaccination centres of ARS LVT (Lisbon and Vale de Tejo) will be closed

Road Safety Campaign
As mentioned in the intro, the Road Safety campaign for Christmas and New Year entitled “The best gift is to be there”, has been launched by the National Road Safety Authority (ANSR),
focussing on three fundamental issues: The safety of drivers and passengers, the safety and correct driving of vehicles and measures relating to infrastructure and the care and improvement of signage, particularly in urban areas.
The campaign launched by the National Road Safety Authority appeals to everyone to adopt, during the Christmas and New Year season, safe behaviour on the road when travelling “In no hurry, Without alcohol and Without a cell phone”.

Lisbon Metro
The Metropolitano de Lisboa will close their operating service at 22h00 on 24^th of December and resume the following day, 25^th of December at 8h00 am.
 
BLiP Exhibitor Offers
We have invited the Exhibitors that participated in our BLiP EXPO this year to make special offers or business announcements to afpop Members as we believe that it is important for your Association to continue to provide support and a channel of communication for businesses as a benefit not only to them but also to you. Please have a look at the latest additions to the website: https://betterlivinginportugal.com/index.php/en/offers
 
Public Services Portugal Mainland
We like to remind you that the Government of Portugal Mainland has granted additional public holidays on the 23rd and 30th of December to workers who carry out public functions. You will find the public service offices closed on those days. This also includes Loja do Cidadão, Espaço do Cidadão and SEF offices. If any Members have appointments booked on those days, they should receive a communication to re-schedule. If you have not received any communication, please check with the authority where you are booked.
 
Train strikes in Portugal
As mentioned in last week’s briefing, there are train strikes announced over Christmas and New Year in Portugal. Strikes called by organisations representing CP and IP workers on 23rd, 25th and 26^th of December 2022 and 1^st of January 2023 mean there may be nationwide disruptions to train services, with a possible impact on the days before and after the strike periods. CP has now made the official announcement: https://www.cp.pt/passageiros/en/train-times/Alerts/strike-xmas-new-year-2022. 
Passengers who have already purchased a ticket for regional, interregional, Intercidades and Alfa Pendular trains will be able to request a refund or revalidation of their trips free of charge.
 
UK Citizens - New Residency Card payment
We have had several Members who have reported that after their appointment, they were not able to issue the payment document (DUC) on the SEF Brexit portal, they get a message saying “No active or pending payment documents (DUC)” highlighted in yellow.
We contacted SEF and they explained that they are aware and that it is a system error. People should contact SEF on the email brexit.apoio@sef.pt to report the situation.

UK Driving Licences – Residents in Portugal
The Portuguese government announced that UK driving licences will be valid in Portugal for a further 12 months, until 31^st of December 2023. For Residents in Portugal this means, that if you have not yet applied to exchange your UK licence to as Portuguese licence, you have another year to start that process.

However, if you decide to wait with starting the process to exchange the UK licence, to continue driving in Portugal as a Resident, you must register your driving licence with the IMT.
You can find further information about the process of registration and exchange of a driving licence in our Information Bulletin P04/Driving Licence.
 
afpop office Christmas closing
A reminder that the afpop office will close for the Christmas break at 12h30 on the 23rd of December and will remain closed throughout the Christmas period, reopening on Monday 2^nd of January 2023.
 
Satellite offices
afpop staff will be on hand in the Satellite Offices again in January 2023. If you need advice or assistance, wish to introduce a new Member to the Association, need to renew your subscription or just have a general query, please pass by and see us. Please contact the afpop office to make an appointment on 282 458 509 or info@afpop.com    
 
The next dates of the Satellites are: