Foreigners and Borders Service

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Foreigners and Borders Service Serviço de Estrangeiros e Fronteiras
Logo of SEF
Abbreviation	SEF
Agency overview
Formed	1974
Preceding agency	Direcção-Geral de Segurança
Dissolved	October 2023
Jurisdictional structure
National agency	Portugal
Operations jurisdiction	Portugal
Primary governing body	Government of Portugal
Secondary governing body	Ministry of Internal Administration
General nature	Civilian police
Specialist jurisdiction	Immigration
Operational structure
Headquarters	Lisbon
Agency executive	Manuel Jarmela Palos, National Director
Website
www.sef.pt

The Foreigners and Borders Service - SEF (Portuguese: Serviço de Estrangeiros e Fronteiras) was the police service integrated into the Ministry of Internal Affairs, whose mission was to enforce immigration and asylum in Portugal, in accordance with the provisions of constitutional, legal and governmental guidelines.

Among other duties, the SEF was the agency responsible for border control and the issuing of residence permits to foreign nationals legally residing in Portugal.

This police force was dissolved in October 2023, leaving the PSP (the Portuguese national civilian police force) as well as the GNR (the country's national Gendarmery force) responsible with the SEF's former duties.^[1]