Portuguese Citizenship Applications Increased by Nearly 4 Times in Last 6 Years

Over 1.4 million requests for Portuguese citizenship have been recorded in the last six years, indicating increased interest in foreigners to become citizens of Portugal.

These comments were made during the procedural hearing of the Minister of Justice by Secretary Maria Jose Barros, who expressed concerns about this increase, Schengen.News reports.

Citizenship Applications’ Processing Time Exceeds 2 Years 
During this event, the State Secretary also noted that the platform created last year by the Institute of Registries and Noraties (IRN) designated for citizenship applications is having issues with improving processing times. 

As mentioned by Barros, the urgent applications filed in the second half of October 2024 are currently being processed. This means that even the requests made for urgent matters are not receiving the necessary processing time and are not prioritised. This could happen due to potential bottlenecks. 

Despite being created to improve response times, the platform did not help in this direction, and as the Secretary of State pointed out, there are still difficulties.

The upward trend of citizenship applications has been going on for more than two years. In 2023, the IRN registered a record number of Portuguese citizenship applications – a total of 230,000. 

Authorities Cite Lack of Professionals as Main Reason for Citizenship Applications Processing Delays 
Government representatives have revealed that the reason why nearly 500,000 applications for Portuguese citizenship are being stuck in the process is the scarcity of professionals to process these applications.

As it was previously reported, in May of 2024, the line of applicants for citizenship at the Lisbon Central Registry Office used to begin at 5 a.m. Moreover, some people even brought chairs to sit while waiting for their turn, and the 60 service tickets designated to be handed within a day usually ran out within minutes after the Registry Office was opened. 

The Registry Notary Workers Union have also complained regarding the situation, revealing that the authorities competent to process Portuguese citizenship applications are understaffed and are currently running the applications with 34 per cent shorter staff capacities than is needed. 

Fabio Silva, a worker at the Registry Office, confessed that he starts work at 5 a.m.; otherwise, candidates would not get the service they are asking for.

Source: https://schengen.news/portuguese-citizenship-applications-increased-by-nearly-4-times-in-last-6-years/