Applications for Portuguese Citizenship Have Quadrupled Over the Past Six Years

Key Takeaways

1. The number of Portuguese citizenship applications has surged by over 366% in the last six years.
2. The Ministry of Justice in Portugal has expressed concerns about the rapid rise in citizenship requests.
3. Over 1.4 million people have submitted citizenship applications during this period.

In the past six years, more than 1.4 million individuals have applied for Portuguese citizenship, highlighting the growing interest among foreigners in obtaining Portuguese nationality.

This information was shared during the procedural hearing of the Minister of Justice by Secretary Maria Jose Barros, who raised concerns about the significant increase in citizenship applications, as reported by Schengen.News.

The number of applications has skyrocketed, with over 300,000 applications in 2022, compared to fewer than 100,000 in 2013.

Citizenship Application Processing Time Surpasses Two Years Secretary Barros also pointed out that the platform launched last year by the Institute of Registries and Notaries (IRN) to handle citizenship applications has been struggling to improve processing times.

According to Barros, even urgent applications filed in late October 2024 are still in the queue, indicating that urgent cases are not being prioritized. Despite the platform’s intended purpose to speed up the process, there are still significant delays, and the average waiting times remain high.

Authorities Blame Shortage of Professionals for Delays Government officials have cited the shortage of personnel as the primary reason for the delays in processing the nearly 500,000 pending citizenship applications. The overwhelming volume of applications has strained available resources, resulting in backlogs.

The Ministry of Justice has confirmed that the shortage of staff is affecting the processing efficiency.

As reported earlier, in May 2024, applicants at the Lisbon Central Registry Office began lining up as early as 5 a.m. to ensure they would be served. Service tickets, limited to 60 per day, were typically gone within minutes of the office opening.

The Registry Notary Workers Union has also raised concerns, stating that the authorities responsible for processing citizenship applications are understaffed, operating at 34% below the required staff capacity.

Fabio Silva, a worker at the Registry Office, revealed that he starts work at 5 a.m. to ensure that applicants receive the services they need.