By around 2:30 p.m., when Secretary of State for Justice Ana Luísa Machado arrived to visit the newly inaugurated space, dozens of people were lined up in three queues at the door of the new office, without tickets and with no guarantee of being served that day.
When asked about the apparent relocation of queues and several hours of waiting from two previous service posts now centralized into one at Parque das Nações, Lisbon, intended to streamline services, Machado expressed regret over the situation but deemed it normal due to the “novelty factor” of the new office.
“I apologize greatly. Unfortunately, we would like to be perfect and have perfect systems. Perfect systems do not exist; we are doing our best,” the Secretary of State stated.
By early afternoon, the new office had already attended to around 160 people, with expectations that the daily average will exceed 200, said the President of the Institute of Registries and Notaries (IRN), Jorge da Ponte, who accompanied the Secretary of State for Justice during the visit.
Regarding the more than 500,000 nationality requests pending review and decision, the Secretary of State stated, “a great effort is being made to address all pending issues.”
Jorge da Ponte mentioned that updated data on pending requests will be released soon, noting unspecified “successes” in reducing the number of pending processes, which last stood officially at about 515,000 in June.
On the day the new in-person service office was inaugurated, Ana Luísa Machado emphasized the use of digital and mail services for submitting requests and documents, checking the progress of cases, or scheduling an appointment. However, many were in line, having tried unsuccessfully for weeks to schedule online.
That was the case for Fabiana, who learned that the exclusive office for nationality requests would open today and decided to try her luck in person. She arrived in the early afternoon and, by the time she spoke to Lusa, only had a little over ten people ahead of her in line for initiating the process.
The other two lines — for adding documents to existing processes or obtaining information on process status — did not seem to be moving, leading some to give up waiting.
Fabiana, residing in Odivelas and previously attempting to receive service at other offices, remained in line, optimistic.
“I tried to come here with this optimism, that here, being a new unit, the expectation is to achieve, at this initial moment, face-to-face service, as I could not elsewhere,” she told Lusa, noting the difficulty of managing lost time waiting with workdays.
Fabiana no longer fears potential impacts on her process from the new nationality law potentially being passed in parliament, but worries for other Brazilians who now meet the residence time needed to start the process, yet may face extended waits if unable to initiate before the law comes into effect, which would increase the required residence time to apply for nationality.
“I am impacted by many Brazilian citizens who have been here for nearly five years and are eagerly waiting to see if the legislation will be enacted. If it is, they may have to wait another two years. I feel empathy for them,” she said.
Slightly ahead in the queue was Cláudio, who arrived by 9:30 a.m., already finding a large number of people before him. Others, choosing to remain anonymous, reported having over 80 people ahead in line when the new office opened.
Cláudio, seeking to initiate his nationality request by descent — his grandfather was Portuguese — was unaware the new space would open and arrived after going to a closed office.
He also couldn’t secure an online appointment in time and, like many others, lamented the work complications from lost days waiting in lines.
“We lose workdays, create issues with the boss, who doesn’t quite understand; he wants work, production, and it complicates our lives,” he stated.
Despite the inconvenience, he remains optimistic and steadfast in line: “Oh yes, I’m Brazilian; I never give up.”
