“Currently, there are approximately 700,000 pending requests for Portuguese nationality awaiting review, a number expected to significantly increase following the government’s announcement of changes to the Nationality Law, approved during the last Council of Ministers meeting, which has led to a spike in new applications from those seeking to benefit under the current legal framework,” stated the STRN in a communiqué.
Union data indicates that the rise in new applications is consistent across the country, occurring both through online submissions — conducted by lawyers and solicitors — and in person at various service points: the central registry office, the Central Archive of Porto, and other civil registry offices nationwide.
“The genuine ‘rush’ to registry offices is exerting unsustainable pressure on services already in a state of crisis, exacerbated by a severe shortage of human resources, estimated to be about 40% below actual needs,” the union highlighted.
According to STRN, there is a shortage of 266 registry officers, with the 120 currently under training only expected to be ready for service by the end of 2026. It also notes a need for 1,867 registry officials, warning that only half of the 240 jobs recently offered in a competition were filled “due to the lack of career attractiveness.” This is compounded by dozens of retirements each month without immediate replacements.
For the summer period, the union foresees that staff vacations will exacerbate the backlog.
The STRN also mentions “technological constraints,” citing that “the digital platform created for the electronic submission of nationality applications, funded by the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR), has had significant issues since its implementation, with no solution in sight,” and stating that interoperability with the Agency for Integration, Migration, and Asylum “continues to operate with serious limitations for over a year.”
“Each of these issues, on their own, would already be concerning enough. Together, they create a perfect storm, with severe impacts on the quality and timeliness of essential public services for citizens and businesses. Despite the tireless efforts of registry officers and officials, it is becoming humanly impossible to contain the delays, and the number of pending cases continues to rise dramatically,” stated the union.
The union further describes the “chaotic and unprecedented” situation in the history of the Institute of Registries and Notaries (IRN), which has already led to a “total breakdown” and temporary closure of registry offices.
At the end of May, the Minister of Justice, Rita Alarcão Júdice, announced that a competition would be launched for around 400 vacancies at the IRN and reiterated the intention to review careers.
