Pending nationality application: 30% Sephardic, 30% immigrant, and the remaining 40% are mostly of Portuguese descent. The Union of Registry and Notary Workers (STRN) estimated that 30% of the 700,000 pending nationality applications are for immigrant natura
Referring to the announced change in the nationality law ,Arménio Maximino, president of the STRN said ,There are public policies that talk about numbers, but these numbers are not public.
Currently, Portugal is one of the European Union countries that requires a minimum period of residence for an immigrant to apply for citizenship (five years after the first application for a residence permit), but the government wants to increase this period to seven years for Portuguese-speaking citizens and ten years for others.
He added that, “What we know is that of these 700,000 pending processes, about 30% are for Sephardic and about 30% are for naturalization of immigrants,” with most of the remaining requests coming from people of Portuguese descent who want to see their ancestral nationality recognized.
Currently, the services of the Institute of Registries and Notaries (IRN) are handling nationality applications for 2021, but Armenio Maximino expects that the existing demand will further increase this backlog. There are people who are afraid of the government’s actions, they have been living here for more than five years and now want to apply for their nationality, as is their right,” the union leader explained. “What we have is an estimate, but we cannot even know what the nationality of origin is” of the requests for nationality through naturalization.
Changes to nationality and immigration laws “have a direct impact on registry offices”, as they “increase demand for services where only people have to leave and no new people are hired”, added Armenio Maximino, recalling that the average age of IRN staff is 60 years old.“The pressure is intense in all the conservatories and there are no resources”, especially during the summer months, when many “Portuguese immigrants want to resolve pending issues. People work long hours and don’t have the ability to respond,” the union leader admits.
According to the National Institute of Statistics, recognition of nationality has declined in recent years. In 2023, the last year available on the portal, 41,393 foreigners accessed Portuguese nationality, of which 16,985 lived in Portugal (mostly immigrants) and the rest lived abroad (mostly of Portuguese origin).
In recent years, the granting of nationality has decreased: in 2022, 46,229 foreigners received nationality (20,844 residents in Portugal); in 2021, there were 54,537 (24,516 requests from Portugal); in 2020 there were 59,817 new nationals (32,147 residents in Portugal). Only in 2019 did new nationalities register an inversion, with 30,478 foreigners obtaining nationality (21,099 residing in Portugal).