"At the moment, there are around 700,000 applications for Portuguese nationality pending analysis, a number that is expected to increase significantly in the near future, given the Government's announcement regarding the changes to the Nationality Law, approved at the last meeting of the Council of Ministers, which has led to a sharp increase in new applications, submitted by those still seeking to benefit from the legal regime in force", said the STRN in a statement.

According to union data, the growth in the number of new applications is across the country, occurring both "in online submissions --- made by lawyers and solicitors --- and in person, at the various service points: central registry office, Porto Central Archive and other Civil Registry Offices throughout the country".

"The real 'rush' to the registry offices is putting unsustainable pressure on services that were already in a state of collapse, aggravated by a critical shortage of human resources, estimated at around 40% below real needs", denounced the union.

According to the STRN, there is a shortage of 266 registrars and the 120 in training will only be ready to enter service at the end of 2026. It says that there is also a shortage of 1,867 registry officers, warning that only half of the 240 vacancies recently put out to tender have been filled "due to the lack of attractiveness of the careers". In addition, there are dozens of retirements every month without immediate replacements.

For the summer period, the union predicts that employees' vacations will be a factor in worsening the backlog.

The STRN also mentions "technological constraints", denouncing that "the IT platform created for the dematerialized submission of nationality applications, financed by the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP), has presented serious flaws since its implementation, with no solution in sight" and that interoperability with the Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum "has continued to operate with serious limitations for over a year".

“A perfect storm”

"Each of these problems, in itself, would be worrying enough. Together, they constitute a perfect storm, with a severe impact on the quality and deadlines for the provision of an essential public service to citizens and companies. Despite the tireless efforts of registrars and registrars, it is becoming humanly impossible to contain the delays and the number of pending processes continues to increase dramatically", stated the union.

The union structure also points to the "chaotic and unprecedented" situation in the history of the Institute of Registries and Notaries (IRN), which has already led to the "total rupture" and temporary closure of notary offices.

At the end of May, the Minister of Justice, Rita Alarcão Júdice, announced that a competition with around 400 vacancies for the IRN will be launched and reiterated the intention to review careers.