The number was provided by the Ministry of Justice to the parliamentary group of the Socialist Party (PS), which, in October, questioned the Minister of Justice about complaints from many Portuguese consular posts regarding “significant delays” at the Central Registry Office of the Institute of Registries and Notaries (IRN) in confirming the integration of birth certificates for obtaining Portuguese nationality.

In the response sent to the PS, the Ministry of Justice indicated that “there is no delay in the integration of birth certificates of minors aged one year or younger, originating from consular posts”.

“The Central Registry Office is carrying out the analysis and integration of birth certificates submitted for integration by consular posts on the same day,” the response states.

Regarding the others, and according to data collected by the Central Registry Office, as of November 19th of this year, 25,507 birth certificates from consular posts were pending integration via the civil registry information system.

Of these, 629 are minors over one year old and 24,878 are adults.

The Government adds that the IRN (National Registry Institute) faces “a significant structural challenge resulting from the continuous reduction of its human resources.”

“Lack of professionals”

“The lack of replacement of professionals due to retirements, transfers to other entities, and the absence of new recruitment processes has had a direct and very significant impact on the responsiveness of registry services, including naturally those that process nationality applications, as is the case with the Central Registry Office,” explains the Ministry of Justice. According to the Government, the solution lies in the "various competitive procedures" currently underway, aimed at recruiting and hiring 159 new registrars, plus eight for the Autonomous Region of Madeira, and 617 registry officers.