The minister began by considering that the chaos of the last few days is related to two specific situations: the first with the fact that the Lisbon agency was closed for “almost a week”, leading many to travel to the Porto agency; and the other related to the fact that countries like Nepal and Angola did not automatically recognise their citizens' certificates, forcing them to physically go to AIMA.

In reaction to this, Paulo Rangel has announced that the teams in Lisbon and Porto will be reinforced and that there will be, "starting today, a substantial change in the agency's schedules".

"I cannot specify what the hours will be, but they will be extended," he told journalists, recalling that the objective is to "progressively control the situation" and admitting that "not everything will be resolved right away", but that they will work towards controlling this "peak".

Finally, the minister left a message of "calm", saying he had been in contact with the Minister of the Presidency, António Leitão Amaro, and revealing that "no one will lose their rights". He also said that contacts were established so that “no one is harmed because of this delay.”