# IRN Nationality Backlog Hits 700,000 as New Residency Rules Bite

> Portugal's nationality registry backlog has swelled to roughly 700,000 pending files, lengthening waits just as stricter 2026 residency rules take hold.

- Source: https://www.growinportugal.com/news/nationality-applications-backlog-at-irn-balloons-to-700-000-2026-10-07
- Publisher: GrowIN Portugal (https://www.growinportugal.com)
- Published: 2026-10-07
- Last reviewed: 2026-10-07
- Language: en

> **Key figures — as of 2026-10-07:** ~700,000 nationality applications pending at IRN, a figure first disclosed by the registry workers' union STRN in June 2025 — up from roughly 500,000 reported in May 2024; the new Nationality Law took effect on 19 May 2026, raising naturalisation residency to 7 years (EU/CPLP nationals) or 10 years (all others); STRN estimates only about 30% of the backlog are immigrant naturalisations, meaning roughly 210,000 foreign residents are in the queue; IRN added 47 new conservadores in August 2026, with 66 more due the following month.

## A queue that keeps growing

Portugal's civil registry service is sitting on an estimated 700,000 pending requests for Portuguese nationality, a number the government expects to keep rising as applicants rush to file before rules tighten further. The figure comes from the Sindicato dos Trabalhadores dos Registos e Notariado (STRN), the union representing staff at the Instituto dos Registos e do Notariado (IRN), and it marks a sharp jump from the roughly half a million files the union's president described as pending back in May 2024, when he called the state of the registry sector "caótico," with about half a million nationality case files pending.

That's a rise of roughly 40% in a little over a year — not quite the doubling some applicants feel in their waiting times, but still one of the steepest backlog increases of any Portuguese public service, and it predates the 2026 law change entirely.

## Why files are piling up

The bottleneck isn't really about demand outstripping a reasonable system — it's about a system that was already short-staffed before the surge. According to STRN, there is a shortage of 266 registrars, with 120 trainees not ready to start work until the end of 2026, and a deficit of 1,867 registry officers, with only half of 240 recently advertised posts filled. The union has also flagged the IT side: the digital platform built with EU recovery-fund money for submitting nationality requests "apresenta falhas graves desde a sua implementação, sem solução à vista" — serious, unresolved glitches since it launched.

The pressure isn't evenly spread, either. At the Porto Central Archive alone, a staffing plan built for 66 workers has at times operated with only 17, against more than 140,000 pending nationality files — a single outpost carrying a fifth of the national backlog on a skeleton crew.

## The new law adds its own twist

The **Lei Orgânica n.º 1/2026**, promulgated in May and in force since **19 May 2026**, pushes the standard residency requirement for naturalisation from five years to seven years for CPLP/EU citizens and ten years for citizens of other countries. Crucially, the law includes a transitional shield: nationality applications already filed at IRN before 19 May 2026 continue to be assessed under the previous, shorter-residency wording — a protection the Constitutional Court effectively forced after striking down an earlier, retroactive version of the reform. That single clause is a big part of why the queue swelled in the first place — anyone close to five years' residence had every reason to file before the cut-off, old rules or not.

## GrowIN's read on the numbers

Not everyone in that 700,000-file queue is a foreign resident waiting on naturalisation. STRN itself estimates around 30% of the pending requests are immigrant naturalisations, with the rest covering descendants abroad claiming citizenship by descent, civil-registry corrections and other nationality-adjacent processes. Run the arithmetic and that puts roughly **210,000 foreign residents** — people who built a life in Portugal under the old five-year rule — stuck somewhere in that queue right now, waiting on a decision that, for many, will determine whether they get an EU passport before the new residency math applies to them. **"For long-term residents, the IRN queue has become a second residency requirement that never appeared in any law,"** says GrowIN Portugal Editorial.

## What's changing, slowly

The Ministry of Justice has started reinforcing the registry service: 47 new conservadores began work on 3 August 2026, including reinforcements at the Conservatória dos Registos Centrais and the Porto archive, with another 66 due to start in September — welcome, but a staffing fix rather than a guaranteed speed-up for anyone already in the queue.

## What to watch, and what to do

Anyone who filed before 19 May 2026 should keep their file current and responsive to any IRN notification rather than assume the clock is simply ticking in the background — delays sometimes stem from a document request sitting unopened, not pure backlog. Those still planning to apply should check current residency thresholds carefully on our [visas](/visas/) hub before assuming the old five-year rule still applies to them, since it no longer does for new filings. Track IRN's own guidance directly at aima.gov.pt and irn.justica.gov.pt, and treat any "fast-track" offer with scepticism — there is no paid expedite route through the Portuguese nationality system. Outcomes here, as with any residency or citizenship matter, depend entirely on the authorities handling your specific file, so professional advice remains the safer route for anyone with a complicated case.

## Sources

- [Observador](https://observador.pt/2025/06/26/sindicato-afirma-que-corrida-aos-pedidos-de-nacionalidade-agrava-700-mil-pendencias/)
- [Público](https://www.publico.pt/2024/05/29/sociedade/noticia/sindicato-registos-move-acoes-estado-falta-condicoes-trabalho-2092216)
- [Notícias ao Minuto](https://www.noticiasaominuto.com/pais/2814408/strn-um-terco-dos-700-mil-pedidos-de-nacionalidade-sao-de-imigrantes)
- [Sovereign Group](https://www.sovereigngroup.com/news/portugal-nationality-law-update/)

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© GrowIN Portugal. Cite as: GrowIN Portugal, "IRN Nationality Backlog Hits 700,000 as New Residency Rules Bite", https://www.growinportugal.com/news/nationality-applications-backlog-at-irn-balloons-to-700-000-2026-10-07