The Secretary of State for Portuguese Communities, Emídio Sousa, acknowledged that there are delays in confirming Portuguese nationality processesbut guaranteed that the Government is strengthening human resources to solve the problem “quickly”.
Speaking at the end of his official visit to Canada, on Friday night, Emídio Sousa admitted that “there are, in fact, some delays at the Institute of Registries and Notaries”, especially in Lisbon, and added that “the Government is already promoting the recruitment of 50 new technicians” to accelerate the processing of processes.
“Right now it is essentially a question of strengthening human resources, and, as soon as this process is completed, I believe that the problem will cease to exist,” he stated.
In recent months, several leaders and citizens of the diaspora have expressed concern about the delay in validating birth certificates sent by Portuguese consulates, which affects both newborns and adults born to Portuguese parents.
In some cases, processes have remained pending for months and, according to reports, waits can reach up to one year for requests from adults.
Although consulates process applications relatively quickly, the final phase of validation in the IRN, in Portugal, has been identified as the main bottleneck.
This difference in deadlines between citizens residing in the country and those living abroad has generated criticism of inequality in the treatment of Portuguese people in the diaspora, who claim to feel discriminated against.
“The Portuguese Government has an obligation to resolve this situation, ensuring that Portuguese children, regardless of where they were born, are treated as full citizens”, highlighted Emídio Sousa.
The government official also assured that he has been following the issue “for several months” and that the Ministry of Justice is already implementing concrete measures to reduce response time.
Emídio Sousa’s visit to Canada, between October 25th and 31st, included visits to Toronto, Edmonton, Ottawa and Montreal.
The program included the signing of several cooperation protocols in the areas of culture and teaching Portuguese, the reformulation of a new Portugal – Canada Chamber of Commerce in Alberta and meetings with association leaders and representatives of Portuguese-Canadian communities.
According to the 2021 Canadian census, 448,305 people declared Portuguese ancestry, a number that reflects the size of the Portuguese-Canadian community and its contribution to the country’s society.
The post Government admits delays in nationality processes and guarantees reinforcement of personnel to resolve problem appeared first on Veritas News.
