Brazilians spend the night in line to obtain citizenship in Portugal

• rebound: Portugal agrees to tighten citizenship, which harms thousands of Brazilians
• Bureaucracy: The analysis of applications for Portuguese citizenship was “frozen” in May

In Lisbon, Brazilians join immigrants of different nationalities in the fight to obtain a password at the Institute of Registries and Notaries (IRN).

Systems Director Celso Almeida said he spent the early hours of last Friday in line in Lisbon with about 80 migrants, including other Brazilians.

After five years in the country, he said he applied for citizenship based on length of residence. He states that he arrived at class at 11pm on Thursday and was presented at 5pm on Friday, 18 hours later.

– Out of 11 ticket windows, only four were open. I arrived at 11pm on a Thursday and spent the night.

A qualified IT specialist, a profile required by the most stringent government rules, Celso talks about moving to France, the headquarters of the company he works for:

– I do not intend to renew my residency. I have friends who have been waiting for their citizenship decision for three years. With this number of orders in recent months, it will take longer.

The story of Celso and other Brazilians happened on the same day (July 11) that Prime Minister Luis Montenegro, in a meeting in Brazil, tried to reassure President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of tougher rules on immigration.

There has been a rush to submit applications in light of the change in the rules of the citizenship law, making it more difficult for a Brazilian to obtain citizenship.

The law still depends on the approval of the president, who may send its text to the Constitutional Court to verify the legality of the new articles.

Changes in citizenship

1. residence: Increase from five to seven years in the period of residence for Brazilians, immigrants from African Portuguese-speaking countries (CPLP) and the European Union apply.
2. condition: The application can only be submitted with a residence permit issued, bypassing the waiting period due to immigration chaos.
3. A decade: Increasing the residency period from five to ten years for candidates of other nationalities to apply.
4. Sephardic: End of privilege for descendants of Sephardic Jews.
5. loss: Revoking citizenship in the event of committing a serious crime.
6. Great-grandchildren: Provides for the granting of original citizenship to grandchildren, provided that they prove an effective connection to Portugal
7. children: The normal period of residence of parents in Portugal increases from one to five years so that children of immigrants obtain automatic citizenship.

While a five-year residency law is considered a basic condition for obtaining citizenship, Brazilians try to pre-empt applications, but criticize the lack of dignity.

Brazilian Sonia Gomez, founder of the Association for the Support of Migrants, Migrants and Families (AAEIF), said she has already encountered the same queue and helps Brazilians wait early in the morning.

– Why is there no electronic program to alleviate this humiliation? Was it a pleasure to see our suffering? – asked Sonya.

When contacted, IRN did not respond.