The Institute of Registries and Notaries (IRN) is introducing a new online platform aimed at streamlining the nationality application process through automation and the digitalization of documents.
The IRN anticipates that this initiative will boost service capacity for processing nationality applications by 50%. In a statement, the institute highlighted that the new Nationality Platform will enable the "digitalization of all operations linked to nationality applications, from submission and document handling to analysis and final decision-making."
Featuring "new functionalities, automation, and artificial intelligence," the platform will initially launch at the Central Registry Office in Lisbon and the Central Archive in Porto, with plans to expand to 16 branches of the Civil Registry services across the country by 4 November.
Secretary of State for Justice, Maria José Barros, emphasized that "delays in verifying and validating elements, receiving applications, and the manual and redundant tasks currently cause significant bottlenecks in processing nationality requests." The government is optimistic that this new technology will help clear the backlog of pending applications, noting that "nothing is more frustrating than waiting a long time for an application to be processed."
The platform will enable "document digitization," use AI to "extract applicant identification data," and "automatically categorize applications based on type," according to the IRN. With these automated processes, staff will only need to validate uploaded information, reducing average processing time from nearly two hours to around 30 minutes.
In the area of nationality, accepting paper documents is the main cause of inefficiencies, adding extra bureaucracy, logistical challenges, and a higher risk of fraud, according to the IRN.
In 2022, the IRN received a record 230,000 applications for Portuguese nationality. These applications are processed based on factors such as years of legal residence in Portugal, family nationality, and place of birth, among other criteria.
This project was funded by the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP) with an initial budget of €1.4 million.
Filomena Rosa, the president of the IRN, noted that the new platform will make services more efficient and improve productivity. The platform is linked to the civil registry system, allowing the automatic registration of birth certificates when nationality is granted. Applicants will also be able to track the progress of their application online with greater transparency.
In 2023, the IRN launched an online portal for nationality applications, which is mandatory for lawyers and solicitors. So far, more than 53,000 applications have been submitted through this portal. This system has helped make the services more efficient by reducing the reliance on paper documents and easing the burden on in-person services.
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