I can’t agree more, we now hear Faro starting to approve 2025 cases, whereas Porto still struggles to make significant progress, yes we now see some odd Jan 2024 cases getting approved, but December is untouched so is most of November..
That fast-track online application stuff is one of the biggest “non-functioning” things in the whole process. It almost slowed down the whole process, by channeling most of the applications into already overwhelmed IRNs of Porto and Lisbon. It almost seems deliberate as well.
When I applied, 18-24 months was the norm, and as things were automated the expectation was that things will speed up as 3 steps of the 7 step process was automated.. which didn’t happen, so we are where we are.. In my opinion most of this is deliberate slowing down of the naturalization proces.