Good grief. Support for Windows XP stopped over a decade ago.
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Same for the golden visa.
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Yeah, I thought that too. Not Win 10 or even 7, but something even more obsolete.
Good thing the IRN doesn’t handle sensitive data that hackers might be interested in… oh… wait 
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Indeed. Although I found everyone in Portugal was very supportive right up until the point they received my investment. Strange.
The thought of IRN leaping from Windows XP to AI should fill us all with dread.
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They have no money to upgrade the internal IT system but always have money to send over Ukraine. Maybe they can save even more money by using MS-Dos instead of Windows XP…
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I’ll have what he’s having
I suppose if PT ever comes out with a ‘civics test,’ this will be a potential answer to “Why do some Portuguese have such disdain for the Golden Visa?” (Abramovich apparently got his citizenship via the Sephardic route, btw)
Abramovich: five years later, the Portuguese passport remains unexplained.
He became a Portuguese citizen in just two and a half months in 2021, but the nationality process remains under investigation. The case exposed flaws in state control and led to a review of the law.
On April 30, 2021, Roman Abramovich became a Portuguese citizen in a process completed in just two and a half months – a timeframe considered exceptional by experts. Five years later the investigation remains unresolved.
(rest is behind paywall)
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thank you
I think some Portuguese have disdain for all naturalization, everything except citizenship by descent.
The Sephardic root is also closed in the new law, less than 3 years after they added a 3 year residency requirement. Which is a great example of stacking rug pulls BTW:
“Okay we’re now requiring residence but only 3 years”
people move to take advantage of 3 year residency requirement
“Haha just joking, it’s now 10 years”
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Interestingly this doesn’t seem to be true for AIMA. There are reports of 2025 GV applicants getting biometrics and cards much faster while 2022 applicants are still waiting.
I wonder if there’s some legal difference between IRN and AIMA that forces IRN to go chronologically but not AIMA.
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I think the way you read that should be more like
The new processes cannot be allowed to jump the queue, so we will finish the paper processes first, before beginning work on the online processes
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It’s Portugal… opinions and actual experience may vary 
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Does anyone know what the situation is with pending citizenship applications if IRN enquires with AIMA about your status while your card is expired?
My card expired end of 2025. I had a renewal appointment 5 months ago but not a peep out of AIMA since. A dependent is due to a renew this month but there is an error on the new portal preventing requests.
I presume there is some leeway at IRN for AIMA delays and incompetence?
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Your IRN process would be paused until your next card is issued. According to some old posts from this forum.
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I think the whole irregular vs illegal distinction comes into play.
My understanding:
- If you have had a renewal appoint and are awaiting renewal you’re legal.
- If you’ve scheduled a renewal appointment you’re legal.
- If you’re within 6 months of expiry and haven’t scheduled an appointment you’re irregular.
- If you’re more than 6 months since expiry and haven’t scheduled an appointment (and there’s no decree making it ok) you’re illegal.
It’s the last one that will be a problem with IRN.
At least this is what I got from our lawyers every time I got in a tizz about one of us being “illegal”. According to them, if you’re irregular you’re still in the process; once you’re illegal all bets are off.
Personal experience: none of us had valid cards when the decision was made. Mine expired a month before it went for analysis (but was still valid during the AIMA query).
A luta continua.
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As Lala mentioned it is slightly different and I do have several data points. I have two friends whose nationality applications have been approved despite the fact that their residency cards were expired. One of them had a renewal appointment scheduled and the one was waiting for his renewal card.
My lawyers have told me they’ve seen cases, where a client’s nationality request was approved while the residency renewal request was pending and have told me that the two process run independently.
In short if your residency card is expired, but you are waiting for a residency card or you have a scheduled appointment; you should be safe as per the above examples.
Being irregular as defined in Lala’s entry might be true but I have no direct data point to confirm it. For the first two, I have direct data points to confirm.
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That’s clearly new information as we were previously advised by a few posters that IRN would not issue citizenship until they can confirm a current valid residence card data (at some point in the process).
Thanks for sharing. I can stop bothering about my wait for the new card
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I applied (early application) on 21st April and my lawyer has shared three numbers: Numero Processo (xxxxx/26), Submissao (IRN-22xxx/2026, and Codigo Consulta xxxx-xxxx-xxxx.
Mine has been sent to “Arquivo Central do Porto” and my husband’s to Conservatoria dos Registos Centrais Lisboa.
Which is faster currently? Is Porto the black hole for applications?! Mine is the more complete application as I have everything except the time count (Oct 21 application), whereas my husband included a registration for A2 but hasn’t passed it yet. Was hoping that mine would be reviewed first as I probably then have a stronger case to sue if rejected than my husband… Oh well!
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Hi - since you’ve got recent experience with both Porto and Lisbon, is the Número do processo different between them?
- You wrote “Numero Processo (xxxxx/26)”
- @wood.collies.0j wrote “my process number is 2026/22XXX”
I’m getting the impression that the speed with which these numbers are assigned - and even the format of them - is different between the offices. Or because this is Portugal and randomness rules, perhaps even within the same office!
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The format of them both is exactly the same.
Arquivo Central do Porto 49xxx/26
Conservatória dos Registos Centrais 59xxx/26
However the layout of the information on the IRN page for checking status is quite different! Is that normal? For the one in Porto Porto there is a big tick and a date next to Submetido. Below it has my lawyer’s name and email (he submitted it)
For Registos Centrais it says under Submetido: O seu pedido está pronto para ser verificado. Below it is then a lot of information about typical processing times for different application types.
Does this means this second application hasn’t reached the first finalizado stage yet?
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This should update in a few days to have the full details with name/date etc., same as your other one.
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