There is no single waiting time for Portuguese citizenship. It depends on the type of application (child or grandchild, adult or minor) and on the registry office that reviews the case. Every month, the IRN publishes a table with the date of the applications currently under review at each office. That figure changes every month.
Two offices handle the attribution applications sent from abroad: the Central Archive of Porto and the Central Registry Office (Conservatória dos Registos Centrais) in Lisbon. Each has its own backlog and its own pace. Which queue you join depends on where the application was filed.
The latest IRN figures
According to figures the IRN published in August and September 2026, adult grandchildren were waiting around 35 months at the Central Archive of Porto and 54 months at the Central Registry Office. For adult children applying by birth registration, the gap was even wider: about 5 months in Porto and 33 in Lisbon. For minors, the queues are much shorter at both offices. These numbers change every month. Always check the current figures at irn.justica.gov.pt before planning around them.
Why grandchildren wait longer than children
The grandchild path requires the IRN to check a longer chain of relationship. The file includes three birth records: yours, your parent's as the middle link, and your grandparent's. On top of that, there is the review of effective ties to the national community required by paragraphs (c) to (h) of article 6 of the law. Together, these make each case slower to review.
Porto or Lisbon: where your application sits
The Central Archive of Porto does not serve the public directly. To put an application in the Porto queue, you file it at the Porto Civil Registry Office, which forwards it to the archive. Applications sent by post or filed at consulates usually go to the Central Registry Office in Lisbon. Applications through the online system also tend to land in the Lisbon queue. The difference between the two queues can be many months, so knowing where your case is helps you set realistic expectations.
How to follow your case
After filing, you can check the status of your case at irn.justica.gov.pt. The service status table shows the date of the applications under review for each type of application and each office. If your filing date does not appear in the table yet, your application is in the queue. When it appears, the IRN is reviewing applications from your period.
Sofia, from Recife, the granddaughter of a woman born in Braga, filed her application at the Central Registry Office in February 2024. She checks the service status table every month at irn.justica.gov.pt. In September 2026, the queue for adult grandchildren at the Central Registry Office was around 54 months. Sofia knows she still has a wait ahead, but she understands exactly where her case stands.
Your filing date sets your place in the queue
The IRN reviews applications in the order they arrive. Every week you do not file is one more week at the end of the wait. Gathering the documents and filing as early as possible makes a real difference to the total time. The time to order the certificates and get the apostilles is now.
Linha Reta drafts the declaration of intent and the complete list of documents for your case, so you can file as soon as possible. You order the records in Brazil and in Portugal, apostille the Brazilian ones, and file the package with the IRN.