Sephardic Citizenship Portugal › Court action against IRN delay
Court action against IRN delaySephardic citizenship stuck at IRN: your court options in 2026
- The Sephardic route closed to new applications on 19 May 2026. Files pending on that date continue under the previous law.
- Ordinary route: a formal request to IRN, then an ação administrativa de condenação. The court orders IRN to decide; it does not grant nationality. Indicative duration: about two years.
- An urgent intimação (CPTA art. 109) needs specific urgency. The court accepted one for a seriously ill, elderly applicant and rejected generic delay.
Is it time to act on your pending Sephardic file?
Enter your filing details to compare your wait with IRN's published waiting times and see which legal step is worth discussing. It is an orientation, not legal advice.
Enter your filing date to check your file.
Waiting times are IRN's published figures for August 2026 as reported by a secondary source (about 50 months in Porto, 62 months in Lisbon). Check IRN's latest table. Files pending on 19 May 2026 follow the previous law.
What the 19 May 2026 closure means for your file
No new applications
Lei Orgânica 1/2026 ended the Sephardic route for new applications from 19 May 2026.
Pending files continue
Files pending on that date follow the previous law, under the transitional rule in art. 7.º.
≈160,000 files waiting
On 30 June 2025 IRN had 515,334 nationality files pending, about 31% of them Sephardic.
Sources: Lei Orgânica 1/2026, Ministry of Justice notice, IRN statistics release. Some reports cite other cut-off dates, so we check each file against the law, not the press.
Three ways to make IRN decide
| Step | What it is | Legal basis | When it fits |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Formal request | A written request to IRN to decide your file, creating a record. | CPA, arts. 13 and 129 (duty to decide) | Usually the first step for any long-pending file. |
| 2. Ordinary court action | Ação administrativa de condenação à prática de ato devido. The court orders IRN to decide. | CPTA, arts. 66, 67 and 71 | Your wait is past IRN's published window. Indicative duration: about two years. |
| 3. Urgent intimação | Intimação para proteção de direitos, liberdades e garantias, for specific urgency. | CPTA, art. 109 | Only with specific urgency, such as serious illness or advanced age. |
What the courts accepted and rejected
10 April 2025
The Tribunal Central Administrativo Sul accepted an urgent intimação for an elderly, seriously ill Sephardic applicant.
Proc. 2768/24.0BELSB
7 February 2026
The same court rejected an urgent claim based only on generic delay.
Proc. 89021/25.6BELSB.CS1
Search the judgments in the official DGSI database. Every case turns on its facts.
What to gather before a file review
What a lawyer does with your file
- Checks which rules apply to your dates
- Compares your wait with IRN's published times
- Explains whether to wait, send a formal request, or go to court
- If you proceed, files the action and represents you
If your file is not an option, other routes remain
Descent from a Portuguese parent or grandparent, naturalisation by residence, the Golden Visa and the D7 are still open. Read more on our citizenship sites: citizenship for descendants · naturalization · Golden Visa · D7 visa · our Sephardic citizenship lawyer page.
Court action against IRN delay: frequently asked questions
Can I still apply for Portuguese citizenship as a Sephardic Jew?
No. The Sephardic route closed to new applications on 19 May 2026 under Lei Orgânica 1/2026. Files pending on that date continue under the previous law (art. 7.º).
How long does a pending Sephardic file take in 2026?
IRN's published waiting times for Sephardic analysis in August 2026 were reported at about 50 months at the Arquivo Central do Porto and 62 months at the Registos Centrais in Lisbon. These figures come from a secondary report and should be checked against IRN's latest table.
Can I sue IRN for the delay?
You can ask the administrative court to order IRN to decide. The usual order is a formal request to IRN first, then an ação administrativa de condenação à prática de ato devido.
Will the court give me Portuguese citizenship?
No. The court orders IRN to decide your file. It does not grant nationality.
How long does the court action take?
The indicative duration of the ordinary action is about two years, but it varies by court and by case.
When is an urgent intimação possible?
Only with specific urgency. The Tribunal Central Administrativo Sul accepted one for an elderly, seriously ill Sephardic applicant on 10 April 2025 (proc. 2768/24.0BELSB) and rejected a generic delay claim on 7 February 2026 (proc. 89021/25.6BELSB.CS1).
Which rules apply to my pending file?
Files pending on 19 May 2026 follow the previous law. Files filed from 1 September 2022 also had to prove an effective and lasting connection to Portugal under Decreto-Lei 26/2022.
What should I do before taking legal action?
Answer any document request from IRN, send a formal request under the duty to decide, keep every record, and ask a lawyer to review your file and your dates.
Official sources
Figures on this page were checked on 2 November 2026. Always confirm amounts and dates with the official source before you act.
Talk to a lawyer about your Sephardic file
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