Tech Turbulence Delays Portuguese Passports, Expats Warned to Plan Ahead

Holiday-season queues at Portugal’s registry counters are stretching well past the front doors, and the nation’s passport printers are struggling to keep up. A cocktail of computer glitches, understaffing and record demand is slowing the delivery of the Passaporte Eletrónico Português just as residents—with or without dual citizenship—are trying to head abroad. Authorities insist the system is “operational,” yet front-line workers warn that the backlog is growing by the hour.

Why your Portuguese passport might take longer right now

Year after year, July and August bring a spike in travel paperwork, but 2025 has been unusually fraught. Registry employees’ union STRN says the core software that powers local conservatórias “halts or freezes several times a day,” forcing clerks to restart transactions from scratch. Offices in Arruda dos Vinhos, Caldas da Rainha, Faro, Porto and Lisbon’s Avenida Fontes Pereira de Melo have all reported outages. The head of STRN, Arménio Maximino, claims the failures are “systemic,” pointing to even longer delays for urgent same-day passports, known locally as PEP urgente. Staff shortages compound the issue; many civil servants took pre-approved leave before the latest malfunctions flared.

What is breaking inside the registry offices

The backbone of passport issuance relies on two interconnected platforms—SIRIC for citizen data and PEP for biometric document production. According to technicians, the SIRIC servers have experienced “intermittent connectivity drops” since early July, while the PEP module occasionally loses its link to the national biometric database. When that happens, printers cannot receive the secure QR codes that validate each booklet. IRN, the registry authority, acknowledges “latency” but contends that a dedicated tech team is monitoring traffic 24/7. In raw numbers, 46,971 passport requests landed in the system during July alone—an all-time monthly record that helped expose the software’s limited scalability.

The official response – and what it means in practice

Publicly, the Ministry of Justice maintains that services are “functional,” stressing that most applicants still receive travel documents within the statutory deadlines. Yet insiders admit that priority passports—the 72-hour and 24-hour options expats often rely on before last-minute flights—are now the hardest to guarantee. No agency has released statistics on how many urgent requests remain pending, a data gap the union calls “alarming.” For now, authorities advise travelers to apply “well in advance,” though they have not defined what “well” means in concrete days. Anecdotally, applicants who push through the electronic queue at Lisbon’s Loja do Cidadão are being offered pickup dates 2-3 weeks out rather than the usual 5-7 days.

Tips for travelers and applicants

If you hold Portuguese nationality—or are a newly naturalized foreign resident—plan for contingencies. Secure appointment slots online but also keep copies of confirmation emails in case systems crash on arrival. Airlines operating from Portugal continue to honor valid residence cards for EU travel, yet destinations such as the US, UK and Brazil still require a passport even for dual nationals. Should your booklet expire while you wait, border police can issue a salvo-conduto (temporary travel document), but only for documented emergencies like medical care or funerals. Travel insurance that covers missed departures has become a wise add-on this summer.

Behind the scenes: the long road to digital overhaul

The outage saga has revived a perennial debate over how Portugal modernizes public IT. Current proposals range from a full migration to government-approved cloud clusters to selective outsourcing of software maintenance. Advocates of open-source solutions argue that code transparency could prevent vendor lock-in and accelerate bug fixes. Skeptics counter that cloud and outsourcing deals risk new vulnerabilities, while open-source rollouts require internal skills that registries currently lack. Whatever model wins, funding must pass through the 2026 state budget, meaning relief is unlikely before next summer’s getaway rush.

Spotting and avoiding fake online intermediaries

While frustrations pile up, bogus websites have begun mimicking state portals and charging mark-ups for certificates or “express” passport slots they cannot really deliver. IRN has flagged at least a dozen domains with names that look official—often a .com or .net variation of justica.gov.pt. Before entering card details, confirm you are on the secure https://justica.gov.pt domain or call the national helpline, 211 950 500, for verification. Any suspected fraud should be reported to the Polícia Judiciária’s cyber-crime unit. Remember: authentic registries never ask for payment through third-party wallets, and all official fees are listed in euros—not dollars or crypto.