The judicial route as a solution for delays in Portuguese Nationality

Judicialization has become an important alternative for those who face delays in the analysis of nationality applications, especially in European countries. An example of this is the case of Lanny Fortes Máximo, who resorted to the courts to guarantee his Portuguese nationality.

What is Judicialization?

Judicialization of a nationality case means taking the request to court when there is a delay or an incorrect decision by the public administration. This practice is common in several countries, such as:

• Italy: Many people turn to the courts when the Italian citizenship process takes too long.
• Spain: If the nationality request is not answered within one year, the citizen can resort to legal means.
• France, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Austria and Poland: In these countries, it is also possible to go to court in case of delays or erroneous decisions.

Judicialization in Portugal

In Portugal, the number of cases of judicialization has increased. This is due to the increase in requests and the slowness in analysis. When the public administration fails to meet deadlines or makes undue decisions, citizens can resort to the judicial system.

A concrete example is that of Lanny Fortes Máximo. He had been waiting since 2022 for his application for Portuguese nationality to be analyzed. As he did not receive a response within the expected time frame, he appealed to the courts. After a few months, the ruling was favorable and guaranteed the conclusion of his process. This allowed Lanny to plan his permanent move to Portugal, where he had already purchased a property.

How does Judicialization help?

Going to court has proven to be an effective solution to speed up the nationality process. In Portugal, the public administration has realized that citizens no longer accept delays. As a result, electronic platforms and artificial intelligence tools have been created to try to speed up the processes, as explained by Isabel Comte, a lawyer at Martins Castro.

Isabel also emphasizes that modernizing the nationality process is a priority. She comments: “A new platform was recently launched to modernize the nationality process, but it is still under development. Given this slow pace, lawyers have increasingly resorted to the courts to guarantee the rights of applicants.”

The Judicialization Trend

Today, anyone who makes a request to the public administration must be aware that it may be necessary to resort to the courts. Isabel Comte states: “This practice is already part of the European judicial system and the monitoring of administrative action.”

Martins Castro is a pioneer in this type of legal action, helping many clients to speed up their nationality applications. For more information and to find out if it is possible to speed up the completion of your process through the courts, click here.

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