Thousands of Israelis waited in line outside of Cinema City Glilot in the central city of Ramat Hasharon on Friday morning to book an appointment with the Portuguese Embassy to receive citizenship or renew Portuguese passports.

A line stretched from the entrance of the complex down to its underground parking structure after the Portuguese Embassy announced that it would allow people to wait in person – without advance scheduling – to secure appointments for citizenship or renewing Portuguese passports in December and January.

The embassy announced last month that it would be holding a special “Old times are back” event, temporarily bypassing its chronically overloaded online appointment system.

In an announcement on the embassy’s Facebook page, it wrote that the event was “open to all Portuguese citizens.”

News of the opportunity spread quickly, drawing far more people than the venue could comfortably accommodate, with people waiting in line all day long. Many arrived before dawn in hopes of getting a slot, while others turned back after seeing the immense wait.

According to a post on the Embassy’s Facebook page following the........

© The Times of Israel