Brazil's INSS aims to clear benefit backlog by September, says President Lula

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva announced that Brazil's Instituto Nacional do Seguro Social (INSS) will eliminate the waiting list for benefit applications by September. The goal was presented during a ceremony at the Palácio do Planalto and is positioned as a concrete achievement before the 2026 presidential elections.

The backlog has fallen from 3.1 million requests in February to about 2.2 million currently, a 29 % reduction in three months. Around 528,000 of the pending cases require documentation or other actions from claimants. Average processing time has shortened to 40 days in April, down from 59 days in February.

Ana Cristina Viana Silveira, a career civil servant with more than 20 years at the INSS, took over the agency in April, replacing Gilberto Waller. Lula praised her, saying, "she promised that by September she will zero the famous INSS queue of people waiting for benefits." The target is seen as a political effort to improve public perception of the government’s social‑security administration.