The federal government is using the term "cleared the queue" at INSS to refer to the normalization of the benefits processing flow, not the complete disappearance of pending requests. The relationship between the volume of incoming requests and the analysis capacity was restored to a normal level. There are still approximately 200 thousand requests awaiting a response for more than 45 days.
That number of 200 thousand requests, although it seems high, represents a major improvement compared to the previous scenario. At the end of the previous administration, there were 1.087 million requests accumulated in the INSS queue.
Lula had promised to clear the queue during his administration, but the opposite occurred. The queue grew significantly and reached its peak in February 2026, with 3.128 million requests, which caused a severe crisis at the agency.
Since then, the government has implemented measures to reduce the accumulated backlog, including hiring new employees, partial replacement of work teams, and expansion of the system's processing capacity.
