Francisco Lima said that INE intends to conclude by April 18 the process of distributing letters with codes that will allow the Portuguese to participate in Census 2021 via the Internet as of April 19.

"We have 11 thousand enumerators distributing letters to the entire population and, in truth, they are already doing more than that. One of the novelties in these Censuses is that there is an association between the letter received with the code and the accommodation that receives it ", explained the president of INE in a presentation session, where the Public Security Police (PSP) was also present.

Citizens who do not have the possibility to answer the 2021 Census remotely or need support can go with the INE letter to the E-counters of the parish councils to do so or, "as a last resort", wait for the questionnaires in paper, which will be delivered from May 31 directly by the enumerators, complying with public health security protocols.

To avoid scams, PSP officer Nuno Carocha stressed the signs that the population should be aware of: enumerators have a yellow reflective vest, are identified as INE employees and, "at no time, request any monetary value or entry into the residence".

Citizens who have doubts when approached should pay attention to these forms of identification of enumerators and, if necessary, contact the PSP who "will be available to support the population".

The response phase begins on April 19, when citizens must complete the Censuses "preferably via the Internet" through the 'website' - https://censos2021.ine.pt/, but they can also do so via telephone - 21 054 20 21, which in addition to being a support line allows, for the first time, to respond to the Census, according to the president of INE.

INE's expectation is that it will not be necessary to impose fines for lack of answers, because there is no history of this situation, however if they are applied they may go up to €25,000.

INE predicts that the data collection for the 2021 Census will be completed by the end of June and in August the first results will be released.