Portugal’s Nationality Law Reform: What Every Foreign Resident Should Know

Updated May 19, 2026 — This article has been revised to reflect the law’s entry into force following publication in the Diário da República on May 18, 2026.

Portugal’s revised Nationality Law is now in force. Published in the Diário da República on May 18, 2026, the law entered into force on May 19, 2026. The five-year citizenship window has closed. For anyone holding a Portuguese residency visa, whether under the D7, D8, Golden Visa, or other programs, the rules have permanently changed.

What changed and when

The reform had a long and contested path. Parliament first approved amendments on October 28, 2025. The Constitutional Court then struck down several provisions in December 2025. A revised version was approved on April 1, 2026, and promulgated by President António José Seguro on May 3, 2026. Publication in the Diário da República followed on May 18, 2026, bringing the law into effect the following day.

The new rules, in full

1. Longer residency requirements

The standard path to citizenship now requires:

• 10 years of legal residence for non-EU and non-CPLP nationals
• 7 years for nationals of EU member states and CPLP (Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries) nations, including Brazilians, Angolans, Mozambicans, and Cape Verdeans

2. The clock starts from permit issuance, not application

This is one of the most consequential changes. The residency period is now counted from the date AIMA issues your residence permit, not from the date you applied. This reverses a 2024 reform that had been designed to protect applicants from bureaucratic delays. Given that AIMA has historically taken many months to process residency permits, legal practitioners estimate the effective total wait under the new framework could reach nine to thirteen years for many applicants.

3. New integration requirements

Naturalization applicants must now demonstrate:

• Proficiency in the Portuguese language (A2 level minimum)
• Knowledge of Portuguese culture, civic rights and duties, and the country’s political organization through a formal assessment
• A solemn declaration of adherence to democratic principles
• Sufficient means of subsistence
• A clean criminal record – applicants with sentences of three years or more are ineligible

4. Changes affecting children born in Portugal

Children born in Portugal to foreign parents now qualify as citizens of origin only if at least one parent has been legally resident in Portugal for at least five years. The previous threshold was one year.

5. The Sephardic program is abolished

The citizenship program for descendants of Portuguese Sephardic Jews, introduced in 2015, has been eliminated under the new law.

What about pending applications?

This is critical. The Constitutional Court ruled during the legislative process that applying the new, longer residency timelines to existing pending applications would be unconstitutional. Applicants with cases already filed at the IRN (Instituto dos Registos e do Notariado) should not be subject to the new ten-year or seven-year requirements.

President Seguro also made a pointed public statement at promulgation, stressing that pending processes must not be harmed by the legislative change, and that legally fixed timelines should not be undermined by administrative delays attributable to the state – a direct reference to AIMA’s well-documented backlogs.

Why this matters

The new regime fundamentally changes both the timeline and the planning calculus for foreign residents:

• Those who expected citizenship after five years now face a wait of up to a decade or longer
• Holding a residency permit (D7, D8, D2, Golden Visa) does not automatically guarantee citizenship under the new system; the integration requirements are stricter and the timeline is longer.
• The citizenship clock starts from permit issuance, not application. This is particularly significant for anyone who applied recently and is still awaiting their first card.
• Financial and tax planning for investors and retirees who built their strategy around the five-year EU citizenship path will need to be revisited.
• Family members relying on a main applicant’s naturalization timeline will face the same extended wait.

What to do now

If you have a pending application: Keep it active, document everything, and monitor how the IRN handles your case under the transitional framework. Do not assume automatic protection without legal confirmation of your status.

If you are in the early stages of residency (under 5 years): Plan for the new ten-year (or seven-year) timeline from your permit issuance date. Maintain continuous legal residence, keep permits renewed, and begin building the documentation required under the new integration framework well in advance.

For everyone: Monitor the Diário da República and IRN guidance for implementing regulations that will define the procedural details of the new civic knowledge test and other requirements. The law is in force, but not all operational details have been published.

Who is most affected

• Non-EU nationals residing under the D7, D8, Golden Visa, or other long-term permits who built their plans around the five-year path
• Investors and retirees for whom EU citizenship after five years was part of long-term financial or tax structuring
• Families where dependents’ citizenship depends on the main applicant’s naturalization timeline
• Applicants who had not yet filed but were approaching the five-year mark
• Children of foreign residents born in Portugal, given the new five-year parent residency requirement

Who is less affected

• Applicants with cases already pending at the IRN, who are protected from retroactive application of the new timelines
• EU and CPLP nationals, who benefit from the reduced seven-year requirement
• Residents focused on long-term stay rather than naturalization, as residence permit renewals are entirely unaffected

Final thoughts

Portugal’s nationality reform replaces one of Europe’s most accessible citizenship regimes with a significantly more demanding and lengthier process. The new ten-year standard, combined with the clock-start rule and AIMA’s processing history, means that for many applicants the practical road to a Portuguese passport now stretches well over a decade.

If you already hold a pending application, your position may be protected, but that protection needs to be confirmed and actively managed. If you are earlier in the process, the time to start planning is now.

The path to Portuguese citizenship remains open. It requires more time, more preparation, and more careful documentation than before. Early and informed legal advice can make a material difference to your outcome.

For tailored guidance on your specific residency or citizenship situation, contact MSP Lawyer for a legal review of your case and timeline.