Parliament Doubles the Wait for Portuguese Citizenship — What the New Nationality Law Means for Expats and Immigrants

The Biggest Change to Portugal's Citizenship Rules in a Decade Passed on 1 April — and It Affects Everyone Who Plans to Stay

Portugal's Assembly of the Republic approved a sweeping revision of the Nationality Law on 1 April 2026 by a vote of 152 to 64, with one abstention. The legislation, which emerged from a last-minute deal between the governing Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the right-wing Chega, more than doubles the residency requirement for naturalisation and removes all transitional protections for people already in the process of applying.

The law now goes to President António José Seguro, a Socialist who opposed the deal, for promulgation. He may sign it, veto it, or refer it to the Constitutional Court — which already struck down four provisions of an earlier version in December 2025 on equality grounds. Publication in the Diário da República is expected by May 2026 if the President signs.

What Changed — the Key Numbers

The headline change is the residency period required before a foreign national can apply for Portuguese citizenship by naturalisation:

• Third-country nationals (non-EU, non-CPLP): 10 years of legal residence, up from five years under the previous law.
• EU and CPLP nationals (citizens of Portuguese-speaking countries such as Brazil, Angola, Mozambique, and Cape Verde): 7 years, up from three years.

Crucially, the residence period is now calculated from the date the first residence permit card is issued — not from the date the application was submitted. For anyone who waited months or years for AIMA to process their paperwork, this clock-start rule could add significant extra time.

Criminal Conviction Thresholds Tightened

The revised law sets two criminal thresholds:

• 3 or more years of prison sentence: Bars an applicant from obtaining Portuguese nationality. This threshold was lowered from the five years PSD originally proposed, matching Chega's demand.
• 5 or more years of prison sentence for serious crimes: Can trigger the loss of already-acquired Portuguese nationality. The list of qualifying offences has been expanded to include criminal-association leadership, arms trafficking, and drug trafficking, in addition to aggravated homicide, slavery, human trafficking, rape, and sexual abuse of minors.

Birthright Citizenship Restricted

A child born in Portugal to foreign parents will now acquire Portuguese citizenship at birth only if at least one parent has held legal residency for five years. Under the previous rules, a single year of parental residence — and in some cases presence without full legal status — was sufficient.

No Transitional Protections — the Most Controversial Provision

Perhaps the most contentious element of the new law is what it does not include: there is no transitional regime. Once the law is promulgated and enters into force, it applies immediately and in full to all applicants — including those who have been living in Portugal for years and were months away from qualifying under the old five-year rule.

The Socialist Party had pushed for grandfather clauses to protect people already in the residency pipeline. PSD rejected this in its deal with Chega, and both parties voted together to exclude transitional provisions from the final text.

Immigration lawyers and advocacy groups have warned that this could affect tens of thousands of residents who structured their lives around the previous timeline. The Constitutional Court's December 2025 ruling had already flagged the lack of transitional protection as a potential equality concern.

What Happens Next — the Presidential Question

President Seguro faces three options:

1. Promulgate: Sign the law into force, likely within weeks.
2. Veto: Return it to Parliament. A veto can be overridden by the same two-thirds majority that passed it.
3. Refer to the Constitutional Court: Ask the court to rule on whether the law violates the Constitution — particularly the lack of transitional protections that the court previously flagged.

Given the President's Socialist affiliation and the court's December precedent, a referral to the Constitutional Court is considered the most likely outcome by legal commentators. This could delay the law's entry into force by several months.

What This Means for You

If you are a foreign resident in Portugal planning to apply for citizenship, here is what you should know:

• If you already meet the old 5-year requirement: File your application as soon as possible. Until the new law is published in the Diário da República and enters into force, the current rules still apply. There is no guarantee of a grace period.
• If you are a CPLP national with 3-6 years of residence: You may no longer qualify under the new 7-year rule. Consult an immigration lawyer about whether submitting before promulgation could preserve your eligibility.
• If you are a non-EU, non-CPLP national with fewer than 10 years: The new timeline means a significantly longer wait. Consider whether permanent residency — which has different requirements — might serve your needs in the interim.
• If you have a criminal record: The lower 3-year threshold makes it essential to obtain a legal assessment of how your record is classified under Portuguese law.

The Portugal Brief will continue to track the presidential decision and any Constitutional Court proceedings. If you have not yet read our guide to AIMA and the residency permit process, it provides essential context for understanding how the new nationality timeline interacts with the permit system.

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