President António José Seguro formally promulgated the new Nationality Law on Sunday, May 3. The Parliament’s April 1 reform has now been signed by the President, who promulgated the revised law on May 3; the measure will come into force once published in the Diário da República. Under the new framework, the standard legal-residence requirement for naturalisation increases from five years to ten for most foreign nationals, while EU and CPLP (Portuguese-speaking) citizens benefit from a shorter seven-year threshold, and the residence clock starts from the date the first residence permit is issued rather than the application date. The key takeaway is that the reform targets citizenship timing rather than the residence permit itself: the five-year path to Permanent Residency remains unchanged
High Volume of Applications Filed with IRN
Following the news of nationality law ruling, the Institute of Registries and Notaries (IRN) has said that have registered very high levels of usage, with a significant increase in the number of nationality applications submitted through the online channel, following the announced amendment to the Nationality Law.
Last date to submit 5 year applications
for the purposes of applying the amendments to the Nationality Law, the date of submission of the application on the online platform will be considered . Nationality Law only applies to new applications for Portuguese nationality. The legally relevant date is the moment the application enters the system. applications made before the new law was approved will be reviewed under the criteria of the previous law, including the shorter residency requirements in Portugal.
Anyone who filed their nationality request before the new law takes effect – which will happen once it is published in the State newspaper Diário da República – will remain covered by the current regime, even if the Portuguese authorities only process the case weeks or months later. That includes the existing five-year residency rule and the current conditions for citizenship applications.
The President of Portugal made it clear he did not want pending applications unfairly harmed by the new changes.
New Changes to Citizenship Law
Until this May, a foreigner applying for Portuguese citizenship had to have five years’ residence.
- With the new law, this minimum period for submitting an application doubles: 10 years is the general rule. In the case of citizens of the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (CPLP) and of European Union member states, the period increases from five to seven years.
- the residence clock starts from the date the first residence permit is issued rather than the application date
- the new law also requiresone parent must have legally resided in Portugal for at least five years before the child can automatically receive Portuguese nationality at birth.
- elimination of the regimes for granting nationality to Portuguese Sephardic Jews, implemented in 2015,
- Foreigners seeking Portuguese citizenship will now have to prove sufficient knowledge of the Portuguese language, culture, history and national symbols, either through exams or official certification.
The Nationality law changes do not affect rules for permanent residency or golden visa program which is a key milestone to be reached after 5 years and thereafter proceed to citizenship..
