Portugal · Citizenship by naturalisation
Naturalisation (Lei da Nacionalidade, as amended by Organic Law 1/2026)
Fundamentally reformed by Organic Law 1/2026, published in Diário da República no. 95 on 18 May 2026 and in force 19 May 2026. Residency requirement rose from 5 years to 7 years (EU and Portuguese-speaking countries) or 10 years (all others).
This is the most consequential immigration change in Western Europe in 2025–26 and it is widely misreported. The Constitutional Court struck down retroactive application in December 2025, so Parliament re-passed the law with a narrow saving clause: Article 7(2) preserves the old five-year rule only for administrative procedures already pending on 19 May 2026. A residence permit is not a pending procedure. Tens of thousands of residents who assumed they were protected are not.
Qualifying routes
7 years of legal residence (Article 6(1)(b)). Approximate government fee.
10 years of legal residence (Article 6(1)(b)). Approximate government fee.
4 years of legal residence; procedure is free of charge (Article 6(3), 6(12))
Article 6(8): residency-period requirement waived, but 5 years of legal residence in Portugal is still required
Article 3: 3+ years of marriage, or 3+ years of de facto union with a court declaration of recognition; acquisition by declaration, not naturalisation
The facts
- Qualifying figure
- €250
- Total landed cost
- EUR 250–400 in government fees per applicant plus EUR 2–6k in legal and document costs; the real cost is the ten-year residence itself
- Timeline
- 12–36 months — IRN processing after the residence period; historically 12–24 months, with the 2026 rule change expected to add friction
- Physical presence
- legal residence throughout; Article 15(3) allows aggregation of continuous or interrupted periods provided they fall within a window of 6 years (stateless), 9 years (EU/CPLP) or 12 years (other nationalities)
- Family
- minor children of a naturalising parent may acquire by declaration (Article 2)
- Permanent residency
- not applicable
- Citizenship
- 7 or 10 years from the issuance of the first residence permit
- Language test
- Article 6(1)(c): must demonstrate, by test or certificate, sufficient knowledge of the Portuguese language and culture, and of national history and symbols. CPLP nationals are presumed to satisfy the language limb unless a manifest lack of Portuguese is evident (Article 6(10)). The exact level is being reset by regulation.
- Dual citizenship
- Permitted
- Requirements
- adult under Portuguese law7 or 10 years of legal residence depending on nationalityPortuguese language, culture, history and national symbols test or certificatesufficient knowledge of fundamental rights, duties and the political organisation of the Portuguese statesolemn declaration of adherence to democratic rule-of-law principlescriminal record clearance (Portugal and countries of nationality/residence)not a national security threat; not subject to UN/EU sanctionscapacity to ensure own subsistencebiometric data collection
- The clock now starts at the issuance of the first residence permit. Article 15(4), which allowed counting from the date the residence-permit application was submitted, has been expressly revoked by Article 5 of Organic Law 1/2026. Combined with AIMA's multi-year backlog, this silently adds two to three years to every timeline.
- Article 7(2) grandfathering is narrower than the marketing suggests. It protects pending nationality applications — not pending residence applications, and not residence permit holders who had not yet filed for nationality.
- New substantive bars apply: a solemn declaration of adherence to democratic rule-of-law principles (Article 6(1)(e)), no conviction with an effective prison sentence over 3 years for terrorism, violent, highly organised crime, crimes against state security or aiding illegal immigration (Article 6(1)(f)), no threat to national security (6(1)(g)), no UN/EU restrictive measures (6(1)(h)), and capacity to support oneself (6(1)(i)).
- The culture/history/symbols test in Article 6(1)(c) is new and broader than the old A2 language test. Its format and level are set by regulation that was due within 90 days of 18 May 2026 and is still outstanding as of mid-July 2026 — clients cannot currently prepare for a test that has not been defined.
- Article 12(B) now requires 10 years of good-faith holding for nationality to consolidate against a nullity declaration, and consolidation never applies where nationality was fraudulently obtained.
- Litigation risk cuts both ways: Golden Visa investors have already challenged the law at the Constitutional Court. Further changes are plausible and a client should not treat today's rules as settled.