For years, Portugal was one of the easier ways to get EU citizenship in Europe. A relatively short five-year residency requirement, a welcoming immigration culture and a booming expat scene made it a top destination for those looking for a European passport. That day is past. After months of legislative debate, constitutional wrangling and presidential review, Portugal has reworked its citizenship Law – and the changes are significant.
The reform was not an overnight success. Portugal has amended its nationality law multiple times in the last decade with significant updates in 2018, 2020 and 2023. The current upgrade started in earnest in mid-2025. On 23 June 2025, the Council of Ministers adopted a legislative package providing for a vast reform of the rules on nationality and immigration, including the extension of the minimum period of residence for the acquisition of nationality and the obligation to take civic knowledge tests.
The road through Parliament was far from smooth. The final vote was held on October 28, 2025 and passed with 157 members of parliament voting in favour and 64 against. But the process was not over. The bill was sent for a preventive check of its constitutionality to the Constitutional Court by the Socialist Party. Some of the provisions were deemed unconstitutional and the law was returned to Parliament for amendment. Parliament had voted again on the resubmitted amendments in April 2026, and they had passed by a two-thirds majority. Then the president signed the amendments. The law was signed by the President on May 3, 2026 and will come into force as soon as it is published in the Diário da República.
The key element of the reform is the considerable increase in the length of residence necessary for naturalization. For most foreigners, it takes ten years to become a naturalized citizen instead of five. Citizens of EU member states and of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP) must wait seven years. For many expats, especially those from the UK, USA or non-Lusophone countries, this is a big change. Brexit will mean UK citizens will not be treated as EU nationals and will require ten years of legal residency. Those who came to Portugal partly for its short naturalization timeline will have to massively recalibrate their plans.
Practical twist, that could make the effective wait even longer. The residency clock, which starts when the Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum (AIMA) grants a residence permit, not when an applicant requests it, reverses a 2024 change intended to protect applicants from bureaucratic delays. AIMA has historically taken years to process applications so legal experts have estimated the real-world naturalization timeline at anywhere from nine to thirteen years under the new rules. New Integration Requirements The reform also sets stricter integration criteria. Applicants must pass an examination to the Portuguese language, culture, history and national symbols and prove that they have sufficient financial means to live in Portugal. The language requirement itself, an A2 level of Portuguese, is unchanged from before, but the addition of a civic knowledge test adds another layer of scrutiny.
Applicants would also need to submit a formal declaration that they will respect democratic principles. This indicates a wider change in Portugal’s approach: citizenship is no longer mainly a matter of time on Portuguese soil, but of demonstrated integration into Portuguese society and civic life. Children born in Portugal The rules for children born in Portugal to foreign parents have also become stricter. Children of foreign citizens will also be eligible for citizenship if one of their parents has legally resided in Portugal for at least five years before the child was born. The previous threshold had only been one year of parent residency. The change has been criticized by immigration advocates, who say it could leave children stateless or legally precarious if their parents have not yet met the new standard.
Another important new provision is related to criminal records. Applicants sentenced to three years or more are not eligible for Portuguese citizenship. In addition, the reform introduced a mechanism for revocation of citizenship in cases of a serious criminal conviction — though this provision is still legally challenged. The Constitutional Court annulled a similar provision in December 2025 when it analysed the first version of the legislation and whether the reformulated formulation stands up to scrutiny will determine if Portuguese courts can revoke the nationality of naturalized citizens due to criminal conviction.
What the reform does not change It is worth mentioning what it does not change. The Golden Visa program itself was not debated by the Legislature. The five-year permanent residency is unaffected. The new timelines only apply to naturalization. So current Golden Visa holders don’t lose their residency rights – they’ll just have to wait longer to convert that residency into citizenship. Get Golden Visa There is also no change to the new citizenship by descent residency rules as there is no residency requirement for that pathway.
Portugal’s move is not happening in a vacuum. Other EU countries are also eyeing tougher naturalization rules, with the Netherlands, for example, debating whether to extend the naturalization period from five to ten years. In Europe, citizenship policy seems to be on a more restrictive trajectory, based on concerns about integration, identity and the misuse of fast-track routes. Immigrant Invest The Bottom Line Portugal’s new Nationality Law is the most significant overhaul of its citizenship framework in years. The landscape has fundamentally shifted for those who arrived in Portugal with a five-year passport timeline. The law is signed, the direction is clear and once published in the Diário da República there is no going back. If you are dealing with this system, it would be wise to get professional legal advice to understand how the new rules apply to your own individual situation.
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