What Parliament Voted On — April 1, 2026
On April 1, 2026, the Portuguese Parliament (Assembleia da República) approved the revised Nationality Law by a two-thirds majority — 152 votes in favor, 64 against, and one abstention from JPP (Juntas de Freguesia da Paisagem). The vote concluded weeks of political negotiation, primarily between the center-right PSD and the far-right Chega, which reached an agreement to advance the legislation. CDS-PP and IL also voted in favor. The Socialist Party (PS), Communist Party (PCP), Left Bloc (BE), Livre, and PAN all voted against, arguing that the reform would disproportionately harm immigrants who had already built their lives in Portugal under a different set of expectations. The vote result was confirmed and widely reported by Portuguese and international media on April 2, 2026.
The legislation passed under article 168, paragraph 6, of the Portuguese Constitution, which requires a two-thirds majority for organic laws — a category that includes nationality law. By achieving that threshold, Parliament secured the supermajority required to enact binding changes to citizenship rules. The law has now been transmitted to the President of the Republic, who may promulgate it, exercise a political veto, or refer it to the Constitutional Court (Tribunal Constitucional) for a preventive constitutionality review. Several constitutional law scholars have already published opinions suggesting the law may be vulnerable on legitimate expectations grounds due to the complete absence of transitional provisions. Whether those arguments succeed remains an open question.
New Residency Requirements for Citizenship
The most consequential change in the approved law is the extension of the legal residency requirement for naturalization. Under the previous Nationality Law (Lei n.º 37/81, as amended most recently in 2020), non-EU nationals needed to demonstrate five years of legal residence in Portugal before applying for Portuguese citizenship by naturalization. The newly approved legislation doubles that requirement to ten years. This change applies to all third-country nationals — citizens of countries that are neither EU member states nor CPLP members.
The practical impact is severe for large communities currently residing in Portugal. Nationals of India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and many other non-CPLP, non-EU countries make up a substantial share of Portugal's immigrant population. A person who moved to Portugal in 2022 and had been planning a 2027 citizenship application now faces a 2032 minimum wait, assuming all other naturalization conditions are met throughout that period. For families who made long-term financial and personal decisions — purchasing property, enrolling children in Portuguese schools, turning down career opportunities abroad — based on the five-year timeline, the approved change represents a significant uncompensated disruption. No provision in the approved law addresses these existing life plans or offers a pathway for those caught mid-way through the previous requirement.
CPLP and EU Nationals: The 7-Year Rule
Citizens of CPLP (Comunidade dos Países de Língua Portuguesa) member states — Brazil, Angola, Mozambique, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, São Tomé and Príncipe, East Timor, and Equatorial Guinea — as well as citizens of EU member states, face a different but still substantially extended requirement. The previous minimum was three years of legal residence for CPLP nationals; the approved law raises this to seven years. EU nationals, who were also previously eligible under the three-year rule in certain circumstances, face the same seven-year threshold under the new framework.
Brazilian nationals represent the largest single foreign community in Portugal, with approximately 700,000 registered residents as of early 2026. Many Brazilians chose Portugal specifically because of the historically short naturalization timeline, the shared language, the CPLP framework, and Portugal's position as a gateway to EU residency and citizenship. A seven-year requirement instead of three means that Brazilians who arrived in Portugal in 2023 must now wait until 2030 to apply for Portuguese citizenship, rather than 2026 as they had anticipated. For those who arrived earlier and had already been counting the months, the approved change without grandfathering provisions means starting a new count of seven years from the date of entry — or, more precisely, from the date of issuance of their first Portuguese residence permit card. Angolan, Mozambican, and Cape Verdean communities are similarly affected, as are EU citizens who had previously relied on the three-year pathway.
No Transitional Protection Confirmed
The approved law contains no transitional provisions protecting immigrants who have already accumulated residence time under the previous rules. This was the central and most contentious point of parliamentary debate. Opposition parties introduced several amendments seeking to protect residents who had already completed three, four, or five years of legal residence — or who had already submitted naturalization applications — but all such amendments were rejected. The government's position, which prevailed in the final vote, is that naturalization is a discretionary act of the state, and that time already accrued toward residence does not create a vested right to citizenship under any particular legal standard.
Immigration lawyers and legal scholars immediately identified this as the legislation's most constitutionally vulnerable element. The principle of legitimate expectations (princípio da proteção da confiança), enshrined in article 2 of the Portuguese Constitution as a component of the rule of law, protects individuals who have made significant life decisions in reasonable reliance on existing law from abrupt changes that render those decisions invalid. A prior ruling by the Constitutional Court — addressed in the post Constitutional Court Strikes Down Immigration Law Provisions — established that abrupt changes to immigration rights without adequate transitional protection can violate the Constitution. Whether that reasoning extends to nationality law is a question the Court may yet be called upon to answer, either through a presidential referral before promulgation or through a concrete constitutionality challenge filed by an affected applicant after the law enters into force. Residents in this position should consult an immigration lawyer about documenting their reliance on the previous rules in anticipation of potential litigation.
The Residency Clock: When Your Count Starts
The approved law also introduces an important clarification regarding when the residency clock starts for citizenship purposes. Under the new text, the qualifying period begins from the date of issuance of the first residence permit card, not from the date of application or from the date of arrival in Portugal. This distinction is legally significant and practically meaningful given the sustained backlogs at AIMA. Many applicants wait twelve to eighteen months — in some cases longer — between submitting a first-time residence permit application and receiving the physical permit card, due to AIMA's documented processing delays.
Under a strict reading of the new law, this waiting period does not count toward the citizenship requirement. An immigrant who applied for their first permit in January 2022 but did not receive their permit card until July 2023 would have their citizenship clock begin in July 2023, not January 2022 — potentially adding eighteen months to the already-extended wait. Immigration lawyers are advising clients to gather documentation confirming the exact issuance date stamped on every permit card they have received, as this will be the operative date for citizenship calculations going forward. For guidance on how to collect and verify your permit documentation, see the post on collecting your AIMA residence permit card. If you believe your permit issuance date is incorrect in AIMA's records, this is the time to raise a correction through the AIMA portal or formally in writing, while the law is still in transition.
What Happens Next: Presidential Decision
Following parliamentary approval, the legislation was transmitted to the President of the Republic for promulgation. The President has twenty days from the date of receipt to sign the law into force, exercise a political veto by returning it to Parliament with grounds for objection, or refer it to the Constitutional Court for a preventive constitutionality review. A political veto from the President can be overridden by Parliament with an absolute majority — a lower threshold than the two-thirds already achieved — making a practical override straightforward if Parliament chooses to maintain its position. The President's decision is therefore most consequential if it takes the form of a constitutional referral, which the Court must act on within twenty-five days.
Several signals suggest the presidential decision will be closely watched. Legal commentators have publicly noted that the law's lack of transitional protection, combined with the magnitude of the change, creates a plausible constitutional challenge under the principle of legitimate expectations. Advocacy groups representing Brazilian and other CPLP immigrant communities have called on the President to refer the law to the Constitutional Court before promulgation. If the Court finds the law unconstitutional in part — for example, if it orders Parliament to introduce transitional provisions protecting residents who had already accumulated a certain number of years under the previous rules — the practical effect on citizenship timelines could shift substantially from what the approved text currently provides. Until the presidential decision is made, the previous five-year and three-year rules technically remain in force. Applicants who are eligible to submit a naturalization application under the current law should assess whether it is worth doing so immediately. See also the earlier post on Portugal Nationality Law Changes 2026 for background on the legislative trajectory that led to this vote.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the new nationality law affect my existing citizenship application?
If your naturalization application was already submitted and accepted by the Conservatória dos Registos Centrais before April 1, 2026, it should be processed under the rules in force at the time of submission. If you have not yet submitted your application, the new 10-year (or 7-year for CPLP and EU nationals) requirement will apply once the law enters into force following presidential promulgation. The window between parliamentary approval and promulgation — typically twenty days — is therefore critical for anyone close to the previous eligibility threshold.
I arrived in Portugal in 2020 and expected to apply for citizenship in 2025 or 2026. What happens now?
If your naturalization application has not been submitted, you are likely affected by the new law. Without transitional provisions, your accumulated residence time does not guarantee access to naturalization under the previous five-year rule. Seek advice from an immigration lawyer immediately to assess whether a pathway under the existing rules remains available before the law is formally promulgated. If you have five years of legal residence and meet all other conditions, submitting your application as quickly as possible may be your only option before the old rules close.
How long does the presidential decision take after parliamentary approval?
The President of the Republic has twenty days from receipt of the approved law to promulgate it, exercise a political veto, or refer it to the Constitutional Court. If referred to the Court, the Court typically has twenty-five days to issue a ruling in a preventive constitutionality review, with possible extensions for complex cases. The total window from parliamentary vote to final entry into force is therefore potentially six to eight weeks if a constitutional referral occurs.
Does the new nationality law affect the right to permanent residence in Portugal?
No. Permanent residence and citizenship are governed by separate legislation. The residency requirements for permanent residence — generally five years of continuous legal residence under the immigration law framework — are not directly affected by this nationality law change. You can continue pursuing permanent residence on the existing timeline. See the post on the path to permanent residence in Portugal for a full explanation of that separate process.
What is the criminal conviction disqualification threshold under the new law?
The approved law disqualifies applicants from naturalization if they have been sentenced to a prison term of three or more years, regardless of whether the sentence has been served. This lowers the threshold compared to the previous rule, meaning a broader range of past convictions will now constitute a bar to Portuguese citizenship. If you have any prior conviction in Portugal or elsewhere, consult an immigration lawyer to assess whether it affects your eligibility under the new threshold.