Portugal Citizenship Law 2026: What You Need to Know

Portugal Nationality Law: What You Need to Know

A series of amendments to the controversial Portuguese Nationality Law, which had been declared unconstitutional in December, have now been successfully passed in Parliament following an agreement between the PSD and Chega political parties, without input from the Socialist Party (PS).

Both parties made concessions, enabling them to reach a consensus and secure a two-thirds majority in the parliamentary vote.

What Has Changed in This Review?

Changes introduced in this round of review include:

• Automatic restriction of access to Portuguese nationality for individuals convicted of crimes carrying prison sentences of more than three years, reduced from five years.
  
  
• The Public Prosecutor’s Office will be able to review appeals, in addition to the public administration.
  
  
• Children born in Portugal to foreign parents will require five years of legal residency to be granted nationality (previously automatic).

Notably, the extension of the required residence time for obtaining nationality has not changed in this review.

The current proposal will increase the residence time required to ten years (seven for CPLP and EU citizens).

As it stands, the law will also rule that the residence time is only counted from the issuance of a residence permit rather than from the application date.

No Transitional Regime

An important consequence of the alliance of PSD with Chega is the fact that no transitional regime exists in the current version of the law.

Both parties sought an implementation whereby the law, once promulgated, will apply immediately and fully to all applicants.

PS’s proposal had involved several transitional elements, including a grandfathering window for those already holding permits, a tiered system reducing residency period requirements, and preservation of the original application date residence counting method.

However, none of these rules were included in the approved version of the law.

What Do These Changes Mean for Investors?

• The broad effect of these changes is to make the path to nationality in Portugal longer and more restrictive.
  
  
• The process will involve greater difficulty for both current residents and future applicants who will have their timeline to citizenship extended by both the increased requirements and by the revised calculation method.
  
  
• Reduced automatic access for children born in the national territory may also increase the difficulties faced by some applicants.

What Happens Next?

The newly approved decree will now go to the new President of the Republic, António José Seguro, elected in February 2026, for review. The President may then promulgate the law, veto it, or request a new review.

Notably, Seguro is a former member of PS and has expressed opposition to the law in the past. However, if the President uses his power of veto, the Parliament can overrule it with an absolute majority vote.

Since the review process has eliminated unconstitutional elements from the proposed law, the Constitutional Court may not be able to take any further action against it, meaning it is entirely possible the law will pass in its current form.

No date is yet set for a decision from the President.

This new version of the law represents a shift towards a more restrictive nationality framework that emphasises control over citizenship, stricter eligibility criteria, and reduced flexibility.

This may have the effect of reducing the attractiveness of Portugal as an investment destination for many potential investors as it would give the country one of the longest pathways to citizenship among current European residency offerings.