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Portugal’s proposed nationality law reform has stalled.
Although Parliament approved major changes in late 2025, the reform has not become law. After constitutional concerns were raised, the proposal was sent for preventive review, parts were ruled unconstitutional, and the President ultimately vetoed the decree.
Bottom line right now: The existing five-year legal residency rule for Portuguese citizenship still applies.
What happens next is genuinely uncertain. The changes may return in amended form, be delayed well into 2026, or potentially never pass at all.
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What Parliament Originally Proposed
In October 2025, Parliament approved a reform that would have significantly reshaped the path to Portuguese citizenship:
- Longer timelines
- 10 years for most non-EU nationals (e.g. US, UK, Canada, India)
- 7 years for EU and CPLP nationals
- A critical technical change
- Residence time would start from the issuance of your first residence card, not from the date you applied
- In practice, this could add 1–3 extra years due to backlogs
- New integration requirements
- A civics / state-knowledge test (details to be defined later)
- Portuguese language requirement (A2) unchanged
What Actually Happened
After parliamentary approval, the decree went to the President and was then frozen pending a preventive constitutional review by the Constitutional Court.
In December 2025, the Court found several provisions unconstitutional. Following this:
- The proposal was sent back to Parliament
- The President formally vetoed the decree
- The reform did not enter into force
As a result, Portugal’s current Nationality Law remains fully in force, including the five-year residency rule.
What Happens Now (and Why It’s Unclear)
The veto sends the law back to Parliament, where it would need to be:
- Amended to address constitutional issues
- Debated again
- Re-approved in further parliamentary rounds
Government figures, including António Leitão Amaro, have said that nationality law changes “will happen” — but there is:
- No fixed timetable
- No guarantee the same rules return
- No certainty the reform passes at all
With further political changes expected in early 2026, many observers believe final approval may slip — or fail entirely.
What This Means for You (Practically)
If you already have ~5 years of legal residence
Many immigration lawyers are advising clients to submit citizenship applications now, while the five-year rule is valid.
No one can guarantee how future transitional rules will work, but applications lodged under the current law are generally seen as the safest position.
If you’re partway through your residency
There isn’t anything you can do but hope that future amendments include a grandfathering clause.
If you’re considering moving to Portugal
Even if a 7–10 year timeline eventually comes back in some form:
Portugal is still one of the few EU countries that offers attainable residency visas, allowing those from countries like the US, UK, and everywhere else to easily move here. The same cannot be said for most other EU countries.
Portugal also offers a better deal than many other EU countries that do offer attainable visas. Spain, for example, typically requires 10 years for citizenship, higher income thresholds on their passive income visa, and limits dual citizenship.
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While citizenship could take 10 years, permanent residence (usually after 5 years) allows you to spend considerable time outside of Portugal. It can also be easier to move to other EU countries.
Residence Stage |
Card Length |
Maximum Time Outside Portugal |
|---|---|---|
1st Residence Card |
2 years |
Up to 6 consecutive months, or 8 non-consecutive months total |
2nd Residence Card |
3 years |
Up to 6 consecutive months, or 8 non-consecutive months total |
Permanent Residence |
5 years |
Up to 24 consecutive months, or 30 non-consecutive months total |
And, as ever, most people don’t move to Portugal for a passport alone.
They move for:
- Safety
- Climate
- Healthcare access
- Cost of living
- Lifestyle
- Community
Those fundamentals are unchanged.
Portugalist Take
Everything is up in the air right now.
Yes, the five-year rule seemingly still applies today — but politics moves fast, and nothing is guaranteed. So if citizenship timing matters to you, here’s the most sane way to plan:
Assume it could become 10 years.
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Maybe you’ll get lucky. Maybe you won’t. But plan as if you won’t.
And here’s the bigger point: don’t rule out Portugal because of this. Portugal is still one of the clearest, most realistic paths into the EU for normal people — not just the ultra-wealthy.
- For Americans, it’s still a viable “Plan B” and a way to build a life outside the US.
- For Brits, it’s one of the most straightforward routes to regain EU freedom of movement that disappeared with Brexit.
- For everyone else, it remains one of Europe’s more attainable immigration systems, with multiple routes that don’t require you to be a tech founder or a millionaire.
The D7 in particular is still one of the easiest ways to move to Europe if you have stable income (pensions, investments, remote income in some cases, or other reliable sources). Portugal’s Golden Visa is still one of the best options in Europe for those looking for EU citizenship.
And Portugal’s day-to-day fundamentals haven’t changed: stability, safety, strong quality of life, and (for many) a noticeably lower cost of living — especially for people arriving with US or Canadian purchasing power.
So yes: be realistic about timelines. But if Portugal fits your life, the correct move is simple: keep researching visas, houses, and places to live.