02 Apr Portuguese Nationality Law | Legislative Update

An amendment to the Portuguese Nationality Law was approved this Wednesday, April 1st, introducing significant changes to the framework governing nationality applications.

The bill now proceeds to the President of the Republic, who has up to 20 days to decide whether to promulgate it, veto it, or request constitutional review, followed, if promulgated, by its official publication. The bill is not yet in force and remains subject to completion of the legislative process.

Key approved aspects include:

• Increase of the minimum residence periods for nationality acquisition, set at 7 years for CPLP nationals and EU citizens, and 10 years for other nationalities

• Change to the residence period calculation rule, now based on the issuance of the first residence permit, under criteria differing from those currently applied

• Introduction of provisions regarding loss of acquired nationality in specific cases linked to convictions for particularly serious crimes

• Termination of the special regime applicable to descendants of Portuguese Sephardic Jews

• Revision of specific regimes provided under the Portuguese Nationality Law

These changes introduce a different framework for how nationality applications may in future be assessed and structured, subject to completion of the legislative process.

We will continue to closely monitor further developments and their practical application.