Portugal’s New Nationality Law Now in Effect

It has been about a year since the ruling center-right Social Democratic Party (PSD) first floated the idea to make Portugal’s Nationality Law much stricter. After some turbulent months, the new Nationality Law is now in effect from May 19, 2026.

After the first proposal got struck down by the Constitutional Court on December 15, 2025, Parliament passed a revised law on April 1, 2026, which was later promulgated by President António José Seguro on May 3, 2026. On May 18, 2026 the law was published in Diário da República, taking effect the following day.

What has changed

The two most significant changes for holders of ARI (Golden Visas) and other residence permits in Portugal are the following:

• The required legal residence time has doubled from five to ten years for most people, the exceptions being EU and CPLP citizens who now face a seven-year timeline.
• The time counting only starts once your initial residence permit is issued, meaning that AIMA’s delays in issuing permits no longer count towards citizenship.

While the first of these changes impacts holders of all types of residence permits equally, the second change has an outsized effect on ARI applicants and holders. Many residence permit categories have faced significant delays, but ARI investors have been especially affected and routinely wait more than four years for their initial permits.

There are also no grandfathering provisions for current residents in the new Nationality Law, meaning that only those who already applied for citizenship will be subject to the old law.

Beyond the changes above, there were several other significant adjustments made to the law:

• Naturalization now requires not only knowledge of the Portuguese language, but also knowledge of the country’s culture, history, and national symbols, knowledge of fundamental rights/duties and Portugal’s political organization, a solemn declaration of adherence to democratic rule-of-law principles, no relevant security threat/sanctions issues, and capacity to ensure subsistence.
• Anyone convicted of a crime leading to an effective prison sentence of more than three years for a list of serious crimes may now be barred from naturalizing.
• Children born in Portugal to foreign parents will now only qualify for Portuguese nationality by origin if one of the parents had legally resided in Portugal for at least five years (up from one year previously).

Note that the related but separate amendment to the Penal Code that would have allowed courts to strip someone of Portuguese nationality if convicted of certain serious crimes was rejected by the Constitutional Court once again in May 2026. In July 2026, Parliament rejected both confirmation of the returned Penal Code decree and a narrower amendment.

What’s still uncertain

While we now know the final law amendment, the regulations that specify how exactly the law should be implemented have not yet been published. They are due 90 days after the law was published, meaning August 17, 2026.

I wouldn’t be surprised, however, if this date slips to September as it is in the middle of the Portuguese holiday season. As any ARI applicant can attest to, legally prescribed deadlines are routinely treated merely as suggestions.

Lawsuits

There are several potential legal strategies that affected ARI holders can pursue, both in Portugal and in some cases internationally. However, these will likely be time-consuming as well, most likely taking three years or more to play out in the courts.

The most promising legal pathways depend on the final regulations. Once those are published, I’ll share more in our Golden Visa newsletter, including existing legal efforts that you can join at that time.