{"id":2971,"date":"2026-05-18T20:53:46","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T20:53:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rosarioduarte.pt\/lei-da-nacionalidade-portuguesa-o-que-muda-em-2026\/"},"modified":"2026-05-20T23:03:51","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T23:03:51","slug":"lei-da-nacionalidade-portuguesa-o-que-muda-em-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rosarioduarte.pt\/en\/lei-da-nacionalidade-portuguesa-o-que-muda-em-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Portuguese Nationality Law \u2014 What Changes in 2026?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What is the Nationality Law and what is its current framework?<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Portuguese Nationality Law has been in force since 1981 and has been amended<br>eleven times. The most recent \u2014 the 11th amendment, approved on 1\u00a0April\u00a02026 \u2014<br>represents the most comprehensive reform in recent years.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The amendment was approved with 152 votes in favour, 64 against and one abstention,<br>addressing the unconstitutionalities identified by the Constitutional Court in December\u00a02025. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>No transitional period is foreseen: the new rules will apply immediately upon entry into force. Close monitoring of the process is recommended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What are the ways to acquire Portuguese nationality?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><br>There are five main ways to acquire Portuguese nationality:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Nationality by origin: <\/strong>granted at birth to children of a Portuguese father or mother; to<br>children born in Portugal of foreign nationals legally resident for at least 5\u00a0years; and to<br>grandchildren of Portuguese nationals who demonstrate an effective connection to the<br>national community.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Marriage or civil partnership: <\/strong>the spouse or civil partner of a Portuguese national for more<br>than 3\u00a0years may acquire nationality by declaration.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Adoption: <\/strong>a person fully adopted by a Portuguese national acquires nationality by operation<br>of law.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Naturalisation by residence:<\/strong> a foreign national legally resident in Portugal for at least<br>7\u00a0years, if a citizen of a Portuguese-speaking country or of the European Union, or for at least<br>10\u00a0years in all other cases. The time period counts exclusively from the date of issue of a<br>valid residence card. Knowledge of Portuguese, the absence of convictions for serious crimes<br>and no risk to national security are also required.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Sephardic regime: <\/strong>revoked for new applications. Proceedings already submitted continue to<br>be assessed under the previous rules.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What are the main changes affecting those seeking naturalisation?<br><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The most relevant changes approved in 2026 are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Longer timelines:<\/strong> the minimum residence period rises from 5 to 7\u00a0years for citizens of CPLP<br>countries and the EU, and from 5 to 10\u00a0years for all others. This is one of the most significant<br>changes of the reform.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Count from the residence card: <\/strong>the clock only starts running once the residence card is in<br>hand. The waiting period for a residence authorisation, including the period of expression of<br>interest, no longer counts. Those who do not yet hold a valid residence title should act<br>urgently.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Civic and cultural integration:<\/strong> proof of knowledge of Portuguese culture, history and<br>national symbols, by test or certificate, is now required, as well as a solemn declaration of<br>adherence to the principles of the Democratic Rule of Law and proof of means of subsistence.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Filiation established after coming of age: <\/strong>filiation established by court order after coming of<br>age has effect on nationality if the application is submitted within 3\u00a0years of the judgment<br>becoming final.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Collection of biometric data: <\/strong>introduced in nationality applications; in the event of refusal,<br>the data are deleted after the judicial appeal period.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What changes with the new Immigration Law, in force since October\u00a02025?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><br>The new Immigration Law is not a nationality law, but it directly amended the routes to legal<br>residence, an essential precondition for naturalisation:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Abolition of the expression of interest: <\/strong>since October\u00a02025, it is no longer possible to apply<br>for a residence authorisation by expression of interest. Those who did not regularise their<br>situation by 31\u00a0December\u00a02025 are subject to the new regime, with the naturalisation period<br>counted only from the issue of a valid residence card.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>New visa for qualified job seekers:<\/strong> replaces the previous generic job-search visa,<br>suspended since October\u00a02025. Aimed at professionals with specialised technical skills and<br>awaiting further regulation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What does the 11th amendment approved on 1\u00a0April\u00a02026 provide for?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><br>Beyond the longer timelines and the new counting method from the residence card, the approved<br>law introduces other relevant measures:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Children of foreign nationals born in Portugal:<\/strong> nationality is no longer granted<br>automatically. At least one parent must have been legally resident in Portugal for 5\u00a0years and<br>an express declaration must be made. Regular attendance at compulsory schooling may also<br>be required.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Extended ancestry<\/strong>: nationality by descent is extended to great-grandchildren of Portuguese<br>nationals, but naturalisation of ascendants of original Portuguese nationals is abolished.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>End of naturalisation through parenthood: <\/strong>foreign parents of children born in Portugal lose<br>the right to naturalise on the basis of parenthood of a child registered as Portuguese.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What are the new rules on loss of nationality for criminal involvement?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><br>The 2026 reform strengthened the consequences of criminal activity both for those seeking to<br>obtain and for those already holding Portuguese nationality:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Bar to naturalisation:<\/strong> nationality cannot be obtained by anyone convicted of an effective<br>prison sentence of 3\u00a0or more years for serious crimes such as terrorism, organised violent<br>crime or crimes against state security.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Loss of nationality as an ancillary penalty: <\/strong>nationality may be revoked as an ancillary<br>penalty for anyone sentenced to 5\u00a0or more years of effective imprisonment for very serious<br>crimes, such as aggravated homicide, human trafficking or sexual abuse. This applies only to<br>those who obtained nationality less than 10\u00a0years ago.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Loss due to fraud:<\/strong> nationality may also be revoked from anyone who obtained it fraudulently<br>less than 10\u00a0years ago, with a safeguard for children unaware of the fraud committed by their<br>parents. Lack of an effective connection to the national community remains a ground for<br>opposition to acquisition.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Do you need guidance on your nationality process?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The new law directly affects those already living in Portugal or planning to apply for nationality. If<br>you want to know how these changes affect your situation, contact us for a personalised<br>consultation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Priscilla Frederighi<\/strong>&nbsp;|&nbsp;pfrederighi@rosarioduarte.pt<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><br><a href=\"http:\/\/eepurl.com\/gyHAu1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Sign up for our Newsletter<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Contact us and\/or book a meeting <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rosarioduarte.pt\/en\/contacts\/\">here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What is the Nationality Law and what is its current framework? The Portuguese Nationality Law [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2971","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rosarioduarte.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2971","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rosarioduarte.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rosarioduarte.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rosarioduarte.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rosarioduarte.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2971"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.rosarioduarte.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2971\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2974,"href":"https:\/\/www.rosarioduarte.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2971\/revisions\/2974"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rosarioduarte.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2971"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rosarioduarte.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2971"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rosarioduarte.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2971"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}