Portuguese citizenship by naturalisation: the 2026 residence rules

Since 19 May 2026, nationals of countries outside the EU and the Portuguese-speaking world need 10 years of legal residence in Portugal to apply for Portuguese citizenship, up from 5. Citizens of EU and Portuguese-speaking countries need 7. You also have to pass language, culture and civics requirements, make a solemn declaration, show you can support yourself and meet the conduct conditions. The fee is EUR 250. Time spent waiting for a residence permit no longer counts, and the regulation that fills in the details still wasn’t published when we checked in November 2026.

If you have Portuguese ancestry, naturalisation is usually the slow way in. Start with the Portuguese citizenship by descent guide: a Portuguese parent or grandparent may let you claim from abroad without living in Portugal at all.

The rules at a glance

• Age: an adult under Portuguese law.
• Residence: at least 10 years of legal residence (7 for EU and Portuguese-speaking countries’ nationals).
• Language and culture: proved by a test or certificate, with Portuguese history and national symbols.
• Civics: knowledge of citizens’ rights and duties and of Portugal’s political organisation.
• Declaration: a solemn declaration of adherence to the principles of a democratic state under the rule of law.
• Means of subsistence: you must be able to support yourself.
• Fee: EUR 250.
• Dual citizenship: allowed.

The requirements in full

Article 6(1) of the Nationality Law (Law 37/81), as republished with Lei Orgânica 1/2026, says the Government grants Portuguese nationality to people who meet all of these conditions on the day they apply:

1. they are adults under Portuguese law;
2. they have lived legally in Portugal for at least 7 years if they are nationals of a Portuguese-speaking country or an EU member state, or 10 years otherwise;
3. they prove, by test or certificate, sufficient knowledge of the Portuguese language and culture, history and national symbols;
4. they know enough about the fundamental rights and duties of Portuguese citizens and how the Portuguese state is organised;
5. they solemnly declare their adherence to the principles of a democratic state under the rule of law;
6. they haven’t been finally sentenced to more than 3 years’ actual imprisonment for terrorism, violent or highly organised crime, crimes against state security or helping illegal immigration;
7. they aren’t a danger to national security or defence;
8. they aren’t subject to UN or EU sanctions; and
9. they can support themselves.

Article 6(1) says the Government “grants” nationality, while the special routes further down say it “may grant” it. The decision is made by the Minister of Justice (article 7).

The crime bar is weighed, not automatic. Article 6(14) makes the crime condition a rebuttable presumption. The Public Prosecutor looks at the sentence, the type of crime, whether it was intentional, how long ago it happened, any reoffending and your real integration in Portugal. If the Prosecutor decides against you, you can go to court (article 6(15)), and your application is paused meanwhile (article 6(16)). An earlier draft of this rule was struck down by the Constitutional Court in ruling 1133/2025, which is why the final wording is narrower.

How the years are counted

What counts as legal residence. Article 15(1) counts people living in Portugal whose situation is regularised with the authorities under any of the titles, visas or permits in the foreigners’ law or the asylum law. Treaty regimes for EU citizens and Portuguese-speaking countries also count (article 15(2)).

Waiting time no longer counts. In 2024 Portugal added article 15(4), which counted residence from the day you applied for a temporary residence permit, as long as it was later granted. Lei Orgânica 1/2026 revoked it. For applications under the new law, the clock runs from when your residence is legally regularised, not from your permit application. Opponents argued that this left people at the mercy of slow immigration offices, but in ruling 1133/2025 the Constitutional Court held that the repeal breached neither legal certainty nor equality.

Breaks are allowed, within a window. Article 15(3) adds up all periods of legal residence, continuous or not, as long as they fall within 12 years for most foreigners, 9 years for EU and Portuguese-speaking countries’ nationals, and 6 years for stateless people. The old law allowed a 15-year window.

Golden Visa, D7 and digital nomad holders. The law doesn’t mention any of these by name, and it doesn’t give them a shorter period. Each is a title or permit under the foreigners’ law, so the test is the general one in article 15. The law text doesn’t say how much time you must physically spend in Portugal each year. That question, and whether the new regulation will address it, is one to put to a Portuguese lawyer before you plan around it.

What changed on 19 May 2026

Until the reform, article 6(1) asked for 5 years of legal residence, sufficient knowledge of Portuguese, and no prison sentence of 3 years or more for any crime punishable in Portugal. The 2026 law:

• raised residence to 7 or 10 years;
• added culture, history, national symbols and civics to the language requirement;
• added the solemn declaration, the sanctions check and the means of subsistence condition;
• replaced the broad crime bar with the narrower list above;
• ended the counting of time spent waiting for a residence permit; and
• shortened the window for adding up broken periods from 15 years to 6, 9 or 12.

Applications already pending keep the old rules. Article 7(2) of Lei Orgânica 1/2026 says administrative procedures pending on the day it came into force stay under the previous wording of the Nationality Law. So if you filed under the 5-year rule before 19 May 2026, your case is decided under that rule.

The official pages haven’t caught up. When we checked, the Justice Ministry’s page on naturalisation by residence, last updated in July 2026, still described the old 5-year rule and the old requirements. Go by the law, not that page, for anything filed after 19 May 2026.

The regulation is still pending

The law told the Government to update the Nationality Regulation within 90 days of publication (article 4 of Lei Orgânica 1/2026). That deadline passed in August 2026. The Council of Ministers approved the regulation decree-law on 29 October 2026. Its official summary says it covers the language test and the test of Portuguese culture, history and institutions, the means of subsistence requirement, the solemn declaration and biometric data. We couldn’t find it published in the Diário da República when we checked on 11 November 2026, so the test level, the test format and the income threshold aren’t known yet. The Justice Ministry’s online filing page also says some changes depend on this regulation.

Other naturalisation routes in article 6

• Great-grandchildren of a Portuguese citizen of origin can be naturalised at the Government’s discretion after 5 years of legal residence (article 6(8)). See Portuguese citizenship for grandchildren, which also explains why a parent claiming first is often the better path.
• Grandchildren don’t naturalise at all. They can claim nationality of origin by declaration from abroad, with the integration conditions but no residence requirement.
• Former Portuguese citizens with real ties who never took another nationality can be granted nationality without the residence condition (article 6(6)).
• Stateless people qualify after 4 years (article 6(3)), and children born in Portugal to foreign parents can be naturalised if a parent has 5 years of legal residence and the child attends school (article 6(2)).
• Spouses and partners of Portuguese citizens use a separate declaration route. See Portuguese citizenship by marriage.

The Sephardic route is gone. Lei Orgânica 1/2026 revoked article 6(7), which let descendants of Portuguese Sephardic Jews naturalise after 3 years of legal residence. Applications pending on 19 May 2026 stay under the old law. The Justice Ministry’s page for the route was still online when we checked, but it describes the repealed rules. Our Jewish ancestry guide covers other options.

Documents

The Justice Ministry’s page, still written for the old rules, lists these. Expect the new regulation to add evidence for culture, civics and means of subsistence.

• your birth certificate, preferably a full copy, apostilled, with a certified Portuguese translation;
• an application to the Minister of Justice in Portuguese, giving your personal details, the countries you’ve lived in since age 16 and the number, date and issuer of your residence permit;
• proof of Portuguese, such as a Portuguese school certificate or a CAPLE certificate in Portuguese as a foreign language. Nationals of Portuguese-speaking countries are presumed to know the language (article 6(10)); and
• criminal record certificates from your countries of birth and nationality and every country you’ve lived in since age 16, with certified translations. For the US, that means an FBI background check with an apostille.

If you file by post, your signature on the application must be certified. See our apostille guide, our certified translation guide and our language requirements guide.

How to apply

1. Count your years from the date your residence became legal, and check that broken periods fit inside the 12-year window.
2. Check whether the regulation is out before you file, so you know which test and evidence to submit.
3. Choose how to file: online through a Portuguese lawyer or solicitor (the online channel is for them only); in person at a Nationality Desk (Balcão da Nacionalidade), a civil registry office or the Central Registry Office in Lisbon; or by post to the Conservatória dos Registos Centrais, Rua Rodrigo da Fonseca 198, 1099-003 Lisbon.
4. Pay EUR 250, by card in person, or by card or cheque by post.
5. Wait for the decision. The Justice Ministry publishes no processing time. Once naturalised and registered, you can apply for a Portuguese citizen card and passport.

Can you keep your current citizenship?

Portugal doesn’t make you give up your other citizenship. Under Portuguese law, though, only your Portuguese nationality counts while you’re in Portugal.

Whether you keep your other citizenship also depends on your other country’s law. Some countries end citizenship when you voluntarily take another, so check yours. The US, for example, doesn’t take it away, because US law requires a voluntary act done with the intention of giving it up. More in our Portuguese dual citizenship guide.

Frequently asked questions

Official sources

• Lei Orgânica 1/2026 and the republished Nationality Law, Diário da República, 18 May 2026 (PDF) (articles 6, 7 and 15 of the law; articles 4, 5, 7 and 8 of the 2026 law), Portuguese
• Declaração de Retificação 17/2026/1 (PDF) (corrects article 6(11)), Portuguese
• Lisbon Regional Prosecutor’s Office: Lei 37/81, consolidated, with earlier versions (the old 5-year rule, the Sephardic rule and the old article 15(4)), Portuguese
• Constitutional Court ruling 1133/2025 (review of the first version of the reform, including the repeal of article 15(4)), Portuguese
• Justiça.gov.pt: living legally in Portugal for at least 5 years (fee, documents, where to apply; not yet updated for the 2026 law), Portuguese
• Justiça.gov.pt: submit a nationality application (online filing by lawyers and solicitors; regulation pending), Portuguese
• Council of Ministers communiqué, 29 October 2026 (approval of the regulation decree-law), Portuguese

Checked against these sources on 11 November 2026. The regulation under the 2026 law will set the tests and the means of subsistence rule; check for it before you file.