Promulgation of the Amendments to the Nationality Law

The President of the Republic promulgated yesterday, 3 May, the amendments to the Portuguese Nationality Law, approved by the Assembly of the Republic on 1 April. Accordingly, the respective diploma is expected to be published in the Official Gazette (“Diário da República”) in the coming days and will enter into force on the day following its publication.

It is important to recall that the new Nationality Law introduces several significant changes, namely:

• An increase in the minimum legal residency period required to obtain nationality, from 5 to 10 years, excepting citizens of Portuguese-speaking countries and citizens of European Union, for whom the requirement will be 7 years of legal residency.
• A change to the starting point for counting the residence period, which will now begin only upon issuance of the first residence permit – until the entry into force of the new diploma, the counting period began upon submission of the residence permit application.
• The introduction of new requirements for obtaining nationality, including the demonstration of knowledge of Portuguese culture, history and national symbols, as well as knowledge of the fundamental rights and duties inherent to Portuguese nationality and the political organization of the Portuguese State.

Following the entry into force of the new Nationality Law, the Government will have 90 days to approve the respective Regulation, which is expected to clarify and operationalize various aspects of its applicability.

For further information, please contact our team at the following email address: jlp@ccsllegal.com

[Photo by: Sasuyn Bughdaryan, available at unsplash.com]