Portugal Nationality Law 2026: What Changed for Expats, NHR Residents and Digital Nomads

The residency requirement for naturalization has roughly doubled for most expats

Under the previous law, five years of legal residence was enough for most applicants to seek naturalization. The new law creates two tracks: EU citizens and nationals of CPLP countries — including Brazilians, Angolans, Mozambicans, and Cape Verdeans — now need seven years. Everyone else — Americans, British, Canadians, Australians, and most of the world — now needs ten years. For an American who arrived in 2022 on a D8 visa, the old law pointed toward citizenship in 2027. The new law moves that horizon to 2032, at the earliest.

Nine conditions must all be met at the same time

Longer residency is only part of the picture. The new law requires nine conditions to be satisfied simultaneously: meeting the residency requirement, passing a language, culture and history test (even fluent speakers must sit this), demonstrating knowledge of fundamental rights and duties, making a solemn declaration of adherence to the rule of law, having no criminal convictions carrying a prison sentence of two or more years (art. 6(1)(f) of the Nationality Law), not posing a threat to national security, not being subject to UN or EU sanctions, and having the financial means to support yourself. The previous framework was much simpler — essentially five years of residence and basic Portuguese language knowledge.

NHR status and D8 visas do not create shortcuts

For NHR holders and digital nomads, two clarifications matter. First, the new law explicitly removes the provision that previously allowed residence to be counted "regardless of documentation" — only periods covered by a valid residence title (an autorização de residência, valid long-stay visa, or equivalent) count toward the clock. Time with a pending renewal, an expired document, or in irregular status does not count. Second, having NHR tax status is not the same as having a valid residence authorization. The dates that matter are the dates on the residence permits, not the tax registration. The law also makes no exceptions for Golden Visa holders or high-tax-contribution residents — they are subject to exactly the same rules as everyone else.

Birthright citizenship for children born in Portugal has changed

For expat families, the ius soli rule is now stricter. A child born in Portugal is only automatically Portuguese if at least one parent has held legal residence for a minimum of five years at the time of birth. The previous threshold was just one year, and even irregular time could count. Families who arrived in Portugal recently and are planning to have children here should verify how many years of valid legal residence they will have accumulated by the expected birth date.

A new criminal penalty for naturalized citizens

Accompanying the nationality law, a new provision in the Penal Code allows Portuguese nationality acquired through naturalization to be revoked as a criminal penalty. This applies only if a person is convicted of a serious offense — murder, sexual crimes, terrorism, drug trafficking, and others — with a sentence of four or more years of effective imprisonment, the crime was committed within ten years of acquiring nationality, and the person holds another citizenship (preventing statelessness). The provision is not retroactive and only affects those who acquired nationality — those born Portuguese are not affected.

Pending applications are protected under the transition rules

If you already have a naturalization application submitted and pending with the IRN (Instituto dos Registos e do Notariado) at the time the law enters into force, your case will be evaluated under the rules in place when you submitted — not the new ones. For anyone close to meeting the current requirements, this makes the timing of an application strategically significant.

What happens before the law takes effect

The law was approved but still needs to clear several hurdles. President Seguro has up to twenty days to promulgate, veto, or refer it to the Constitutional Court for preventive review. The latter is widely considered the most likely outcome: a previous version of this law was partially struck down by the Constitutional Court in 2025, and some of the same structural issues remain. If referred, the Court has twenty-five days to issue a ruling. If the law survives, the Government then has ninety days to update the implementing regulations. A realistic estimate puts full entry into force somewhere in mid to late 2026.

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