- The 5-year rule already required genuine residence and integration, not minimal physical presence, especially after the CJEU decision in EC vs Malta, which resulted in the Maltese Citizenship Reform of 2025 and new Maltese Citizenship by Merit framework being unveiled.
- Naturalisation period extended from 5 to 10 years (7 for CPLP/EU).
- New cultural and civic tests required for all applicants.
- Citizenship revocation introduced for serious crimes.
- End of Sephardic and automatic jus soli routes.
- Limited transitional rules; pending files protected.
- Structural disconnect between the Portuguese Golden Visa and naturalisation outcomes.
- Severe administrative delays and processing backlogs.
- Absence of sustained political backing for Portugal Golden Visa and Portuguese citizenship pathway.
- Constitutional deficiencies in Parliament-approved reform undermining investor confidence.
- Resulting legal uncertainty and absence of an official implementation timetable.
Portugal’s Citizenship Framework Before the Reform
Portugal’s nationality law has long been residence-led and integration-based. Even under the existing five-year naturalisation rule, applicants were required to demonstrate lawful residence, linguistic competence, social integration, and a genuine personal connection to Portugal.
The framework never supported the proposition that citizenship could be achieved through nominal or symbolic presence. This reality, however, has often been obscured by commercial narratives surrounding residence programmes.
The Five-Year Residence-to-Citizenship Rule and Integration: A Clarification
The belief that Portuguese citizenship could be secured through 7 days of presence per year is legally inaccurate. Portuguese authorities have consistently assessed:
- The quality and continuity of residence.
- Evidence of social and cultural integration.
- Language proficiency and personal ties to Portugal.
This approach has gained renewed legal and political emphasis following the CJEU decision in EC v. Malta, which reaffirmed that nationality must be grounded in genuine links between the individual and the Member State. The judgment applies across the European Union and has prompted Member States, including Portugal, to reassess how residence and integration requirements are articulated and enforced. In Portugal’s case, this translated into a clear political drive – subsequently endorsed by Parliament – to formalise and strengthen residence and integration criteria for citizenship, moving them from administrative practice into more explicit legislative form.
The Reform Approved by Parliament in October 2025
On 28 October 2025, the Assembly of the Republic approved amendments that would:
- Extend the residence requirement for naturalisation to 10 years for most third-country nationals.
- Retain a 7-year threshold for EU and CPLP nationals.
- Introduce mandatory civic and cultural knowledge testing.
- Tighten birthright citizenship (jus soli) rules.
- Abolish the Sephardic Jewish descendant pathway.
- Introduce mechanisms for citizenship revocation in cases of serious criminal conduct.
The reform represented a continuation and strengthening of an integration-focused policy direction, rather than a radical departure from prior law.
The Portuguese Golden Visa: Legal Reality and Structural Misalignment
The Portuguese Golden Visa has frequently been promoted as an automatic five-year pathway to citizenship. This characterisation is misleading.
From a legal standpoint:
- The Golden Visa is a residence permit, not a naturalisation mechanism.
- It does not override integration requirements.
- It does not confer any entitlement to citizenship after a fixed period.
- It merely grants the right to apply and be considered for citizenship upon proving residency and integration.
From a policy perspective:
- The programme lacks sustained political and public support as a residency route leading to citizenship.
- It has increasingly been treated as disconnected from nationality outcomes.
- Naturalisation following a Golden Visa remains discretionary and subject to strict integration assessment.
Administrative Delays and Practical Impasse
A defining feature of the current landscape is the severe administrative backlog affecting Golden Visa applications.
Applicants routinely experience:
- Multi-year delays, often exceeding three years, without substantive feedback following submission.
- Extended periods of procedural uncertainty despite having made qualifying investments of EUR 500,000 or more.
- Disruption to long-term residence and citizenship planning.
These delays have materially eroded confidence in the Golden Visa as a predictable or reliable framework for long-term settlement or nationality planning.
Constitutional Review and Identified Deficiencies
Following parliamentary approval, the reform was subjected to preventive constitutional review by the Portuguese Constitutional Court. The Court identified constitutional deficiencies in several key provisions, particularly where the reform:
- Undermined legal certainty and legitimate expectations of applicants who had structured their residence and lives under the existing framework.
- Failed to satisfy proportionality requirements, by imposing rigid or automatic consequences without sufficient scope for individual assessment.
- Lacked adequate precision and foreseeability, relying on broadly framed grounds for refusal or loss of citizenship.
The Court’s concerns focused on drafting, safeguards, and transitional balance, rather than rejecting the State’s authority to recalibrate citizenship policy.
Legal Uncertainty and Investor Confidence
The reform process has generated a period of legal and policy uncertainty.
A government-proposed and Parliament-approved reform, subsequently found to contain constitutional deficiencies, has:
- Undermined predictability for Golden Visa investors and families planning naturalisation.
- Encouraged administrative caution and delay.
- Deferred clarity on Portugal’s long-term nationality policy direction.
In contrast, other European jurisdictions have articulated clearer, residence-led citizenship frameworks following post-CJEU scrutiny, offering more predictable planning environments for internationally mobile families.
How Our Citizenship and Global Mobility Lawyers Can Help You
With Portugal’s naturalisation period extended, global families may wish to assess other EU-compliant routes offering a clearer timeline or greater flexibility. Malta’s Citizenship by Merit rules, for example, allows for naturalisation following a minimum of 8 months of legal residence, provided applicants meet specific philanthropic or investment-based contribution requirements aligned with Malta’s national interest. The programme is structured to emphasise integration, but with a defined pathway underpinned by regulated due diligence and transparent policy objectives.
For those seeking long-term residence rights without immediate naturalisation, the Malta Permanent Residence Programme (MPRP) and Greece’s Golden Visa remain attractive alternatives. These programmes offer EU residency with low physical presence requirements, providing lifestyle access, travel mobility, and succession planning advantages, while leaving citizenship as a future option rather than a guaranteed outcome.
These options merit evaluation for clients whose timelines, tax planning, or family dynamics may no longer align with Portugal’s revised requirements.
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