President António José Seguro promulgated Portugal’s revised Nationality Law on May 3, ending months of uncertainty over whether the Socialist-affiliated head of state would veto or refer the decree back to the Constitutional Court.
The law, which parliament passed 152-64 on April 1 after a last-minute deal between the governing Social Democratic Party (PSD) and Chega, now awaits publication in the Diário da República before taking effect.
Naturalization timelines for most foreign nationals double from five years to ten. Citizens of European Union (EU) Member States and Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP) nations face a seven-year requirement.
The residency clock starts when the Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum (AIMA) issues a residence permit, not when an applicant submits the request, reversing a 2024 amendment designed to protect applicants from bureaucratic delays.
Signed With Reservations
Seguro did not sign quietly. In a statement published on the presidency’s website, he noted the two-thirds parliamentary majority but said the revision of a law of such weight should rest on broader consensus.
“Despite the parliamentary majority that approved the legislation, the President of the Republic reiterates that the revision of a reinforced-value law with the importance of the Nationality Law should also be based on greater consensus around its essential principles,” the statement read, “distancing itself, as he has had the opportunity to mention in the past, from any ‘ideological hallmarks of the moment.'”
The law should not be subject to successive amendments “to the detriment of legal certainty and, consequently, of individuals, and risking affecting the indispensable credibility of institutions.”
Two further passages in the statement carry direct operational weight. On pending applications, Seguro stressed that “the importance of guaranteeing that pending processes are not, effectively, affected by the legislative change, which would constitute an undesirable breach of trust in the state, at the domestic and international level.”
On processing delays, he noted “the importance of ensuring that the counting of legally fixed timelines for obtaining nationality is not affected by the slowness of the state.”
Given that AIMA has routinely taken two to three years to issue residence permits, this remark speaks directly to the effective naturalization timeline, which lawyers have estimated at nine to 13 years under the new rules.
Seguro also said his decision to sign was informed by the view that stricter criteria and longer timelines “do not prevent the indispensable humanitarian protection and the desirable integration of children and minors born in Portugal, children of immigrants,” including their access to health and education under existing law.
Future legislation and public policy, he added, should always give “special attention” to the protection of such children.
These are presidential interpretive remarks, not binding provisions. But they may shape how courts read the law, particularly in cases brought by Golden Visa investors who challenged the legislation at the Constitutional Court in December 2025.
“An Expected Outcome”
Madalena Monteiro, founder of Liberty Legal and the lawyer who filed the investors’ amicus curiae brief, said the promulgation was unsurprising. “After almost a year, the president emphasized two concerns when promulgating the law,” she observed.
“First, that pending applications must not be adversely affected by the legislative changes, as this would represent an undesirable breach of trust in the state, both domestically and internationally,” Monteiro said. “Second, that the legally established timeframes for acquiring nationality must not be undermined by administrative delays attributable to the state.”
Promulgation itself, she noted, “was an expected outcome, since a two-thirds majority was guaranteed to override any veto.”
Loss of Nationality Decree Still Suspended
Seguro signed only one of the two decrees sent to him after the April 1 vote. A separate measure amending the Penal Code to create loss of nationality as an accessory criminal penalty (Decreto n.º 49/XVII) remains suspended. One parliamentary group filed a request for preventive constitutional review of that decree, and the Constitutional Court has not yet ruled.
The court struck down a similar provision in December 2025 when it reviewed the first version of the legislation. Whether the revised formulation survives scrutiny will determine if Portuguese courts can strip naturalized citizens of their nationality upon criminal conviction.
The Golden Visa program itself was not part of the legislative debate. Permanent residency after five years remains unaffected. The new timelines apply to naturalization only.
The law takes effect upon publication in the Diário da República. No date for publication has been announced.
