You are ignoring the official published instructions of the Portuguese government, and taking advice from ChatGPT. Good luck.
For other the benefit of other readers, IRN requests your CdT from AIMA directly, and ignores any proof of residency that you may enclose. This has been discussed endlessly in these forums. Incidentally, it is widely reported that AIMA’s very slow fulfillment of these internal Cdt requests is the three year bottleneck in completing the naturalization process.
Recent NomadGate posters have reported waiting six months or more for a CdT after requesting one directly from AIMA. I’m still waiting for mine after several months, and I have long since decided that requesting one was a waste of time and money. My original purpose was official confirmation of my exact eligibility date, not inclusion in my application.
Thank you, Mark, for the helpful clarification that IRN requests the CdT directly from AIMA, rather than placing that responsibility on the applicant.
I also agree that official government published guidance is far more appropriate to reference and follow than anything generated by ChatGPT. I had simply raised it as a point for discussion, and I appreciate the clarification and redirection.
This is a double edged sword, because on the one hand it means you don’t have to wait a year for AIMA to issue your CdT before applying, on the other hand reportedly even if you do include the CdT, IRN requests one from AIMA anyway, and IRN waiting a year for AIMA’s response is a major component of the long processing time.
I agree with not filing until it’s about to be published in the Diário da República but when exactly is that known? My understanding if/when the president signs it, it can be published immediately or several days/months later right? Is there any way to know how soon it will be published after the president signs/promulgates it?
Sure, but for the president to sign it, he should receive it from the parliament in the first place, while still prior to that the parliament needs to hold a final vote on a proposed draft, for which the said draft needs to obviously be drafted and discussed in the Commission, followed by the plenary debate in the parliament and possible (likely) submission of amendments from the parliamentary groups (parties).
I am sure you are aware that there is a whole website called parlamento.pt where anyone interested can follow the events and read as much legislative material as humanly possible at their heart’s content?
I am too lazy at this hour to find the ‘definite source’ in Portuguese, but here’s the timeline from a random website called https://portugalimmigrationnews.com:
Step 1 — From Parliament to the President: Around One Week
After a law is approved by the Assembly of the Republic, parliamentary staff prepare the final consolidated version (texto final) with all amendments.
This takes five to ten working days.
The President of the Assembly then signs it and sends it to President.
So, the law typically arrives at the Presidency about a week after the final vote.
Step 2 — The President’s Decision Window: 20 Days
According to Article 136 of the Portuguese Constitution, once the law reaches the President, he has 20 days to act.
He can:
Promulgate it (approve and send for publication).
Veto it politically (send it back to Parliament with a message).
Send it to the Constitutional Court for a preventive review of constitutionality.
If the President takes no action within 20 days, it’s considered approved automatically — though that almost never happens in politically sensitive cases.
Step 3 — If Sent to the Constitutional Court: Add Up to 25 Days
Should the President ask the Tribunal Constitucional to review the law, the Court has 25 days to issue a decision (Article 278, paragraph 3 of the Constitution).
The Court can:
Declare the law constitutional → the President must promulgate it.
Declare parts unconstitutional → Parliament must correct or withdraw those parts.
So, if this happens, the total time from approval to final signature could stretch to 45–55 days.
Step 4 — Publication and Entry into Force
Once promulgated, the law is published in the Diário da República within a few days.
It normally comes into force the day after publication, unless the law specifies another effective date.
It is hard to predict how the situation develops.
I would say by the time the new LdN lands on the President’s desk, we will learn a few more things that we cannot know today:
a) how unfavorable (or not) is the new LdN
b) what is the likely expected action from the President
c) what is the likely expected action from the parliamentary groups who may have opposed it
d) what actions some members of this community have taken and expected outcome
According to one LLM, there is likely to be at least a few days to act even after president signs:
Evidence from Examples and Sources
Lei n.º 61/2025 (the 2025 Foreigners Law amendment, often cited as a fast-track case): Promulgated on October 16, 2025 → Published on October 22, 2025 (6 days later) → Entered into force October 23, 2025 (“no dia seguinte”).
Other recent high-profile laws (e.g., immigration/nationality-related or urgent reforms in 2025) show similar patterns: promulgation followed by publication in days to weeks, not hours or the immediate next day. Sources describing “quick” processes still estimate 3–6 weeks total from parliamentary approval to full effect, including the publication delay.
No searched records, official Diário da República explanations, or legal commentaries cite instances of publication on the promulgation day or the very next day. Even in urgent scenarios, logistical handling prevents same-day or next-day publication.
The electronic Diário da República (since reforms like Decreto-Lei n.º 83/2016) allows faster availability, but historical and recent cases maintain a short but non-zero gap (often 2–7+ days).
In short: While laws can be written to enter into force as early as the day after publication (the minimal delay legislators choose for urgency), the step from presidential signature to actual publication in the official gazette has never been documented as occurring on the same day or the immediate next calendar day in Portugal’s contemporary legislative practice. The fastest realistic window from signing to publication is typically a few days.
Assuming this goes before Seguro, given (a) that he’s a new president who’ll want to establish his reputation in the role, (b) that this bill has been controversial both politically and constitutionally, (c) his comments last year about the nationality law, my gut feel is that he’ll take his time over it before promulgation or referral. Can’t believe he’d rubber-stamp it in a day or so.
Honestly, I would not start doing anything (except having A2 ready because this thing can take long time) until the media/press makes some noise. Govt always uses media/press to test the public reaction before doing sth. If they want to discuss and make changes about the citizenship’s law, they will surely send signal to media and immediately we see that all newspapers say the same things. After that, we will be able to react accordingly.
Last month, there was a discussion in the parliament about the “initial counting of legal residency” when applying for citizenship. The result of the discussion is nothing. Absolutely nothing was concluded after the discussion and law remains the same.
How do you know if they don’t? Is it not an internal process not exposed to the applicant? Meaning if all checks go well, the candidate would not know on which day that initial check was completed. Am I not wrong?
@tommigun When your lawyer submits the application online with IRN, the portal says ‘in processing’ and you get a ‘submission’ number until they do the initial check, then it says ‘submitted’ and you’re issued with a ‘process number’. Yes it really is that garbled. We’ve been stuck at ‘in processing’ since October.
Also worth noting that the PT Government is still quite busy dealing with the aftermath of the various storms that hit the mainland this month. I think PM Luís Montenegro is still the acting Interior Minister after Maria Lúcia Amaral resigned last week.
