Just in from my counsel:
Good afternoon,
On June 23rd, the Portuguese Government announced proposed amendments to both the Aliens Act and the Nationality Law during a press conference. One of the significant changes is a plan to increase the minimum residency period required to apply for Portuguese citizenship from the date of the first residence permit to 10 years.
In addition to the existing requirement of demonstrating A2-level Portuguese language skills, the proposal introduces new criteria:
- Passing a civic knowledge test covering Portuguese culture, rights, and responsibilities;
- Having no criminal convictions for offenses that carry prison sentences.
It’s important to note that there are no proposed changes to the Golden Visa programme. This means that Golden Visa investors and their families will continue to:
- Meet the same minimum stay requirement of an average of 7 days per year in Portugal;
- Renew their residence permits every two years;
- Include family members in their applications (the new family reunification rules do not affect Golden Visa holders).
The next step is for these proposals to go before Parliament in the coming days. The draft bill will be debated, reviewed by specialized committees, and, if approved, sent to the President for ratification. Once signed, it will be published in the Official newspapers.
Please keep in mind that the legislative process may lead to further changes, and there is a possibility that a grandfathering clause could be added to protect those who are about to submit Golden Visa applications. Although the government has indicated a desire for the changes to take effect retroactively from June 19th, retroactive laws are generally considered unconstitutional in Portugal. Therefore, it is likely that any new rules will only apply after the law officially comes into force.
If the bill passes as currently written, Golden Visa residence card holders will still have the following options:
- Apply for permanent residency after five years (renewable every five years), provided they meet the A2 Portuguese language requirement; or
- Wait 10 years from the date of their first residence card to apply for citizenship, subject to the new civic knowledge and clean criminal record requirements (with residence cards renewed every two years until the 10-year mark).
At this point, the government has only released limited information, so it’s too early to draw definitive conclusions. We recommend waiting for the final version of the law, which could take several weeks or be delayed until September.
Sovereign Portugal is closely monitoring developments and will provide further updates as soon as more details are available regarding how the changes may affect your situation.
In the meantime, I take this opportunity to introduce myself as your point of contact at Sovereign and look forward to working with you in your particular circumstances.