Check the DM.
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One risk is that you submit an application that is not valid, and the law changes in a way in the future that makes you valid but your second application is rejected because you have a pending application already. And a year or two later your original application is rejected, and you are stuck without any avenue to file a valid application or you waste several years in limbo.
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In short, no, absent some stretched reading of the TC decision. Some lawyers are saying to do this because they are making huge fees and don’t care that your application will get rejected 2 years from now.
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Hmmm …. this could be one to get several legal opinions on before deciding.
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Having said that, it should be fairly straightforward to establish whether there have been many successful citizenship applications where all criteria were not met at the time of submission, but were indeed met by the time of the decision. Also to establish whether a first application that turns out to be invalid could not simply be cancelled and then followed up by a second, later, valid application that is eventually approved. Immigration lawyers must have a variety of past experience they can go by.
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Another way to look at it is, the only way to have any option of avoiding a 10 year process is to make sure you submit under the current favourable regime, even if all the current criteria are not yet met, knowing that they will eventually be met. If this is rejected and the 10 year regime comes into effect, well then you will have a long wait anyway and plenty of time for your first application to be rejected and be no longer ‘pending’.
So one strategy might be to prepare your citizenship application under the current regime, ready to submit as soon as the outline of a new regime is clear, but make sure you submit before the new regime takes effect if it is an unfavourable regime, eg 10 years, no transition/grandfathering etc. Seems as though in that scenario there’s not much to lose by submitting under the current regime, especially if you’re say only a few months away from the 5 year mark.
I would not suggest submitting an application before it is valid and complete - unless it is an absolute last resort and if the final bill (whatever it is) is so unfriendly to ARI holders.
That’s what I’m saying and what my lawyer said. I think there is too much risk, such as you are banned from applying in the future due to fraudulent application.
Apparently there’s something like a 30-day initial check where they check your basic eligibility, so if you submit several months before the 5 year mark you wouldn’t clear the first hurdle.
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António Leitão Amaro, Minister of the Presidency, spoke this Wednesday about the Constitutional Court’s rejection of the Nationality Law . The minister explained that the executive branch does not share the same understanding regarding the declaration of unconstitutionality of four provisions and added that it will be a matter of time before the law is approved and that, with the “essential” aspects validated, the Government will now have to “work” on the “contested” parts. “I believe that the same thing that happened to the immigration law will happen to the Nationality Law: it will happen,” he asserted.
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What a jerk
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More details here
Nationality Law. Leitão Amaro says the Constitutional Court “validated the course” of the Government.
The Minister of the Presidency assures that the Constitutional Court (TC) “validated the course” of the Government when it ruled this week on the Nationality Law and vetoed several provisions of the legislation on the subject.
If he wants to engage in a year-long tussle with the Assembly, the President and the TC, that’s absolutely fine with me
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That is what missing in my arsenal. I have to urgently start on A2 and I am not in Portugal. No now exploring my options on how best to start A2. Any suggestions?
He’s the ones heading the Ministry of Truth, right?
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I can really recommend these guys (though they’re not cheap)! I received my A2 certificate from them after completing a fast-track course over a 4 month period back in the summer. My other family members are taking the long route via a private bespoke class 2 hours per week. Due to busy and changeable work/study schedules they could not fit into any of the regular scheduled courses so they should complete in summer 2026 after about 18 months of study. My son also could not keep up with the regular course due to uni schedules so he had a bespoke intensive course where he completed A1 this past summer and will do the next part (A2) in summer 2026, i.e. intensive study during the university summer holidays.
So as a family we’ve had experience of 3 different teachers all of whom were really very lovely, and the admin are very responsive and very helpful and willing to tailor something to your specific needs. They send your A2 certificate directly to your lawyer once you have completed the 150 hours.
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From an email sent by our lawyers:
“Kindly note that the provisions concerning the extension of residence periods - from 5 to 10 years - were not subject to preventive constitutional review by the Constitutional Court and may therefore enter into force upon promulgation. The two decrees must now be vetoed on grounds of unconstitutionality by the President of the Republic. Should the President veto only the unconstitutional provisions, the remaining amendments to the Decree will take effect following partial promulgation and publication.”
I think that Amaro (in addition to his offensive, tiresome statements) is expressing hope that the president will veto only the unconstitutional provisions, and promulgate the rest. When he says “the essence of the law is validated,” he’s arguing the these portions should, in his view, be promulgated.
We would of course prefer for the president to veto the whole mess and start over. This process is so complicated to keep track of, but it sounds like the President has more options than a simple veto, despite the ruling of unconstitutionality.
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Also sharing this Q&A from our lawyer about sending in our citizenship application early, in case it is useful to anyone on this channel:
"Q: There is a lot of discussion currently in the expat community about what we can do in relation to the pending nationality laws. Some of our Portuguese-based friends say that we should try to apply early and get a process number in order to lock in our rights under the existing law. They say that we can begin our process after 4 years. They mentioned that we could do this under the “principio da economia procedimental.”
A: Unfortunately, there are many misconceptions circulating. Nationality applications, even without the recent law change, can only be submitted after five years of residency. While you can technically begin the process, it will be discarded as the legal requirements are not met.
The principle of economia processual does not apply in these situations, where there is a strict timeline requirement.
You cannot “lock in rights,” as, unfortunately, you do not currently have them.
Q: Is there any possibility of trying this? If there is even a small chance that we could protect our rights by filing an application for citizenship, we would be willing to attempt it and pay the fees for this. Our friends said that we should not worry about the paperwork being complete as we will need to update most of it when AIMA / IRN gets to it in 3+ years.
A: Although you might need to provide additional paperwork later in the citizenship process, if the requirements aren’t met at submission, the application won’t be accepted. This is my legal and completely honest advice. If there were any alternatives or options available, I would gladly share them with you; unfortunately, there are none in this case."
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is your law firm EDGE? they suggested we apply for citizenship now even tho we havent had biometrics yet.
No, it’s Caiado Guerrerio. If EDGE or others have a good counterargument to the information provided, have at it. At 4.5 years, I’d love to lock in my citizenship request, should that be possible. However this is what we’ve been advised.
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