The citizenship reform: from the 2025 vote to the law in force on 19 May 2026

• Parliament voted the reform twice: Decree 17/XVII in the autumn of 2025 was sent to the Constitutional Court, which struck four of its provisions (Acórdão n.º 1133/2025); the President returned it on 19 December 2025; a revised decree was approved on 1 April 2026, promulgated on 3 May and published as Lei Orgânica n.º 1/2026 on 18 May
• In force since 19 May 2026, for applications lodged from that date; files pending on that day are decided under the old law
• Naturalisation: 7 years of legal residence for nationals of Portuguese-speaking countries and EU Member States, 10 for others; language, culture and civic-knowledge requirements; a solemn declaration; criminal-record bars; means of subsistence
• Routes closed: the Sephardic-descent regime and two descent and community routes; routes opened: great-grandchildren of Portuguese citizens, stateless persons after four years
• Not enacted: loss of nationality as a criminal penalty — the Penal Code decree was returned to Parliament on 12 May 2026 after the Court found its core provisions unconstitutional

The Portuguese nationality reform announced in June 2025 became law on 18 May 2026, after a path that ran through Parliament twice, the Constitutional Court once and the President’s desk three times. This article records that path from the official documents — because what many foreign residents read in late 2025 described a decree that never entered into force in that form — and sets out what the enacted law, Lei Orgânica n.º 1/2026, actually requires.

The timeline, from the official record

What the enacted law says

Naturalisation (art. 6.º, n.º 1). The Government grants nationality to adults who cumulatively: have resided legally in Portugal for at least seven years (nationals of Portuguese-speaking countries and of EU Member States) or ten years (others); prove “by test or certificate” sufficient knowledge of the Portuguese language, culture, history and national symbols; know the fundamental rights and duties of nationality and the political organisation of the State; solemnly declare adherence to the principles of the democratic rule of law; have not been sentenced to more than three years’ effective prison for terrorism, violent or organised crime, crimes against State security or aiding illegal immigration; pose no threat to security or defence; are not subject to UN or EU restrictive measures; and can support themselves. The periods of residence are added up, continuous or not, within a window of 9 years (Portuguese-speaking and EU nationals) or 12 years (others) — 6 for stateless persons (art. 15.º, n.º 3).

Children born in Portugal to foreign parents acquire original nationality by declaration if, at the birth, one parent had five years of legal residence (art. 1.º, n.º 1 f)); minors born here may also be naturalised on cumulative conditions including a parent’s five years of residence and school attendance (art. 6.º, n.º 2). Stateless persons may be naturalised after four years (n.º 3). Adoption by a Portuguese citizen now confers nationality by declaration, not automatically (art. 5.º). Marriage or a recognised de-facto union of more than three years with a Portuguese citizen still gives nationality by declaration (art. 3.º), subject to the criminal-record bars, and the Public Prosecutor may oppose an acquisition within two years for lack of effective ties (arts 9.º–10.º), though not where the marriage has lasted more than six years or there are Portuguese children.

Routes removed and added. The Ministry of Justice summarises: the special regime for descendants of Sephardic Jews is eliminated, as are acquisition by ascendancy of an original Portuguese citizen in certain cases and acquisition by descent from original Portuguese citizens or membership of a community of Portuguese ancestry; nationality is opened to great-grandchildren of original Portuguese citizens and to stateless residents of four years.

Transition. The law applies to applications lodged from 19 May 2026; “the previous wording of the Nationality Act continues to apply to pending procedures” (art. 7.º, n.º 2) — the point the Constitutional Court had insisted on. The Government had 90 days to adapt the Nationality Regulation (art. 4.º); until the regulation and the culture test are in place, the Ministry notes that “the practical application of several rules depends on complementary regulation”.

What changed between the announcement and the law

• 7/10 years: kept, with EU citizens added to the seven-year group.
• Loss of nationality for crimes: not in the Nationality Act; the separate Penal Code penalty was twice found unconstitutional and remains unenacted.
• Criminal bar: the two-year automatic bar struck by the Court became a bar for sentences over three years for listed serious crimes.
• Children born in Portugal: five years of parental residence in the law, against the three announced.
• Pending files: protected by the transitional rule, after the Court struck the first version.

What it means for applicants

Anyone who lodged a naturalisation file before 19 May 2026 is decided under the old five-year rule; anyone reaching five years later waits for seven or ten, counted under valid residence titles within the 9- or 12-year window. The A2 language certificate remains the usual proof of language; the culture and civic tests are new and follow the regulation. Sephardic-descent applications lodged before the deadline follow the old regime; new ones are no longer possible. Every route, with documents, fees and timing, is in our Portuguese citizenship guides; the June 2025 announcement is compared with the enacted laws in the 23 June 2025 reforms.