On 3rd May 2026, the President promulgated the revised Nationality Law, formally signing the new framework into effect. It is yet to be written into law, so the exact final wording is unknown at the time of writing.

Most of the coverage has focused on a single number - the move from a five-year to a ten-year residency requirement before applicants can apply for Portuguese citizenship.

That is a meaningful change, and it has understandably created a lot of questions.

For a great many people who have built plans around Portugal in recent years, that change has been a real disappointment, and the discontent being voiced is entirely understandable.

A significant number of families, investors and long-term residents began their journey to Portugal on the understanding that they could reasonably apply for citizenship after five years of legal residency.

Frustration and Questions Surround the Change

Among investors and families currently part-way through Portugal’s residency process, the reaction to the new timeline has been one of real frustration.

Many of those affected chose Portugal specifically because of the five-year pathway to citizenship. They built their plans around that horizon, committed capital, and accepted the practical implications it carried.

Doubling that period mid-process has felt, for many, like a moving of the goalposts on a commitment that took years to make.

The strength of that feeling has now been formally voiced. A group of American Golden Visa holders has submitted a legal challenge to the Constitutional Court, arguing that extending the timeline and applying it to existing applicants undermines the trust placed in Portugal when they began their applications. Hope remains that, when written into law, the new rules will still consider those that had applied before any vote on the Nationality Law.

Permanent Residency Has Not Changed

Although the citizenship rules have been amended, the framework governing Permanent Residency has not been altered by the new law.

Under Portuguese law, the path to Permanent Residency remains unchanged following the recent reform.

After five years of legal residency, applicants from any qualifying visa route can apply for Permanent Resident status, provided the standard conditions are met.

That includes a basic level of Portuguese language, a clean criminal record, and evidence of stable ties to the country.

Permanent Residency and Portuguese citizenship remain two separate statuses, with different rights, different processes and, following the recent reform, different waiting periods.

What Permanent Residency Actually Gives You

Permanent Residency in Portugal is a long-term, renewable status that does not expire as long as the holder maintains their connection to the country.

Permanent Residents have the right to live in Portugal indefinitely, to work and study without further authorisation, and to access public services on broadly the same basis as Portuguese citizens.

For Golden Visa applicants, reaching Permanent Residency also marks the point at which the qualifying investment no longer needs to be maintained.

Every Visa Route Eventually Leads to the Same Place

One of the most useful things to understand about Portugal’s system is that the major visa categories all converge on the same five-year milestone.

Whether someone enters the country through a D7 passive income visa, a D8 digital nomad visa, a work visa, a family reunification permit, or the Portugal Golden Visa, the underlying clock is the same.

Five years of legal residency, properly maintained, opens the door to Permanent Residency.

The route in is different but the destination is the same.

What does change between visa types is the lifestyle and presence requirements during those five years.

Where the Golden Visa Stands Apart

Most of Portugal’s visa categories are designed for people who plan to live in the country full time.

D7 and D8 holders, for example, are generally expected to spend the majority of the year in Portugal. Work and family reunification visas are linked to ongoing employment or family circumstances.

The Golden Visa is structured differently.

It was created for international investors who wanted to establish a legal foothold in Europe without needing to relocate immediately.

The minimum stay requirement is an average of just seven days a year. Investors can maintain their primary residence elsewhere, run their existing business, and gradually build their connection to Portugal at a pace that suits them.

After five years, those Golden Visa holders sit alongside D7, D8 and other applicants at the same Permanent Residency milestone - having spent a fraction of the time physically in the country.

That flexibility is one of the reasons the programme has continued to attract interest from families based in the United States, the United Kingdom and other parts of the world, even as the wider European landscape has tightened.

How the Two Timelines Now Stand

Under the framework as it currently stands, applicants can apply for Permanent Resident status after five years of legal residency.

Once granted, the residence permit no longer requires renewal every two or three years, and Golden Visa investors are no longer required to maintain the qualifying investment that supported the original application.

The path to full Portuguese citizenship now requires ten years of legal residency under the revised law, rather than the five years that previously applied.

The right to live, work and study freely across the European Union is attached to citizenship rather than to Permanent Residency. For new applicants under the revised framework, the wait for those rights is therefore likely to extend a further five years, subject to the final wording of the law.

An opportunity for clarity – 20th May at 5pm Lisbon Time

To help international residents and prospective applicants understand how all of this fits together, our approved partner, Jason Swan, is hosting a live webinar on Wednesday 20th May at 5pm Lisbon time.

The session is designed as a general overview followed by a live Q&A.

Topics planned for the session include:

• How the new Nationality Law works in practice

• The difference between Permanent Residency and citizenship

• Where the Golden Visa fits, and why it remains the most flexible option

• Current AIMA processing timelines and the new digital portal

• A live Q&A segment open to all attendees

You can reserve your place for the live webinar here: REGISTER HERE