Parliament approves proposal to amend the Portuguese Nationality Law

On April 1, the Portuguese Parliament approved a proposal to amend the Nationality Law, introducing significant changes to the criteria for granting Portuguese citizenship.

One of the key measures is the removal of the provision that allows new citizenship applications based on Sephardic ancestry. In addition, the proposal introduces stricter requirements for passing citizenship on to spouses and minor children of naturalized Portuguese citizens.

Although the proposal has been approved by Parliament, it has not yet come into force. Before it becomes law, it must go through the remaining stages of the legislative process, including review by the President of the Republic and publication in the official gazette. The President may sign it into law, veto it, or refer it to the Constitutional Court for further review.

Until these steps are completed and the law is officially published, the current rules remain in effect.

For those who have already started the process

If you have already submitted a Portuguese citizenship application, your rights remain unaffected.

Applications are assessed based on the rules in force at the time they are filed with the registry office. This means that ongoing applications will continue to be processed under the previous criteria, regardless of any subsequent changes to the law.

One point to keep in mind concerns applicants who are still planning to apply for citizenship for family members, such as minor children or spouses. If the new law is enacted, these applications may be subject to stricter requirements. For now, however, the current rules still apply.

For those who have not yet applied

If you have not yet started your Portuguese citizenship application, the main potential change is the end of new applications based on Sephardic ancestry, if the law is approved by the President and comes into force.

At present, however, all existing pathways under the law remain unchanged.

If you have not yet started your application through the Sephardic route, please fill out the form below:

Portuguese | Spanish | English | Hebrew

If you would like to apply on behalf of your children or spouse, access and submit the form below:

Portuguese | Spanish | English | Hebrew

If you would like to request an assessment to help speed up your process, access and submit the form below:

Portuguese | Spanish | English | Hebrew

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