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Portuguese citizenship 2026 – permanent residence, the new nationality law and how to stay for good

Last updated 25 September 2026Rules checked every MondayOfficial sourcesSources & methodology →

Five years on a residence permit opens the door to permanent residence in Portugal. Portuguese citizenship now takes longer: since 19 May 2026 the nationality law asks for seven or ten years of legal residence, a language and culture test and a €250 fee. Here is the route, step by step, for EU and non-EU newcomers.

Smiling woman holding up a Portuguese flag on a city street
Photo: JackF/Adobe Stock

Two laws changed the long game. Lei Orgânica 1/2026, in force since 19 May 2026, rewrote the Lei da Nacionalidade (nationality law): naturalisation now needs seven years of legal residence for citizens of EU member states and Portuguese-speaking (CPLP) countries and ten years for everyone else, where five used to be enough. Lei 62/2026, in force since 11 September 2026, left the permanent-residence rules untouched. Portuguese citizenship 2026 is a longer road, but that first milestone still comes after five years.

One warning: on 24 September 2026 the Ministry of Justice's guide pages still showed older residence periods, and the pages of AIMA (Agência para a Integração, Migrações e Asilo – the immigration agency) had not been updated for Lei 62/2026. This article follows the law.

Permanent residence in Portugal after five years – non-EU citizens

Article 80 of the immigration law (Lei 23/2007), unchanged in 2025 and 2026, grants a permanent residence permit (autorização de residência permanente) to a third-country national with at least five years on a temporary permit, no sentence in the last five years to prison terms exceeding one year in total, means of subsistence, accommodation and basic knowledge of Portuguese.

You apply by appointment at any Loja AIMA with your passport, proof of means, a sworn declaration of address, proof of tax and social-security compliance, proof of five years of temporary residence and proof of basic Portuguese: a school certificate, an IEFP course, a CAPLE test or an A2 certificate from a Português Língua de Acolhimento (PLA) course (part 11). The permit never expires; the card is renewed every five years.

Fee (AIMA fee table, Portaria 307/2023)At the counterDigital channel
Reception and analysis of the application€133.00€99.80
Grant of the permanent residence permit€351.10€263.40
Renewal or data change of a permanent permit€61.90–
In-person delivery of the card€29.90–

Source: AIMA, read 24 September 2026.

Absences count: a permanent permit may be cancelled if you are away, without good reason, for 24 consecutive months or 30 months in any three-year period; justify longer absences to AIMA before you leave.

EU long-term resident status – the portable alternative

Portugal also issues the EU long-term resident status (estatuto de residente de longa duração): five years of legal, uninterrupted residence immediately before the application, stable resources without social assistance, health insurance or SNS cover, accommodation and basic Portuguese. AIMA must notify you within six months, extendable by three; silence after nine months counts as approval. The status is permanent and is lost only after 12 consecutive months outside the EU or six consecutive years outside Portugal. Fees: €169.20 for reception and €160.50 for the card; beneficiaries of international protection pay nothing.

EU citizens and Withdrawal Agreement Britons: the permanent certificate

EU, EEA and Swiss citizens and their family members acquire the right of permanent residence after five consecutive years of legal residence (Lei 37/2006, art. 10), lost only after more than two consecutive years away. The Certificado de Residência Permanente comes from AIMA, not from the câmara municipal (town hall) that issued your CRUE (certificado de registo de cidadão da União Europeia). Since 1 July 2026 you request it on AIMA's Portal de Renovações, with your ID and CRUE; AIMA decides within three months at most and, since 15 September 2026, no longer asks for a NIF or NISS in the portal. It costs €18 in person or €15 digitally for people over 25.

So Anna Andersson, an EU citizen registered in Porto since arriving, can ask for the certificate after five years and apply for citizenship after seven. UK nationals covered by the Withdrawal Agreement – resident by 31 December 2020 and continuously since – request the permanent residence card after five consecutive years through AIMA's contact form (BREXIT topic); it costs €18 and is valid ten years. Later arrivals follow the non-EU rules.

Portuguese citizenship 2026: what the new nationality law requires

Since 19 May 2026 naturalisation by residence (art. 6 of the nationality law) requires: being an adult; seven years of legal residence for nationals of CPLP countries and EU member states, ten for others and four for stateless persons; proof, by test or certificate, of sufficient knowledge of the Portuguese language and culture, national history and symbols; knowledge of the rights and duties of nationality; a solemn declaration of adherence to the democratic rule of law; no conviction to more than three years' effective prison for the listed serious crimes; and the capacity to support yourself. CPLP nationals are presumed to know the language. Applications pending on 19 May 2026 follow the old law.

Legal residence means residence under any visa, permit or title of the immigration or asylum law; all periods, continuous or not, are added up if they fall within a window of six years for stateless persons, nine for CPLP and EU nationals or twelve for others, and years on a student permit are not excluded.

The language level sits in the Regulamento da Nacionalidade, which still accepts an A2 certificate: a PLA course, an IEFP course, a CAPLE test such as the CIPLE (€95) or a school certificate. The Government had 90 days from 18 May 2026 to amend the regulation, on which the culture and history test depends; on 24 September 2026 no amending decree had been published, so A2 applies until it is.

Route (Lei 37/81 as amended by Lei Orgânica 1/2026)Main conditionCost
Naturalisation by residence7 years (CPLP and EU nationals) or 10 years (others) of legal residence, plus the tests and the declaration€250
Stateless persons4 years of legal residence within a 6-year windowFree
Marriage or união de facto with a Portuguese citizenMore than 3 years, by declaration, subject to the conduct conditions€250
Minor born in Portugal to foreign parentsA parent with 5 years’ legal residence and the child attending compulsory schoolingFree
Giving up Portuguese nationalityOnly possible if you hold another nationality€150

Source: Diário da República (Lei Orgânica 1/2026) and the Ministry of Justice, read 24 September 2026.

The special route for descendants of Sephardic Jews closed on 19 May 2026. A child born in Portugal to foreign parents is now Portuguese by origin only if, at birth, one parent had five years' legal residence and the parents declare that they want the child to be Portuguese.

The Constitutional Court (ruling 1133/2025) struck four provisions of the first decree, and Parliament passed the revised text now in force; a companion bill making loss of nationality a criminal penalty is not in force. Dual citizenship is allowed – you need not renounce your previous nationality, although your other country may require it.

Where and how to apply for nationality

Without a lawyer, you file by registered post or in person at a Balcão da Nacionalidade – civil registry offices including Lisboa, Braga, Coimbra and Vila Nova de Gaia, CNAIM in Lisbon and Porto, or a consulate – booking on the Siga portal or sigaApp. With a lawyer or solicitador the application must be filed online.

The file: a legalised or apostilled birth certificate, translated; a request in Portuguese addressed to the Minister of Justice; proof of Portuguese, not needed if you were born in a Portuguese-speaking country; and criminal-record certificates from the countries of birth, nationality and residence after 16. The €250 is paid by card at the counter, or by card or cheque by post. No official page states a processing time. Questions: Linha Registos, +351 211 950 500, weekdays 9:00–17:00.

What to do now

StepWhatWhen
1Keep every permit, CRUE, lease and tax recordFrom day one
2Get a PLA A2 or CIPLE certificate; re-check the level once the regulation is amendedBefore year five
3Non-EU: book the permanent-permit appointment at a Loja AIMAAt five years
4EU: request the Certificado de Residência Permanente on the Portal de RenovaçõesBefore your CRUE expires
5Ask any Loja AIMA for a Modelo 7 residence-time certificateBefore applying for nationality
6File the nationality application by post or at a Balcão da NacionalidadeAfter 7 or 10 years of legal residence

Source: AIMA and the Ministry of Justice, read 24 September 2026.

Official sources

The official pages this guide is based on, read 24 September 2026. Links open the authority’s own website.

Relocate in Europe provides general information, not legal or financial advice for your individual situation. Check with the authority named above before you act – rules change, and your case may differ.