Portugal’s government voted to extend residency requirements to 10 years for citizenship, from five, reshaping the path for American expats on a golden visa or digital nomad visa. Here’s what to know.
FORBES
In a blow to the many people hoping to make Portugal their home and apply for European citizenship through the Portugal golden visa program or other visa routes, the Portuguese government voted to extend the time required to be in the country to 10 years before applications for nationality will be accepted.
Portugal had been very attractive to expats keen on making Europe their home because previously, Portugal only required people to be in the country for five years before they could apply for nationality.
For EU citizens and those in the community of Portuguese-language countries (Brazil, Angola, Cabo Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Mozambique, São Tomé and Principe, and Timor-Leste), the rule will be increased to seven years instead of ten.
For applications in process where citizenship is pending, the old rules will apply, but residents who haven’t yet initiated citizenship will have to conform to the new seven- or ten-year rule. This is crucial to holders of golden or other types of visas; if you were planning to apply at the end of five years for citizenship, you would now need to wait another five.
The vote also resets the citizenship timeline for new applicants; the clock starts ticking only when authorities grant a residence permit, not at the point where people submit their applications for residency. In reality, this means it might add another two to three years to the process, because that’s typically how long it takes to obtain residency in the country. For most foreigners, golden visa investors, and people who have come on a digital nomad visa, the naturalization timeline effectively becomes about 9 to 13 years.