Citizenship cannot be refused automatically over a conviction, Constitutional Court rules: each case must be weighed
The Constitutional Court (Tribunal Constitucional) has ruled that citizenship cannot be refused simply because a person was once convicted of a crime punishable by three years in prison or more. The specific case must be weighed first: what the person did, what sentence they actually received and how they have lived since (ruling No. 840/2026 of 2 October; ECO).
The case concerns a foreign woman who has been married to a Portuguese citizen for more than three years and applied for citizenship through marriage. She had previously been sentenced to a fine of 120 day-rates for giving false testimony, an offence that under the Criminal Code carries six months to three years in prison or a fine. The public prosecutor (Ministério Público) sought to have her citizenship refused because of this conviction. In 2024 the Lisbon Administrative Court declined to apply that rule, finding it unconstitutional, and the Constitutional Court agreed. The ruling does not grant her citizenship: it only removes the automatic refusal. According to the court, she met the other conditions.
The case was decided under the previous version of the citizenship law: the new law (Lei Orgânica n.º 1/2026) has been in force since 19 May 2026, and this ruling does not overturn it. However, the court pointed out that its position has not changed: in December 2025 it declared unconstitutional a rule in the first draft of the new law under which naturalisation would be refused automatically if the crime carried two years in prison or more (ruling No. 1133/2025).
For anyone who has been refused citizenship, or is at risk of refusal, because of an old conviction – especially if the sentence was a fine rather than prison – this ruling will be a useful argument in court. How to use it in your own case is best discussed with a lawyer.
