Government approves rules for the new citizenship law. Without them, the law has applied only in part since May
On 29 October the Council of Ministers approved a decree-law setting out the rules for applying the new citizenship law (Lei da Nacionalidade). According to the Minister for the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, António Leitão Amaro, the law can now be applied "in full", and some procedures have also been simplified "so that there is less bureaucracy" (ECO, Notícias ao Minuto). The minister did not say which procedures had been simplified. The text of the rules has not yet been published: the decree-law will take effect once the President has signed it and it has been published in the Diário da República.
Parliament passed the law itself on 1 April, and it has been in force since 19 May 2026. To obtain citizenship, you now need to have lived legally in Portugal for 10 years, or 7 if you are a citizen of a Portuguese-speaking country (CPLP); previously, five years was enough for everyone. The law also requires knowledge of the Portuguese language, history and culture, and a solemn declaration that you accept the values of the country's constitution. Without the rules, some of these requirements could not be met in practice, the lawyer Isabel Comte said in August. She spent 16 years handling citizenship cases at the Conservatória dos Registos Centrais, the main registry office in Lisbon (Público).
The backlog of citizenship cases is already large: as of 30 June, 690,000 applications were awaiting a decision at the IRN, the Institute of Registries and Notaries, 38% more than a year earlier (our article).
At the same meeting the government appointed a new head of the AIMA immigration agency: César Teixeira, until now a member of its board. Leitão Amaro said AIMA had held 60% more appointments in 2026 than the year before: the agency had seen 185,000 people and answered 500,000 phone calls.
