Americans Flocked to This Country for an Easy Path to Citizenship. Then the Rules Changed

Portugal has doubled its citizenship residency requirement for most immigrants. Here’s what the new nationality laws mean for residents and families.For decades, Portugal built a reputation as one of Europe’s most welcoming countries for immigrants, offering a relatively accessible path to citizenship after five years of legal residence. In May, that reputation changed when sweeping reforms were made to the country’s nationality laws, adding restrictions and caveats that have left many immigrants feeling short-changed.One of the most significant changes is that the residency requirement to apply for Portuguese citizenship by naturalization has been doubled from five years to 10 for most foreign nationals. For E.U. nationals and CPLP (Community of Portuguese Language Countries) citizens, such as those of Brazil, Angola, and Cape Verde, the citizenship pathway increased from five years to seven.The way residency is counted has also changed. Previously, the qualifying period for citizenship via naturalization was counted from the submission of a residency application. The date has now been pushed back to the issuance of the first residence permit, which can be problematic. Continue Reading Article After Our Video Recommended Fodor’s Video Portugal’s immigration agency, AIMA (previously known as SEF), has been accused of merry-go-round bureaucracy–difficulties obtaining residency and renewal appointments, plus lengthy delays in processing applications, mean that many foreigners have been left in limbo for months or even years through no fault of their own. The time they’ve spent waiting will no longer count towards their citizenship timeline.Some have cited AIMA’s complacency as the root of their anger regarding the nationality law changes; having to deal with them on an ongoing basis for years has been described as maddening.One such person is Leonice Oliveira, a Brazilian living in Portugal for seven years. She questions why she should have to wait more years to get her Portuguese passport. “I came in 2019 but only managed to get my documents in 2022 because of AIMA. If AIMA were actually efficient, I wouldn’t even want Portuguese citizenship. I don’t want to have to keep waiting years and years to renew my residency. With a Portuguese passport, it would be so much easier to live here.”Salma Ben Rached, a Tunisian who has been living in Portugal since 2021, describes the changes as volatile. She says that AIMA took two years to process her first residency application. During that time, she was stuck in the country waiting for her card to arrive. She managed to submit her nationality application on May 18, 2026, the day before the law went into effect.“I was one of the lucky ones, but it’s a horrible thing that has happened,” she says. “It’s like a broken promise from a government that was heavily marketing that you can come to the country, have safety, and have a life. You end up spending your money here, contributing to the economy, and things just change so fast with the laws. You’re constantly thinking ‘what if my future here isn’t guaranteed?’ There’s no way of knowing if your future is going to be okay in this country.”An Issue for Some FamiliesHeather Courtney, an American mom of two, was living in Mexico but came to Portugal because of the slower pace of life and ease of living—not to mention the prospect of a five-year pathway to citizenship. “We knew we weren’t going back to the U.S. anytime soon. In fact, probably never. Hearing that the requirements for citizenship changed kind of sucks because we were just shy of the five-year mark, and now I’m wondering what’s next for me. It matters less now because I’m married to an E.U. citizen and my son is an E.U. citizen, so I’m allowed to stay in the E.U. regardless.”However, her older daughter will have to keep doing her residency renewals in order for her to be able to stay in the country. “She loves Portugal, and she wants to stay, but she did five years here, and now she has to do even more. We don’t see ourselves wanting to move to any other country in Europe, so it’s not bad, but it’s just frustrating. The new 10-year rule really should have applied to people who are just now coming over to the country.”Because Courtney’s daughter is under 21, she could potentially qualify in Portugal as the family member or direct descendant of Courtney’s E.U.-citizen husband, rather than relying only on her original Portuguese residence permit. That depends on the family’s registration and documentation. Portugal also provides permanent residence to qualifying non-E.U. family members after five consecutive years of legal residence with an E.U. citizen.The Pressing Matter of GrandfatheringOne of the biggest complaints from immigrants about the law reforms is the lack of protection and rights for those already living in Portugal and already on the path to citizenship. The absence of a “grandfathering” clause has made some people feel blindsided.“Our lives in Portugal are built on a specific plan: live here, contribute, and apply for citizenship after five years,” says Jesse Anderson, an American living in Portugal since 2021. “This new law has moved the goalpost from five years to 10 years. The scary part isn’t the change itself–it’s that they have applied it to those of us who are already here. If you add in the AIMA delays, we are looking at 12-15 years before we have security.”His goal was to obtain citizenship for his children–ages 14 and 17–before they went to university; however, the changes have turned their timeline upside down. His eldest will no longer meet the requirements for citizenship despite having spent her formative years in Portugal. “The new law unfairly and onerously burdens children with new requirements that they can’t follow,” he laments.His children are the major reason he established SJC, a civic movement that was formally incorporated as an association in June. The aim of the association is to protect legal certainty and institutional fairness for residents in Portugal. Their current initiative is to tackle the grandfathering issue head-on.“We aren’t just signing petitions. We produced a report and raised a legal defense fund to hire a lobbying firm,” he explains. Their report found that the nationality law updates could lead to an estimated loss of almost €16 billion for Portugal over the next decade–they hope to present their findings and their concerns to the Minister of the Presidency.“The Portuguese government is making a purely political decision. They’re not taking into account the massive economic impact. I’m hoping the economic impact will cut through the party lines and rhetoric,” he explains. “We are down but not out. We need to show the Portuguese government that we deserve to be treated fairly. There is still hope that the regulation will include some sort of grandfathering.”Anderson’s not alone in his frustration. Over 1,200 foreign residents filed a formal complaint with the Ombudsman regarding the revisions. They’re citing a breach of legitimate expectations for applicants who entered the system under the prior five-year rule.Anderson adds that Portugal should also consider how much money it will lose from tourism due to the changes to the nationality law. “People were coming to Portugal to see if they wanted to move here initially as a vacation. For U.K. citizens, it’s around the corner. For U.S. citizens, you have to want to come here. Portugal is now losing out on all of that tourism and eventual income,” he notes.A Different Side to the StoryNot everyone sees things the same way. Tara-Nicholle Kirke, a Californian mom of three living in Portugal, moved because she wanted to raise her youngest child in a place that is safe and where both their nervous systems felt grounded. “We’ve rooted ourselves in Portugal. I’ve just bought a 12-bedroom property that I’m turning into a boutique hotel and guesthouse for creators and writers. My daughter goes to school here. We have no intention to leave Portugal. We feel very appreciative that we’re able to be here. I’ve healed from an autoimmune condition since moving here.”Kirke adds that “five years to ten years makes almost no difference because I was planning to be here, build businesses here, build communities here, and I was doing that anyway, a year in. I’ve been here three years. I’ve seen [the Portuguese government] change things and then unchange things. I watched as they made a big hullabaloo about reversing the golden visa and then they brought it back in different formats.”She says, “The reality is a lot of the things that the Portuguese government did aggressively to generate the resources and the influx of people that they did, worked and were great. And then they decided to mold the clay of their boundaries.”Through her hotel project, some of her investors from the U.S. are getting their golden visa, and according to Kirke, none of them have been deterred by the change. “As far as I’m concerned, I’m happy here, building businesses here and bringing other investors and visa holders here, and the five years versus ten years for a passport is negligible to me.”