The new Nationality Law of Portugal, which changes the rules for obtaining Portuguese citizenship, was published in the Official Gazette of the Union on Monday (18). The changes come into force this Tuesday (19) and affect thousands of Brazilians who live in the European country.
With , citizens of the CPLP (Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries), which includes Brazil, and the European Union will have to prove residence in Portugal for seven years to apply for citizenship. Previously, the deadline was five years. Foreigners from other countries will need to prove at least 10 years of residence in the country.
The change will also affect . Now, they will only be considered Portuguese after living in the country for five years.
Previously, foreign parents of children born in Portugal had the right to request citizenship based on parentage, but this possibility no longer exists with the new law.
The process for obtaining citizenship by ancestry has not changed. In other words, Brazilians who are children or grandchildren of Portuguese people can apply for nationality, even if they have never lived in Portugal.
The IRN (Institute of Records and Notaries), a body subordinate to the Portuguese Ministry of Justice, informed that the new rules will only apply to requests submitted after the law comes into force. In other words, anyone who has already started the process by this Monday will not be affected.
According to the agency, after the changes were approved last month, online service platforms registered high levels of access, with a significant increase in the number of nationality requests.
“Due to this large number of accesses, technical difficulties may occur in subsequent processing of the request,” stated the IRN.
A survey by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, based on data from 2023, indicates that 513 thousand in that year.
