Portugal to double citizenship wait time in crackdown backed by far right

Portugal’s centre-right minority government has announced plans to approve a significant tightening of its citizenship laws, including doubling the residency requirement for most foreign nationals from five to ten years.

The proposed measures come amid rising political pressure from the far-right Chega party, which has made curbing immigration a key policy goal, Caliber.Az reports, citing foreign media.

Speaking to reporters on June 23, Cabinet Minister António Leitão Amaro said the new rules would soon be approved by the government and would align with the policy commitments made during the election campaign.

“We are significantly strengthening the requirements for access to citizenship, naturalisation, in line with the guidelines we already included in the government's program,” Leitão Amaro said.

The changes will raise the minimum residency requirement to ten years for most applicants, while citizens of Portuguese-speaking countries such as Brazil, Angola, and Mozambique will be eligible after seven years.

The planned reforms will also tighten other aspects of immigration policy. These include stricter rules for issuing residence permits to family members of legal immigrants, and a provision allowing the state to revoke Portuguese citizenship from naturalised individuals convicted of serious crimes.

Beyond the longer residency period, the government intends to add further requirements for naturalisation. Applicants will need to:

• Show proficiency in the Portuguese language

• Demonstrate knowledge of Portuguese culture

• Understand the rights and duties of Portuguese citizens

• Declare support for the principles of a democratic state

• Have no criminal sentences longer than three years

• Not have served any effective prison sentence

• Pose no threat to national security

Leitão Amaro stressed that the new measures aim to safeguard national cohesion and ensure better integration of immigrants.

The proposal comes in the wake of the March 2025 general election, in which Chega — a party known for its anti-immigration stance — emerged as the main opposition force. The government is expected to secure parliamentary approval for the decree with Chega’s support.

Portugal, a country of about 10.5 million people, has experienced a surge in immigration over recent years. According to AIMA, the Portuguese migration and asylum agency, more than 1.5 million foreign nationals were legally residing in the country by the end of 2024. Brazilians remain the largest immigrant group, with more than 450,000 legal residents.

In January, the government disclosed that over 400,000 immigration and citizenship applications were still being processed. Meanwhile, data from the national statistics platform Pordata showed that 141,300 foreigners were naturalised in 2023, a 20% decline compared to 2022.

Access to Portuguese citizenship was a central theme in the recent election campaign, with calls to toughen requirements resonating with many voters. While the government maintains that the new rules are part of its planned reform agenda, the timing of the announcement is widely viewed as a concession to far-right influence within parliament.

By Tamilla Hasanova