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Organic Law 1/2024, which introduces the tenth amedmend to the Portuguese Nationality Law (Law 37/81, of 3 October) was published last tuesday, 5 March 2024, in the Official Gazette.
As a result of this amendment, the rule for counting legal residence periods for the purpose of applying for Portuguese nationality will change, coming into force on 1 April 2024. Accordingly, the time elapsed since the submission of the temporary residence permit application will be considered for the purposes of applying for citizenship, provided that the residence permit is granted.
This means that the five-year period applicable to Golden Visa holders wishing to apply for Portuguese nationality by naturalisation will start to run from the date of submission of their residence permit applications, provided that they are approved by the Portuguese Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum (Agência para a Integração, Migrações e Asilo - AIMA). It is therefore no longer necessary to wait for the residence permit to be issued before counting begins.
The publication of the new law also means that the Portuguese Nationality Regulation must be amended accordingly and, pursuant to Article 7 of the new law, this amendment must occur within 90 days of its entry into force.
The publication of the new law takes place in the context of the various measures implemented by the Portuguese government aimed at mitigating the various delays that have occurred in the processing of the golden visa applications that have been submitted in recent years.