Portugal News

Pressure mounts on Parliament: more than 12,000 people are demanding that the new Nationality Law not affect those already living in Portugal. 

The debate on the new Nationality Law has once again gained momentum in Parliament. After another postponement in the Constitutional Affairs Committee , signatories of a petition with 12,167 signatures are asking MPs to create a transitional regime to safeguard foreigners already residing in Portugal and awaiting access to citizenship.

Starting October 23, changes restricting the entry and stay of immigrants in Portugal will come into effect. Check out the main changes.

The new Foreigners Law, with the amendments approved in parliament and promulgated by President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, was published in the Official Gazette this Wednesday, October 22, and will come into effect the following day: October 23.

The discussion of the new nationality law proposal in the Parliamentary Committee on Constitutional Affairs was postponed today, at the request of the PSD, until Thursday, due to the introduction of several amendments in the last few hours.

This is the second postponement of the discussion, after the PS did the same last week, to analyze the initial proposal (PSD and CDS), which had been submitted shortly before. 

Lisbon, 22 October 2025 – The Portuguese Parliament’s relevant committee begins discussions today on a new draft law on nationality, aiming to change how foreigners become Portuguese citizens. 

The proposed law is part of a broader reform, responding to concerns about fairness and integration. Under the new framework, the time a foreign resident must live legally in Portugal before applying for citizenship could be shortened for some, and rules on how that time is counted may change.

The Partido Socialista (PS) has submitted formal amendments to the Portuguese nationality bill, proposing five years of legal residence for citizens of the European Union and CPLP nations, and seven years for nationals of other countries — replacing the government’s earlier ten-year proposal. 

Lisbon, 20 October 2025 — The Partido Socialista (PS) has tabled a decisive amendment to Portugal’s proposed citizenship reform, introducing a seven-year pathway to nationality for most foreign residents, while maintaining five years for citizens of the European Union and the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP).

In response to immigrant appeals, the agency facilitates the inclusion of the Social Security number in online processes, allows computer systems to speak and tries to reduce queues at the Anjos post.

Residence permits that expired until June 30 will be valid until April 15, 2026. Those due from July 1 are worth another six months.

After October 15, and without being able to complete all the renewals of the residence cards, the Government of Portugal gave a new deadline for the documents: another six months of validity. However, the extension is only valid for those who have requested the renewal of residence permits.

Candidate for Belém rejects a link between immigration and crime, arguing that the “keyword” in this area should be “integration”

Belém candidate Henrique Gouveia e Melo has completely distanced himself from anti-immigration rhetoric, even if it means losing votes in the presidential race.

In an interview with Lusa news agency, when confronted with the possibility that his anti-immigrant rhetoric might win him votes, the former Chief of Staff of the Navy responded: “Then I’ll lose votes.”

Indians become the second nationality

At the end of 2024, 1,543,697 foreign citizens were registered in Portugal. This is the final number given by the Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum in the report released this Thursday, which thus "removes" the figure released in April of almost three thousand immigrants and misses the estimate of 1.6 million.