After initially being mooted at the start of 2024, some big Portugal Golden Visa news was recently announced. Whilst this has always been a fast-moving area, and the recent direction of travel has mostly been towards a tightening of the program, this is news concerning the pathway to citizenship. And, thankfully, it is very positive news indeed concerning an amendment to the Portuguese Nationality Law.

So what has just changed regarding the Portuguese Nationality Law (Lei de Nacionalidade)? Well, it’s rather a big change, hence the need for the above video. In short, visa processing times will now be factored into the time requirements to obtain citizenship by naturalization. This was initially approved by parliament on 5^th January and is a gamechanger for Portugal Golden Visa investors. The amended Nationality Law was then published during the first week of March 2024.

We have since consulted with several leading law firms on the newly published text, and all were in agreement on its implications. Previously, the 5-year qualifying period for citizenship only began after the Golden Visa residence cards had been printed and issued. This was a problem because the Portuguese immigration authorities have not been processing applications efficiently since way back to the initial outbreak of Covid-19 – and many Golden Visa investors were left waiting for their Golden Visa cards for well over a year since their initial application, and even over 2 years in some cases. This was a serious administrative failing on Portugal’s side, and this new law is – in part – a recognition of that fact. Portugal Golden Visa news is rarely as positive as this, and marks a welcome break from the updates seen over the last few years.

The amendment to the law now permits the inclusion of processing times for the Golden Visa residence in the qualifying period for citizenship. This was written into law in March and is now in effect. Our legal partners were all in agreement that, under this new law, the 5-year timeline to citizenship will now begin from the initial Portugal Golden Visa application date, and NOT the date of the issue of the residence cards. This is phenomenal news, because the time delay waiting for approval is now no longer wasted time.

This will save Golden Visa investors an awful lot of time and stress waiting for their application to go through. I am fully aware that many readers of this website have held off on investing in the Portugal Golden Visa precisely due to concerns around the processing times involved. So I’m very pleased to report that this should no longer be a factor in that decision.

This new development cements Portugal’s position as the quickest route to citizenship by naturalization in Europe for most people (the notable exception being the Spanish Golden Visa, which can lead to a second citizenship for nationals of ex-colonies, such as Mexicans, in just 2 years). For a full breakdown of the background to the Portugal Golden Visa scheme and how best to access it, take a look at my previous post “Portugal Golden Visa 2024: A Complete Guide”.

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