Portuguese Citizenship Rises to Ten Years from May 2026
The bill debated for two years is now law. Since 19 May 2026 a Vietnamese applicant needs ten years of lawful residence before applying for Portuguese citizenship, not five.
For two years, every article about the Portugal Golden Visa carried the same caveat: parliament is debating an extension of the residence period required for citizenship. That caveat is no longer needed — because it became law.
What changed
Organic Law No. 1/2026 amends Nationality Law 37/81 and took effect on 19 May 2026. For nationals of countries outside the EU and outside the CPLP bloc — Vietnam among them — the required period of lawful residence rises from five years to ten. EU and Portuguese-speaking nationals keep the seven-year mark.
Alongside it comes a change that draws less attention but matters just as much: how the clock is counted. It used to run from the date you applied for a residence permit; it now runs from the date AIMA actually issues the card. AIMA's backlog puts one to two years between those two dates on many files — added on top of a period that is already long.
The law also adds requirements on knowledge of Portuguese culture and history and of democratic institutions, together with a signed declaration of adherence to rule-of-law principles.
Who still falls under the old rule
The transitional provision is explicit: naturalisation files lodged with the IRN before 19 May 2026 are still judged under the previous law. File after that date and the new mark applies, even if the residence permit was issued years earlier.
Does this leave the Golden Visa without value?
No, but it changes what the decision is about. It used to be reasonable to treat the Golden Visa as a route to an EU passport in roughly five years. It should now be judged as what it actually is: a high-quality EU residence card with a very light presence obligation, where citizenship belongs to the following decade.
The value that never depended on the citizenship clock is untouched:
- Lawful EU residence for three generations of the family.
- Freedom of movement within the Schengen area.
- Access to education, healthcare and social provision in Portugal when the family needs it.
- A minimal presence requirement — no disruption to work and life in Vietnam.
If the passport is the point
A family that puts a second passport first, on a short horizon, should no longer look to Portugal. Türkiye is now the only country among those we advise on that still grants citizenship directly for investment. We set out the full comparison on our citizenship page.
If what the family needs is a durable foothold in the EU, Portugal remains among the strongest options. The detail is on Portugal immigration, or book a consultation and we will recount the timeline from the actual issue date on your permit.
The information in this article is for reference at the time of writing. It is not legal advice and no outcome is promised — immigration policy, tax rules and market conditions can change. For an assessment based on your family's specific circumstances, please request a consultation with the VNIS Investment team.