On 29 October 2026, Portugal’s Council of Ministers took a key step on citizenship. It approved the decree-law that regulates the new Nationality Law and sets out the new requirements for getting Portuguese nationality. The text was not yet public when we wrote this. Here is what is confirmed and what is still unclear.<\/p>\n
Information as of October 2026. Rules can change, so always check the official sources at the end.<\/em><\/p>\n The nationality law itself is not new. Parliament approved it on 1 April 2026, in a second version, after the Constitutional Court found problems in the first one. The President promulgated it in early May.<\/p>\n The law set the big rules. The new decree-law explains how they work in practice. The Minister of the Presidency, Ant\u00f3nio Leit\u00e3o Amaro, said the main pillars were already in the law. He said the Government now had to approve the regulation for "full application", while also trying to make procedures less bureaucratic.<\/p>\n According to the reports we found, the decree-law sets:<\/p>\n The Government also says the decree-law has a speed-up side. It aims to simplify and digitalise the process, improve how public services share information and make it easier to get documents. The goal is to cut red tape and speed up decisions.<\/p>\n The official Government news page gives these figures:<\/p>\n The sources do not describe the seven-year group in the same way. The Government page says PALOP (Portuguese-speaking African countries). ECO reports the minister’s words as meaning CPLP citizens. The Portugal News also says Portuguese-speaking African countries and EU states. The law text itself refers to "pa\u00edses de l\u00edngua oficial portuguesa" (Portuguese-speaking countries) and EU member states, or 10 years.<\/p>\n This matters a lot for Brazilian readers. We do not want to guess. Please wait for the final published text and read how it defines the seven-year group.<\/p>\n Not as far as we could confirm. A guide that tracks the official steps says the decree-law applies only after the President promulgates it and it is published in the Di\u00e1rio da Rep\u00fablica. The same guide says the language test level, the format of the culture test, the amount needed to show you can support yourself and the start date were not officially published yet.<\/p>\n So the headline is clear, but the details that decide your case are not available yet. Be careful with anyone who already claims to know the exact test level or income amount.<\/p>\n The law that changed nationality rules has a general transition rule. Administrative procedures still pending when the law came into force are handled under the older version of the Nationality Law. We have not seen how the new decree-law treats pending files. That is a question for the final text and for the competent authority.<\/p>\n The same Council of Ministers meeting also dealt with AIMA. The Government named C\u00e9sar Teixeira as the new president of AIMA. The minister said AIMA had 60% more appointments in 2026 than in 2025. He also said it received 185,000 people and handled 500,000 call-centre contacts. These numbers come from the Government, and unions and lawyers have a different view. Nationality requests are a separate process from AIMA residence files, so check which body handles your case.<\/p>\n Here are practical steps. They are general information, not legal advice.<\/p>\n Not automatically. As of October 2026, the reports we found say the decree-law must still be promulgated and published. Until then, follow the official guidance for your file and ask the competent authority if you are unsure which rules apply.<\/p>\n The Government says seven years of legal residence for people from the PALOP countries and EU citizens, and ten years for everyone else. Some media describe the seven-year group as CPLP citizens. Check the final published text for your country.<\/p>\n Yes, the decree-law covers tests on Portuguese language, culture, history and institutions. The level and format were not yet officially published when we wrote this.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" On 29 October 2026 the Portuguese Government approved the decree-law that regulates the new nationality law. Here is what is confirmed, what is still unclear and what to do now.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"vot_how_we_help":" VisaOnTrip does not handle nationality applications, residence permits or AIMA processes. We can help with the travel side around them. Use our free visa eligibility checker<\/a> to see which visa a relative or friend may need to visit you in Portugal. We can also help with tourist visa applications from Portugal, including choosing the visa and checking your documents. For visa applications, we can arrange flight and hotel reservations<\/a>.<\/p>\n","vot_sources":"Redu\u00e7\u00e3o das taxas de IRS aprovada em Conselho de Ministros (inclui Decreto-Lei da Nacionalidade) - XXV Governo Constitucional, portugal.gov.pt | https:\/\/portugal.gov.pt\/gc25\/comunicacao\/noticias\/reducao-das-taxas-de-irs-aprovada-em-conselho-de-ministros\nGoverno aprova regulamenta\u00e7\u00e3o para aplicar Lei da Nacionalidade - ECO | https:\/\/eco.sapo.pt\/2026\/10\/29\/governo-aprova-regulamentacao-para-aplicar-lei-da-nacionalidade\/\nPortugal Approves New Citizenship Rules - The Portugal News | https:\/\/www.theportugalnews.com\/news\/2026-10-30\/portugal-approves-new-citizenship-rules\/1108809\nGoverno aprova regulamenta\u00e7\u00e3o para aplica\u00e7\u00e3o plena da Lei da Nacionalidade (Lusa) - Executive Digest | https:\/\/executivedigest.sapo.pt\/governo-aprova-regulamentacao-para-aplicacao-plena-da-lei-da-nacionalidade\/\nGoverno aprova regulamenta\u00e7\u00e3o para aplica\u00e7\u00e3o plena da Lei da Nacionalidade (Lusa) - As Beiras | https:\/\/www.asbeiras.pt\/governo-aprova-regulamentacao-para-aplicacao-plena-da-lei-da-nacionalidade\/\nLei Org\u00e2nica n.\u00ba 1\/2026, de 18 de maio - Di\u00e1rio da Rep\u00fablica | https:\/\/diariodarepublica.pt\/dr\/detalhe\/lei-organica\/1-2026-1123539996\nNew nationality regulation approved by the Government - Europe Simple | https:\/\/europesimple.com\/portugal\/en\/news\/2026-10-29-nationality-regulation-approved\/","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[9,8,7,5,6],"class_list":["post-4","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-portugal-immigration","tag-aima","tag-naturalisation","tag-portugal-immigration-news","tag-portugal-nationality-law","tag-portuguese-citizenship"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/visaontrip.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/visaontrip.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/visaontrip.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/visaontrip.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/visaontrip.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/visaontrip.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/visaontrip.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/visaontrip.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/visaontrip.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/visaontrip.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}What happened<\/h2>\n
What the decree-law covers<\/h2>\n
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Residence periods: what the Government says<\/h2>\n
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A detail to watch: CPLP or PALOP?<\/h3>\n
Is it in force yet?<\/h2>\n
What about applications already submitted?<\/h2>\n
Background: other news this week<\/h2>\n
What this means for you<\/h2>\n
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Frequently asked questions<\/h2>\n
Does the new decree-law change my nationality application today?<\/h3>\n
How many years of residence do I need now?<\/h3>\n
Will there be a language and culture test?<\/h3>\n