Portugal Golden Visa Citizenship Timeline Extended to 8 Years

New rules affect applications submitted after April 2026. Existing investors scrambling to understand grandfathering provisions.

Portugal has amended its nationality law to extend the residency period required for golden visa holders to apply for citizenship from five years to eight years. The change, announced in January 2026, applies to new golden visa applications submitted from April 1, 2026 onwards.

What actually changed

The SEF (Immigration and Borders Service) published the implementing regulations in late January, clarifying the new timeline. Golden visa holders must now maintain legal residency for eight consecutive years before becoming eligible for Portuguese citizenship by naturalization.

The minimum physical presence requirements remain unchanged: just 7 days in the first year and 14 days in each subsequent two-year period. Portugal's golden visa has always been attractive precisely because it doesn't require actual relocation. You can spend a couple weeks a year in Lisbon and still get a passport. Eventually.

But "eventually" now means eight years instead of five. For a program where citizenship was the main draw, that's a significant shift.

The grandfathering question

Existing golden visa holders are understandably concerned. The government's position, as communicated through various official channels, is that the five-year timeline applies to anyone who submitted a complete application before April 1, 2026.

In practice, "complete application" is doing a lot of work in that sentence. Portuguese bureaucracy being what it is, many applications sit incomplete for months awaiting document verification. Does the submission date matter, or the completion date? The regulations aren't entirely clear.

Lawyers are advising clients to obtain written confirmation of their application status before the April deadline. The prudent approach is to assume nothing.

Why Portugal made the change

Portugal has been under pressure from the EU to tighten its golden visa program for years. The country already eliminated real estate as an investment pathway in 2023, limiting options to fund investments (EUR 500,000 minimum), job creation, or cultural/scientific contributions.

The citizenship timeline extension appears designed to address concerns about "passport shopping" without killing the program entirely. Eight years is still shorter than the standard naturalization period in most EU countries. Germany requires eight years, France requires five, but with actual residency requirements.

Portugal's modified program still offers a path to EU citizenship with minimal physical presence. Just a slower one.

How it compares now

The timeline change reshuffles the golden visa landscape:

• Greece: No direct path to citizenship through investment. Residency only.
• Spain: 10 years to citizenship, with actual residency requirements
• Malta: Citizenship available after 12-36 months, but EUR 600,000+ contribution required
• Portugal (new): 8 years to citizenship, minimal presence, EUR 500,000 fund investment

For applicants prioritizing EU citizenship specifically, Malta's direct CBI remains faster but vastly more expensive. Portugal's program now sits awkwardly in the middle: too slow for those who need a passport quickly, too expensive for those just wanting residency.

Should you still apply?

The honest answer: it depends entirely on your timeline and what you value. If eight years feels acceptable and you want EU residency rights while you wait, Portugal remains solid. The Schengen access is immediate. The tax regime (NHR successor program) can still be attractive. Lisbon and Porto are genuinely nice places to spend your required two weeks per year.

If you need citizenship faster, Portugal no longer delivers. Caribbean CBI programs offer passports in months. Argentina's new program claims two years. Even Turkey manages citizenship in a few months for real estate investors.

The golden visa website at SEF's portal has updated application requirements, though the English translations lag behind the Portuguese versions.