The President of Portugal, António José Seguro, has approved the new rules for obtaining Portuguese citizenship passed by Parliament, making the process more stringent for immigrants, especially Brazilians residing in the country.
The main change establishes an increase in the minimum legal residency period required to apply for citizenship. Previously set at five years, the period now rises to seven years for Brazilians, citizens of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP), and residents of the European Union.
The measure affects thousands of foreigners who were waiting to complete the necessary time to begin the process of obtaining Portuguese citizenship.
The new deadline will only be counted after the official residence permit is issued by the Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum (AIMA), disregarding the waiting time faced by immigrants due to bureaucratic delays by the Portuguese State.
The presidency cites bureaucracy and state slowness.
In justifying the enactment of the new rules, António José Seguro stressed the need to prevent administrative delays from further harming applicants.
In an official statement, the Portuguese Presidency stressed that the legal deadlines for obtaining citizenship should not be compromised by the slowness of the State itself.
In practice, however, the requirement for a residence permit issued before the start of the count is generating concern among Brazilians who have been waiting for years for their documents to be regularized.
This scenario occurs amidst a significant increase in citizenship applications and a backlog of pending cases in Portugal.
The package had support from the right and far right.
The package of stricter rules was approved by the center-right government of the Democratic Alliance (AD), with decisive support from the Chega party, a far-right party known for its anti-immigration rhetoric.
An initial version of the measures was blocked by the Constitutional Court in December, forcing adjustments to the text.
Even after the reformulation, there was an expectation of a new referral to the Constitutional Court, which ultimately did not happen.
Despite approving the proposal, António José Seguro expressed reservations, highlighting the lack of broad political consensus and warning of the risk of decisions being driven by momentary ideological interests.
Check out the main changes that have been approved.
- The minimum residency period for Brazilians, citizens of the CPLP (Community of Portuguese Language Countries), and residents of the European Union to apply for citizenship has been increased from five to seven years.
- The time period is only valid after the official residence permit has been issued;
- Extension of residency from five to ten years for citizens of other nationalities;
- End of automatic birthright citizenship for babies born in Portugal;
- Requirement of five years of residency authorization for children of foreigners born in the country to apply for citizenship;
- Termination of the granting of citizenship to descendants of Sephardic Jews;
- Possibility of revocation of citizenship in cases of conviction for serious crimes.
The Brazilian community is monitoring the impact of the new rules.
The changes are expected to have an immediate impact on the Brazilian community in Portugal, one of the largest foreign populations in the country.
With increasing requirements and persistent administrative delays, experts point out that the path to obtaining Portuguese citizenship is likely to become even longer and more bureaucratic for thousands of residents.
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