The Assembly of the Republic (Assembleia da República) is reviewing amendments to the Nationality Law (Lei da Nacionalidade) this Wednesday to address concerns raised by the Constitutional Court (Tribunal Constitucional). The proposed changes include provisions for the loss of Portuguese nationality for individuals convicted of serious crimes with sentences of at least six years. While the government coalition is confident, the Socialist Party (Partido Socialista or PS) and Chega have not yet guaranteed their support for the revised text.

Update: PSD and Chega reach agreement on nationality rules

The Social Democratic Party (Partido Social Democrata or PSD) and CDS-PP have secured an agreement with Chega to pass the revised law. The deal, announced by PSD parliamentary leader Hugo Soares, includes stricter criteria for denying nationality based on convictions for criminal association and arms trafficking, while removing previous requirements regarding social welfare dependency.

The Social Democratic Party (Partido Social Democrata or PSD) and CDS-PP have submitted new proposals to amend the Nationality Law (Lei da Nacionalidade) following a rejection by the Constitutional Court (Tribunal Constitucional). The revised text maintains the loss of nationality (perda de nacionalidade) as a penalty for certain crimes but reduces the number of applicable offenses and raises the required sentence length. Chega leader André Ventura stated his party will not support the measure, accusing the government of being too similar to the socialists.

Update: PS submits proposals to fix unconstitutional nationality law

The Socialist Party (Partido Socialista or PS) has submitted three sets of amendments to address the court's concerns and introduce a transitional regime. The PS proposes that a prior criminal conviction should not automatically block the acquisition of nationality and maintains its opposition to the penalty of loss of nationality. Parliament is scheduled to debate the various proposals this Wednesday.

The Institute of Registries and Notaries (Instituto dos Registos e do Notariado or IRN) is facing a backlog of approximately 516,000 pending citizenship applications. Immigrant groups report that the average waiting time for a decision has reached three years, leading some to compare the agency's delays to those of AIMA. The backlog affects all applicants, including the children and grandchildren of Portuguese citizens.

The Assembly of the Republic (Assembleia da República) will debate petitions on April 1st that propose changing how the five-year residency requirement for citizenship is calculated. The proposal suggests the countdown should begin when a foreigner first requests residency from the Agência para a Integração, Migrações e Asilo (AIMA), rather than when the permit is actually issued. Visa holders should note that this change could significantly shorten the total waiting time for Portuguese nationality (nacionalidade portuguesa).