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Three Parties File Competing Proposals Ahead of Portugal Nationality Law Debate · IMI Podcasts

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Portugal's three largest parliamentary blocs filed competing amendment proposals on March thirty first, two days before the Assembly of the Republic reconsiders the nationality law decrees returned by the Constitutional Court in December.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: The documents revealed deep disagreements on transitional protections for existing residents, the criminal threshold for blocking citizenship, and whether loss of nationality should survive as an accessory penalty.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: All three proposals addressed Decree 17-17.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_00: The nationality law.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: Only Chega filed amendments to Decree 18-17, the Penal Code provision creating loss of nationality as a criminal penalty, raising questions about whether PSD and CDSPP intend to reintroduce that measure through a separate filing before Wednesday's session.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_00: The sharpest divergence between the proposals concerns how long foreign residents must wait before applying for citizenship.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: PSD and CDSPP, the governing coalition, leave the October 2025 parliamentary text's seven-year timeline for European Union and Community of Portuguese Language Countries, CPLP, nationals, and ten years for all others, untouched in their amendment.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: Those provisions appear as it's in the PSD slash CDS-PP text, meaning they carry forward without modification.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: The Socialist Party proposes shorter timelines.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: Its version of Article 61B requires that applicants have resided legally in Portuguese territory for at least six years, in the case of nationals of Portuguese speaking countries, and citizens of EU member states, or nine years, in the case of nationals of other countries.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: For golden visa holders, who are overwhelmingly non-EU and non-CPLP nationals, the difference between nine and ten years is operationally meaningful when compounded by processing delays that already push effective timelines to 12 to 14 years.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: Chega's filing does not amend the residency periods.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_00: Its proposal focuses exclusively on criminal bars, loss of nationality, and a new self-sufficiency requirement.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: The government's original text revoked Article 15.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: Given that AIMA routinely takes two to four years to process permits, this revocation would add years to the effective timeline without changing the headline number.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: PSD slash CDSPP do not restore that provision.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: Their amendments drop what the Constitutional Court deemed an innovative, interpretive norm in the temporal application clauses, and their explanatory note states that requirements for access to nationality must be verified at the moment of the application.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_00: But that language refers to when eligibility criteria must be met, not to when residence counting begins.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_00: The revocation of Article 154 stands in the PSD slash CDS-PP text, meaning the residency clock would start from permit issuance, not from application.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_00: Only PS preserves the old counting method.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: Its Article 7, 6 explicitly provides that the previous wording of Article 15, 4 of Law 3781 applies to residence period calculations until December 31, 2028, giving current residents a three-year window to reach their thresholds under the application date rule.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_00: Montero, however, argued that the revocation may not be dispositive.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: In my opinion, even with the removal of Article 154, there is margin to interpret the law in a way that the residency clock starts from the date of submission, she said.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: At minimum, she contended, the clock should begin once the deadline that the public administration has to make the decision, which is currently 90 working days, expires, as long as it's decided favorably.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_00: Interpreting the law, otherwise, would put all the control on the public administration's hands and violate the constitutional principles of equality and human dignity, she argued, noting that two applications submitted on the same day could be approved on different dates through no fault of the applicants.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_00: For the more than 20,000 golden visa investors awaiting AIMA appointments, the transitional provisions determine whether years of residency under the old five-year framework still count.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_00: PSD slash C Dsp preserve protection for pending citizenship procedures.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_00: Article 7, too, remains not new, unchanged.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_00: But they eliminate the grandfathering window and graduated phase-in entirely, marking Article VII, paragraphs 3 and 4, as eliminated.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: Residents who hold permits but have not yet filed for citizenship get nothing.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_00: The PES proposal builds a layered transitional architecture.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_00: Pending administrative procedures follow the old law, Article 7, 2, and anyone meeting the old requirements at entry into force can file under the previous five-year rule until 31st de junio de 2026, Article 7.3.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_00: A date that does not exist and is likely a drafting error for June 30.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_00: Beyond that grandfathering window, PS proposes graduated residency periods, six years for those who would have reached five years in 2026, 7 for those reaching it in 2027, and 8 for 2028.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_00: Article 7.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_00: Madalena Montero, founder of Liberty Legal, who filed the Golden Visa Investors Amicus Curier Brief to the Constitutional Court in December, characterized PSD's amendments as minor changes that address only the aspects ruled unconstitutional.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_00: PS, she observed, is the only one presenting a proposal that tries to mitigate the drastic changes, pointing to both the preservation of the application date counting method through 2028 and the graduated phase in.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_00: The difference is stark.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_00: Under PSD slash CDS-PP, a non-EU investor who moved to Portugal in 2022, expecting citizenship eligibility in 2027, would instead face a 10-year wait from the date of receiving the residence permit.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_00: Under the PS framework, that same investor would fall under the graduated seven-year transitional provision, Article 74B, covering those who would have reached five years in 2027, shaving three years off the PSD slash CDSPP timeline.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_00: The Constitutional Court struck down the original text's automatic denial of citizenship for criminal convictions exceeding two years, calling it a disproportionate restriction on the right to access nationality.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_00: All three parties responded with higher thresholds, but with a sharply different scope.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_00: PSD slash CDSPP and PS converge on the same threshold and crime list.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_00: The PSD slash CDSPP text, Article 6, 1, F, requires that applicants must not have been convicted with a final judicial decision, with an effective prison sentence exceeding five years for crimes of terrorism, violent crime, especially violent crime, highly organized crime, against the security of the state, or of aiding illegal immigration.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_00: PS uses identical categories and the same five-year bar.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_00: Where PSD slash C DSPP and PS diverge is on override mechanisms.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_00: Both create a judicial safety valve, but through different procedures.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_00: PSD slash CDSPP designate the criminal bar as a prison sound illideval, rebuttable presumption, assessed by the public prosecutor, weighing six enumerated factors.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_00: The concrete circumstances that objectively confirm or refute the existence of a bond of effective and genuine integration in the national community.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_00: The sentence imposed, the type of crime committed, the intentional or negligent nature of the crime, the time elapsed since the commission of the crime, possible recidivism.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_00: If the prosecutor upholds the bar, the applicant may bring judicial proceedings requesting the removal of that effect.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_00: Article 615 PS frames the override differently.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_00: Article 614 allows the government to grant naturalization whenever the same set of factors objectively demonstrate that the non-fulfillment of the requirement does not preclude the existence of a bond of effective integration of the applicant in the national community.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_00: The mechanism is executive rather than prosecutorial, placing the discretion with the government rather than channeling it through the public prosecutor's office.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_00: Chega breaks from both.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_00: Article 6, 1.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_00: F bars citizenship for anyone sentenced to imprisonment equal to or greater than 3 years for any crime punishable under Portuguese law, with no restriction to specific crime categories and no override mechanism.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_00: The threshold formulation also differs technically, where PSD slash C D S PP and PSU superior A, exceeding, that is, strictly more than five years, Chega uses equal U superior A, equal to or greater than three years.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_00: A fraud conviction, a financial crime, or any offense carrying a three-year sentence would permanently block citizenship under the Chega formulation.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_00: The three proposals take opposite approaches to Article 619.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_00: Chega replaces it with a self-sufficiency test, requiring that applicants possess the capacity to support themselves and not be recipients of social benefits during the period of residence.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_00: PS marks the existing sub-paragraph for deletion, eliminar.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_00: PSD slash C DS-PP leave it unchanged.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_00: For golden visa holders, Chega's provision would pose no practical barrier.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_00: Its impact would fall on lower income immigrants naturalizing through standard residency pathways.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_00: Whether a blanket prohibition on receiving any social benefits during an entire residency period could survive constitutional scrutiny on equality grounds is an open question.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_00: The court struck down the original provision, allowing cancellation of nationality for behaviors that conclusively and overtly reject adherence to the national community, ruling that the language lacked sufficient precision.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_00: Both PSD slash C D SPP and PS attempt to fix this through different formulations.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_00: PSD slash C DSPP retain the concept of assessing lack of effective ties to the national community under Article 91A, measured against the material parameters of Article 61C through I, including the consideration of conviction for the crime of outrage against national symbols.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_00: Revoked sub-paragraphs B and D narrow the grounds from the original text.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_00: PS adds affirmative language, requiring the demonstration of behaviors that, conclusively and ostensibly, reject adherence to the national community, its representative institutions, and national symbols.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_00: This formulation attempts to clear the court's determinacy objection by specifying what conduct is captured, though critics may argue the phrase remains subjective.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_00: Both PSD slash C DS-PP and PS amend Article 12 B3 to block consolidation of nationality obtained fraudulently.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_00: PSD slash CDS-PP tie.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_00: The exception to Article 12A's existing definition, which covers nationality obtained on the basis of false documents or documents certifying untrue or non-existent facts, or through false declarations.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_00: The explanatory note specifies that this exception to consolidation does not prejudice the access to nationality by third parties in good faith.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_00: PS uses slightly different language, blocking consolidation when nationality was obtained in a manifestly fraudulent manner, also with a good faith carve out.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_00: The word manifestamente, or manifestly, sets a higher bar than the PSD slash CDS-PP formulation, which references fraud under the general statutory definition.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_00: Loss of nationality, Chega stands alone.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_00: Only Chega filed amendments to decree 18-17, the penal code provision creating loss of nationality as an accessory penalty.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_00: Its proposal sets the threshold at five years of effective imprisonment for crimes committed within 15 years of obtaining nationality.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_00: Where PSD-CDS-PP reportedly narrowed the original crime list to aggravated homicide, slavery, human trafficking, rape, and sexual abuse.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_00: According to their explanatory statements reported by RTP, though their decree 18 text was not among the documents obtained by IMI, Chega expands it.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_00: Three new crime categories appear in Chega's text.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_00: Criminal Association, when the agent is the leader or director of the association, Article 69 D4H.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_00: Arms trafficking and brokering under the Weapons Law, Article 69 D4I, and trafficking of narcotics or psychotropic substances under the drug law, Article 69 D4J.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_00: These are precisely the offenses PSD slash C Dsp reportedly removed to address the court's proportionality concerns.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_00: On reacquisition of nationality after loss, Chega proposes tiered waiting periods between 15 and 25 years for the most serious offenses and between 10 and 15 years for the remainder, both counted from the date the penalty becomes final.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_00: PSD Parliamentary Group Vice President Antonio Rodriguez told RTP the proposals incorporate contributions from all parties they consulted, including PS, Chega, and Iniciativa Liberal, and rejected suggestions of a PSD Chega pact.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_00: He expressed hope the PS would join the vote.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_00: Chega leader Andre Ventura denied any incorporation of his party's positions, calling PSD's claim false and announcing independent proposals.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_00: Adriano Vieira, a lawyer at Aparcell Uriarte Abogados, observed that the government depends on the support of one of these two parties to secure a parliamentary majority, with Chega pushing for stricter and more restrictive measures, and PS favoring longer transitional periods and shorter residency requirements.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_00: Which direction prevails, he noted, could either bring relief to golden visa applicants or risk undermining expectations and confidence among investors.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_00: The October 2025 vote passed 157 to 64, with PSD, CDSPP, Chega, IL, and JPP in favor, and PS, Livre, PCP, BE, and PAN against.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_00: Portugal's five-year citizenship pathway remains in force until a revised law is promulgated.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_00: PSD slash CDS-PP protect only those who have already filed citizenship applications.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_00: Everyone else faces the new timelines immediately.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_00: Only the PS text offers a grandfathering window, graduated phase-in, and preservation of the application date counting method.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_00: Permanent residency remains unaffected by all three proposals.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_00: After five years, golden visa holders can apply for permanent resident status regardless of changes to the citizenship timeline.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_00: Wednesday's debate begins the reconsideration process.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_00: The final text could still change before a vote.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_00: This episode first appeared as an article by Ahmad Abbas on IMIDaily.com.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_00: Subscribe for free to the IMI newsletter for breaking news and updates from the investment migration industry, and upgrade your membership to IMI Pro to get access to our exclusive professional community, citizenship catalog, investment migration company Rolodex, private briefings, and more members only content.