Immigrants Urge Portuguese Parliament to Backdate Citizenship Clock

Thousands of immigrants living in Portugal have grown impatient with a bureaucratic limbo that, for many, stretches for years. Two citizen-driven petitions now force Parliament to decide whether that waiting time should finally count toward the 5-year residence requirement for Portuguese nationality—a seemingly technical question that could upend migration policy, unclog courts and reshape the lives of entire families.

At a glance

• 2 separate petitions with more than 15 000 signatures reached the Assembly this week.

• They demand that the countdown toward naturalisation start on the day the first residence request is filed, not when the card is issued.

• Supporters say the change would neutralise systemic delays at the new Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum (AIMA).

• Opponents—mostly PSD and Chega deputies—warn that nationality must remain the "final seal" of true integration, not an automatic entitlement.

The legal knot they want to untie

Under current practice, the clock starts ticking only after an immigrant receives an official residence card. Because AIMA’s back office is buried under half a million pending files, that card can arrive 2-6 years after the initial application. The petitions, spearheaded by Brazilian lawyers Priscila Correa, Juliet Cristino and Elaine Linhares, argue that applicants are punished for delays that are the State’s fault. Their simple demand: begin the countdown when the manifestação de interesse or first permit request is registered in the system.

What the law already says—and doesn’t say

A reform adopted in April 2024 (Lei Orgânica 1/2024) actually foresaw exactly such a rule, but the government never produced the necessary regulation. One year later the executive reversed course, declaring that only the date printed on the residence title would count. Today, AIMA has quietly started mentioning the waiting period in a new "Certidão de Contagem de Tempo", yet the body that really matters—the Institute of Registries and Notary (IRN)—still follows the stricter reading. The result is a legal grey zone that keeps lawyers, clerks and applicants guessing.

Why the backlog looks alarming

IRN statistics paint a stark picture: more than 515 334 nationality files sat unopened during the first half of 2025 alone. Average processing times now range from 12 months (children of Portuguese citizens) to 48 months (naturalisation through residence). Requests spiked by 350 % since 2019, while staff numbers remained almost flat. Even investors holding "golden visas" complain that Portugal’s reputation for efficiency is on the line.

Parliament’s dividing lines

During Tuesday’s debate, PSD argued that the Constitution never compelled lawmakers to backdate residence time, framing the petitions as an attempt to turn nationality into a mere administrative act. Chega went further, calling for longer residence requirements—7 years for CPLP citizens and 10 years for everyone else—and tighter rules for family reunification. On the other side, Bloco de Esquerda, Livre and several Socialist MPs signalled sympathy for the petitioners, accusing the State of "exporting its own incompetence" to migrants.

The people behind the signatures

Advocates point to everyday stories: students stuck with expired passports because they cannot swap their residence permits, parents unable to secure EU tuition fees for children, tech workers who lose remote-job offers while waiting for an interview slot. "Lives are placed on pause because someone in an office has no printer toner," Ms Cristino told reporters after the hearing. Associations such as Solidariedade Imigrante and Casa do Brasil warn that frustration is climbing among communities that once saw Portugal as Europe’s most welcoming door.

What happens next?

The petitions now proceed to the Constitutional Affairs Committee, which may draft a recommendation or propose legislative amendments. With local elections due in autumn 2026, parties will gauge which message resonates: protect national identity or fix the system’s own delays. Should Parliament choose inaction, advocates plan to challenge the current rule before the Administrative Supreme Court, citing past decisions that blame the State for "unreasonable delay" in migration files.

Practical takeaway for residents in Portugal

For anyone awaiting a nationality decision:

Collect evidence showing the exact date your first request entered AIMA’s queue.

Request the new certidão that some regional AIMA desks already issue—it may later shorten your path.

Keep an eye on the Assembly’s website; a committee opinion is expected within 90 days.

If you filed after April 2024, consult a lawyer about invoking the still-unregulated article in Lei Orgânica 1/2024.

Whether or not the petitions succeed, the public spotlight they have created means that Portugal’s migration bureaucracy can no longer count on silence to mask its delays. For thousands who have already built their lives here, the real countdown is not legal—it is simply the wait for a fair answer.