Stalemate on Portugal's Citizenship Overhaul Leaves Foreign Residents Facing 7–10 Year Wait

The overnight collapse of talks between the governing Aliança Democrática, led in Parliament by António Leitão Amaro, and the opposition Partido Socialista leaves Portugal’s long-awaited overhaul of the Nationality Act in limbo. For the thousands of foreign residents who have already built lives, families and businesses here, the stalemate means more uncertainty, longer queues at the counter and fresh legal disputes about what it actually takes to become Portuguese.

What collapsed in the small hours?

A marathon negotiating session ended shortly before dawn when Eurico Brilhante Dias, representing the PS, and Leitão Amaro, speaking for the AD, acknowledged they were nowhere near common ground. Both sides agree the 2006 framework no longer copes with today’s migration flows or with a backlog that topped 515 000 pending applications during the first half of the year. Yet they clashed over how to set the calendar that determines the earliest moment an applicant may file for citizenship. With tempers frayed, the room emptied and MPs headed home without a text acceptable to both benches.

The controversial Article 15

At the heart of the quarrel lies paragraph 4 of Article 15, a seemingly technical rule that decides when the residence clock starts ticking. The government version states the count begins only when the first residence permit is physically issued. Socialists wanted the countdown to start when the legal deadline for the state to answer a residence request expires, arguing that migrants should not be penalised for bureaucratic lethargy inside AIMA or the Instituto dos Registos e do Notariado. Conservatives refused, insisting on a single nationwide standard anchored to the moment a card is printed. That difference of a few months—sometimes years—could erase precious time already spent in Portugal by students, nurses and tech workers who arrived legally while waiting for paperwork.

Five becomes seven or ten: the new residence clock

Beyond the starting date, the bill also lengthens the required years of residence. Today an applicant needs 5 years. The draft raises the bar to 7 years for citizens from the EU or the CPLP and to 10 years for everyone else. Socialists floated an intermediate 6-year compromise, but the executive dug in, citing reciprocity with Angola and Mozambique where Portuguese nationals must also wait a decade. Critics retort that Portugal, an established immigration destination with shrinking demography, should not emulate younger states still designing their own citizenship models.

Why the delay matters on the ground

Inside Lisbon’s restored Rua de Arriaga registry office, applicants already wait three to four hours merely to collect a ticket number. Average processing times stretch from 12 months for children of Portuguese parents to 48 months for naturalisation by residence. The moment Article 15 restarts the clock, thousands of contracts, mortgages and career plans could lose validity. Lawyers warn that people who entered under the previous ‘manifestação de interesse’ regime may discover they fall short of the new timetable even after half a decade of social security contributions. Entrepreneur Samira Suleiman, who employs eight people in Setúbal, says another two-year delay would freeze her expansion plan: “My restaurant pays taxes every quarter. Why can the state not keep its own schedules?”

Legal clouds over the reform

Sensing constitutional landmines, the PS has already mailed two preventive referrals to the Constitutional Court, targeting eight clauses it believes breach equality principles. The Bar Association’s João Massano echoes those doubts, describing the package as a step toward creating “citizens of first and second class”. Should the judges agree, President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa would be barred from promulgating the text in its current form, pushing the debate into 2026 and exposing the country to accusations of legal unpredictability at a moment when skilled-labour shortages are pressing.

How other Lusophone countries compare

Government spokespeople frequently note that Angola and Mozambique impose a 10-year stay for naturalisation, implying Portugal should mirror that horizon. Migration scholars answer that the comparison ignores the markedly higher GDP per capita, lower birth rate and deeper labour demand found on the Iberian Peninsula. While Angola requires proof of self-sufficiency and moral standing, Portugal already screens criminal records, linguistic proficiency and tax compliance. Adding extra years risks discouraging the very newcomers—health-care staff, software engineers, agricultural labourers—who power crucial sectors from the Algarve hotels to the Alentejo greenhouses.

What happens next?

With Parliament adjourned for the December budget marathon, no fresh meeting is scheduled. Insiders expect the Constitutional Court to rule early next year; a rejection would force the coalition either to abandon the tougher timetable or secure a new majority that includes far-right deputies. Meanwhile applicants will remain under the 2006 rules, but only as long as civil-service queues do not stretch so far that their five-year eligibility lapses before they ever receive a residence card. Until a compromise emerges, the promise of Portuguese citizenship stays suspended between political arithmetic and the ticking of administrative clocks.