How to Become a Portuguese Citizen as an American or Briton

An American or a Briton who has no Portuguese parent, spouse or ancestor becomes a Portuguese citizen by naturalization after legal residence in Portugal, and since 19 May 2026 the Nationality Law asks for at least 10 years of it, together with proof of Portuguese language and culture, a clean enough criminal record and the means to support yourself. The application goes to the Portuguese registry service (IRN), through a lawyer online or on paper without one, and the Minister of Justice decides.

This guide is the overview. It rests on the Ministry of Justice and IRN pages and on the consolidated Nationality Law and its Regulamento on the Diário da República, all read on 18 October 2026, and on the UK and U.S. government pages for the dual-nationality side. The most recent legislative change to nationality that it states is Organic Law 1/2026, published on 18 May 2026 and in force from 19 May 2026. It is a reading of official wording, not legal advice: nationality decisions are individual, and an immigration lawyer is the right person for a file with a gap in it.

Where does citizenship sit in the move to Portugal?

Citizenship is the end of a chain, not a visa. Legal residence under the Foreigners Law comes first, and the Nationality Law counts it. The path usually runs from a long-stay visa to a temporary residence permit, then a permanent one, and then, once the residence period is met, nationality. The routes into that chain are in our guide to residence routes to Portugal for Americans and Britons, and two common ones are the retirement and passive income visa and the remote work visa. Britons who moved before or after Brexit should also read moving to Portugal as a British citizen after Brexit.

What routes lead to Portuguese nationality?

The IRN’s guide “How to obtain Portuguese nationality” organizes the routes by profile: married to or in a de facto union with a Portuguese national, adopted by Portuguese parents, born in Portugal, child or grandchild of Portuguese nationals, living in Portugal, and someone who was Portuguese and lost the nationality. It adds a few more: a minor whose parent acquired nationality after the child’s birth, a member of a Portuguese community abroad, someone who gave relevant services to the Portuguese State or community, and East Timorese citizens. The guide carries an “under update” banner and was last marked updated on 3 July 2025.

For most readers of this site, four of those matter.

The law also lists special grants, for example for people who gave relevant services to the Portuguese State, without the residence and language requirements. The first row is the route this guide follows from here, because it is the one open to a newcomer with no family link.

What are the requirements for naturalization by residence?

Article 6 of the consolidated Nationality Law says the Government grants nationality to people who, at the time of the request, meet all of these conditions:

• they are of age under Portuguese law
• they have lived legally in Portugal for at least seven years if they are nationals of Portuguese-speaking countries or EU member states, or 10 years for nationals of other countries
• they show, through a test or certificate, that they know the Portuguese language and culture, the national history and symbols
• they know the fundamental rights and duties that come with Portuguese nationality and the political organization of the State
• they solemnly declare their adherence to the fundamental principles of the democratic rule of law
• they have not been sentenced, by a final judgment, to an effective prison term of more than three years for terrorism, violent or especially violent crime, highly organized crime, crimes against State security or aiding illegal immigration, punishable under Portuguese law
• they are not a danger or threat to national security or defense
• they are not subject to restrictive measures of the United Nations or the European Union
• they can support themselves

The United States and the United Kingdom are neither EU member states nor Portuguese-speaking countries, so for an American or a Briton the 10-year column applies. The IRN’s profile page for residents says the same: more than 18 years old, legally resident for at least 10 years, sufficient Portuguese, no prison sentence of three years or more for a crime punishable in Portugal and no involvement in terrorism. The page’s wording on the sentence (“3 years or more”) is not the law’s (“more than 3 years”, for the listed crimes), so rely on the law’s text.

Article 6 also says the criminal record requirement works as a rebuttable presumption: where a conviction is flagged, the public prosecutor assesses the length of the sentence, the type of crime, whether it was intentional, the time since, repeat offending and the person’s real integration in the community.

How is “legal residence” counted?

Article 15 of the law defines legal residence as being in Portugal with your situation regularized under any of the titles, visas or authorizations of the entry, stay and exit regime, or under the asylum regime. It also says that, for time limits in the law, all periods of legal residence are added together, consecutive or not, provided they fall within a maximum interval of 6, 9 or 12 years, depending on whether the person is stateless, a national of a Portuguese-speaking country or of an EU member state, or a citizen of another country. For an American or a Briton the interval is 12 years.

Two practical points follow. First, your residence permit history is the evidence: the Regulamento says a document from AIMA, the immigration agency, can prove legal residence from the records it holds. Second, the clock is only as good as your papers: keeping every permit, renewal receipt and visa is part of the file. Our guide to the Portuguese NIF covers one document that appears in almost every later step.

What about permanent residence?

Permanent residence is not citizenship and it is not required by the naturalization article. It matters because it is the status many long-term residents hold on the way. Article 80 of the Foreigners Law (Law 23/2007; the consolidated text on the Diário da República shows article 80 itself last changed by Law 29/2012) gives a permanent residence permit to foreign citizens who, together, have held a temporary residence permit for at least five years, have not been sentenced in the last five years to a term or terms above one year of prison, have means of subsistence, have accommodation and show basic Portuguese. We take the requirements and the process in a separate guide.

What is the application process?

The channel depends on whether you have a representative.

• With a lawyer or solicitor: the application is online only. The IRN’s online service is reserved to lawyers and solicitors registered with their professional orders in Portugal, who authenticate with their professional digital certificate, upload each document as a signed PDF, pay by bank reference or card, and then follow the file in the reserved area.
• Without one: you send the application and documents by registered post to a nationality desk (Balcão da Nacionalidade) with the model request form and proof of payment, or file in person at an office the IRN lists. If you live abroad, the IRN page lists the Portuguese consular posts. You can book in-person service online on the Siga portal.

For naturalization by residence, the IRN page says you need, without a representative, these documents:

The IRN states a fee of 250 euros for the residence route and says you can pay by bank card on the spot or, by post, by card payment or cheque. The Regulamento adds that the registry first checks the file within 30 days and can reject it outright if documents are missing, then asks the police and border bodies and AIMA for information (30 days, extendable by up to 60), then an opinion is issued within 45 days before the Minister of Justice decides. Those periods are the Regulamento’s procedural time limits, not a promise of how long a file takes in practice.

Once the file enters the system, the IRN sends a consultation code by email, and the status page shows four stages: submitted, under analysis, for decision, and concluded, which means either granted and registered or refused and archived. Nationality takes effect only from the registration date.

How does the Portuguese language requirement work?

The law now asks you to show, by test or certificate, that you know the Portuguese language and culture, the national history and the national symbols. The IRN page lists three ways to prove the language part: a certificate from a Portuguese public, private or cooperative school, a pass certificate in a Portuguese language test, or a certificate of Portuguese as a foreign language obtained at a recognized assessment center. You do not need to prove it if you were born in a Portuguese-speaking country and hold its nationality.

The Regulamento’s article 25, in the consolidated text we read, lists wider ways to prove the language, including certificates of level A2 or higher of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages issued by listed public bodies, and courses of Portuguese as a host language (Português Língua de Acolhimento). That article was written for the former requirement. The text of the law now also asks for culture, history and symbols, and the Government was told to amend the Regulamento within 90 days of the law’s publication (article 4 of Organic Law 1/2026). The consolidated Regulamento we read on 18 October 2026 shows its last change on 23 July 2025, so we could not confirm from it which exact tests will be accepted for the culture part. Check the IRN guide for your profile before you pay for any exam; we cover the language proof in a separate guide.

What is the state of the nationality law today?

Organic Law 1/2026, published in the Diário da República on 18 May 2026 and in force the next day, amended the Nationality Law. The consolidated text shows it as the latest change, dated 18 May 2026, and a rectification of the same date (Declaration of Rectification 17/2026/1). In the naturalization article and the opposition ground, the consolidated version in force says:

• 10 years of legal residence for nationals of countries other than Portuguese-speaking countries and EU member states, seven for those two groups
• proof of Portuguese language and culture, national history and symbols
• knowledge of fundamental rights and duties, and a solemn declaration of adherence to democratic principles
• a means-of-support requirement
• a ground for opposing the acquisition by will where there are no real ties to the national community

Article 7 of the amending law says that administrative procedures pending on 19 May 2026 remain governed by the previous wording of the law. The previous wording is not what this guide describes, and the Regulamento still shows a five-year residence requirement in its article 19. The IRN’s own summary page, last updated on 18 May 2026, still says “legally resident for at least 5 years”, while its profile page and the law say 10. When the pages disagree, the law’s text is the one to follow, and the file’s registry is the one to ask. We cover these changes and what to check before you apply in a separate guide.

Can an American or a Briton hold dual nationality?

Portugal’s side is clear. The Ministry of Justice guide says Portuguese law lets a Portuguese national hold other nationalities, so you do not have to give up another nationality to acquire the Portuguese one. It warns that other countries’ laws may require you to give up the Portuguese one. Under article 8 of the Nationality Law, a Portuguese national who holds another nationality loses the Portuguese one only by declaring that they do not want to be Portuguese.

• UK: GOV.UK says dual citizenship is allowed in the UK, that you do not need to apply for it, and that you can apply for foreign citizenship and keep British citizenship. It also says a dual national cannot get diplomatic help from the British government in the other country where they hold citizenship, and that as a dual national you can travel to the UK on a valid UK or Irish passport or a certificate of entitlement.
• U.S.: USAGov says a U.S. citizen does not have to choose one nationality over the other, may naturalize in another country without risking U.S. citizenship, must use a U.S. passport to enter and leave the United States, and owes allegiance to both countries. The page was last updated on 17 March 2026. We did not find the State Department’s own dual nationality page at its former address when we looked on 18 October 2026, so it is not used here.

Citizenship has tax consequences on the U.S. side that this guide does not cover. Americans file U.S. returns wherever they live, a point for the U.S. tax guides on this site.

What should I read next?

The cluster behind this guide takes each step in turn: permanent residence and its requirements, citizenship by residence step by step, the language requirement and how to prove it, dual citizenship for Americans and Britons, and the recent changes to the law with what to check before you apply. They are being published; until then, the official pages named below are the source.

Official pages read for this guide: the Ministry of Justice guide “Como obter a nacionalidade portuguesa” and the pages “Nacionalidade portuguesa”, the profile page for residents of at least 10 years, “Submeter pedido de nacionalidade”, “Pedido de nacionalidade por correio” and “Consultar estado do processo de nacionalidade”; the consolidated Nationality Law (Law 37/81), Organic Law 1/2026, the consolidated Nationality Regulamento (Decree-Law 237-A/2006) and the consolidated Foreigners Law (Law 23/2007) on the Diário da República; GOV.UK “Dual citizenship”; and USAGov “How to get dual citizenship or nationality”. All were read on 18 October 2026.