Portugal Citizenship by Residence Application: Americans, Britons

An American or a Briton applies for Portuguese citizenship by residence with a signed request to the Minister of Justice and a file of documents, filed through a lawyer online or, on your own, on paper at a registry desk or by registered post. The IRN states a fee of 250 euros, and the registry checks the file before the Minister of Justice decides.

This guide takes the process from the moment you have the residence time to the moment you are registered. It rests on the Ministry of Justice and IRN pages, the IRN’s 2026 request form, the consolidated Nationality Law and Regulamento and the fee schedule on the Diário da República, and two UK pages, all read on 18 October 2026. The latest change it states is the IRN notice dated 22 May 2026 on the online service page, which says the Regulamento must be amended within 90 days of Organic Law 1/2026 (published on 18 May 2026, in force from 19 May 2026). It is a reading of official wording, not legal advice.

What do you need before you file?

The conditions themselves, the 10-year residence rule, how legal residence is counted and the other routes are in our guide to becoming a Portuguese citizen as an American or Briton, and we do not repeat them here. In short: article 6 of the Nationality Law asks for 10 years of legal residence for nationals of countries other than the Portuguese-speaking countries and the EU member states, proof of language and culture, knowledge of rights, duties and the political organization of the State, a solemn declaration of adherence to democratic principles, a clean enough criminal record and the means to support yourself. The residence permits that build those years are covered in our guide to residence routes to Portugal.

Two points matter for the process. The law is applied “at the time of the request”, so the conditions are checked on the day you file. And article 15, paragraph 3, of the Nationality Law lets you add up separate periods of legal residence within a 12-year window, so keep every permit, receipt and visa: the Regulamento says AIMA can issue the document that proves your residence from its own records, and that you are exempt from handing in the AIMA proof and the Portuguese criminal record yourself, because the registry gets both by itself where it can.

Who files, and where?

The channel depends on whether you have a lawyer or solicitor.

The IRN says that with a lawyer the request can only be made online, and that without one it goes by post or at a desk. Online filing has been compulsory for lawyers and solicitors since 1 December 2023. You can book in-person service on the Siga portal or the sigaApp.

The two IRN documents we read give the Central Registry’s postal address with different street numbers: 198 on the Ministry of Justice profile page and 200 on the request form. Confirm the address with the IRN line (+351 211 950 500) before you post original documents.

What documents go in the file?

The Ministry of Justice profile page for residents of at least 10 years, the IRN’s request form for article 6(1) of the law (Modelo 6.1, a 2026 version) and the Regulamento do not list exactly the same things. The table below sets out what each says.

The form says a missing mention that the law requires, or a missing document that proves the grounds of the request, leads to outright rejection of the request. The Regulamento (article 27) says the same: the Central Registry rejects at the start a request that lacks the elements of article 18 or the documents proving the grounds.

Two of those lines are the ones the law changed in May 2026. The profile page still lists only the language proof. The form lists culture, rights and duties, the declaration and the means of support, but does not say which document proves each one. The Regulamento that should say so has not been updated in the consolidated text we read, so see the last section.

How do you get and legalize the foreign documents?

This is the step that takes the longest for most applicants, and where Americans and Britons differ.

Legalization. The Regulamento (article 37) says foreign civil registry certificates are legalized as the Code of Civil Procedure provides, “without prejudice to international conventions”, and that the registry can ask the issuing authority to confirm a document’s authenticity at your expense. The IRN profile page names apostille or consular visa for the birth certificate. The pages we read do not say whether foreign criminal records must also carry an apostille; ask the registry before you pay for one.

Translation. Article 37(2) of the Regulamento says foreign-language documents come with a translation made or certified as the law provides, unless they are in English, French or Spanish and the registrar does not ask for one. The IRN’s 2026 form repeats this exemption. The profile page says only that a certificate not in Portuguese comes with a certified translation. For an American or a Briton the English exemption is the rule on two official sources, but the registry may still ask.

Criminal records. The law (article 6(11)) lists certificates from the Portuguese services and from the country of birth, the country of nationality and the countries of residence after the age of criminal responsibility. The Regulamento (article 37(8)) exempts the certificate of the birth or nationality country when you show that, after reaching that age, you lived in another country. How those two texts apply to your own residence history is a question for the registry that will hold your file.

• Britons: the GOV.UK legalisation page says the Legalisation Office adds an apostille to documents from a public registry or issued by a government department, that the standard paper apostille costs 45 pounds plus postage or courier, and that an e-Apostille, at 35 pounds, is not available for birth certificates and other General Register Office documents, for ACRO police certificates for England and Wales or for DBS certificates. We did not read the pages of the other UK nations’ record offices.
• Americans: the FBI and State Department apostille pages could not be opened for this guide, so we state nothing about their fees or timing. Our guide to the Portugal visa application from the US covers the same FBI check and apostille for the visa file; check that the version you need for the nationality file is the one the registry accepts.

How do you fill in the request, and what does it cost?

The model request for naturalization under article 6(1) is Modelo 6.1 on the IRN forms page, with a separate form for minors. It is a form in Portuguese with six boxes: personal data, the naturalization declarations, the documents handed in, payment, refund details, and signature. In the second box you declare, in the form’s wording, that you have lived legally in Portugal for at least 10 years if you are a national of a country other than a Portuguese-speaking one or an EU member state, that you are of age, know the language and culture and the rights and duties, adhere to the democratic principles, can support yourself, have not been sentenced as article 6(1)(f) describes, are not a danger to national security and are not subject to UN or EU restrictive measures. You also list the other countries where you lived and can tick that the Portuguese criminal record be obtained by the registry.

The form’s fill-in notes ask for capital letters, no corrections and an email and address filled in with care, because notifications “are considered made” once sent to the address or email you gave.

The form says a posted request without the payment is returned. The request must be signed in front of a registry employee when you file, or the signature certified in advance if you post it.

What happens after you file?

A lawyer’s online filing goes first to a registry office, selected by the system, that checks the data and the documents. If anything is off, the request is returned through the platform for correction; once validated, the file is created and its number and status show in the lawyer’s reserved area, with an email for every change of state.

By post, the IRN says its services receive the mail, check that the file is complete and enter it in the system, and then email you a consultation code. You use it on the IRN status page, which shows four stages.

Looking up the status is free. The consolidated Regulamento (article 27) gives the procedural steps and time limits for naturalization.

These are procedural limits written into the Regulamento, not a promise of how long a file takes. Its wording was last consolidated before the May 2026 law, so check them at filing.

What can pause or stop the file?

The pages we read name these.

• A conviction. Under article 6(14) of the law the criminal record requirement is a rebuttable presumption, assessed by the public prosecutor on the length of the sentence, the type and nature of the crime, the time since, any repeat offense and the person’s integration. The file is suspended while that assessment or a court case runs (article 6(16)), and if the prosecutor applies the bar you can go to court. The consolidated Regulamento (article 42(4)) also suspends the procedure for five years after a final sentence above one year of prison; this is its wording, and it predates the 2026 law.
• Doubt about a foreign document. Article 42(3) of the Regulamento suspends the procedure when there are well-founded doubts about the authenticity of a foreign document.
• An unfavorable opinion. You get 30 days to reply, and the notice says how to view the file.
• A refusal. The decision is notified to you. Article 61(1) of the Regulamento gives one year to react in court against acts in the nationality procedures; an outright rejection at the start can be challenged before the administrative and tax courts (article 61(2)).

Notifications by registered letter are presumed made on the third working day after posting, on the third working day after posting, or the next working day if that one is not, at the address you chose, and article 27(16) says the notification still takes effect if the letter is returned, provided it was sent to the address you chose. Keep your address and email current.

What happens when nationality is granted?

Nationality takes effect on registration: article 19 of the Nationality Law says the registry entry has constitutive effect. The Regulamento says the registration is made ex officio and mentions the decision and its date, that the registry gives you a free non-certified copy of the registration, and that it informs AIMA of nationality changes for people living in Portugal. A certificate of nationality is issued by the Central Registry on request.

The Ministry of Justice page on the Citizen Card says any Portuguese citizen can ask for it, that it is mandatory for Portuguese citizens from the age of 20 days or who need a public service, and that it can be requested at IRN counters and at consulates in several countries. We did not read a page on the passport or on what happens to your residence permit once you are registered.

Citizenship has consequences beyond the registry. For Britons, our guide to moving to Portugal as a British citizen after Brexit covers the status you hold before it, and for Americans, our guide to US taxes from Portugal covers the filing obligation that does not end when you become Portuguese.

What has changed since the May 2026 law, and what is still unsettled?

Organic Law 1/2026 changed the law from 19 May 2026 and told the Government, in article 4, to amend the Regulamento within 90 days of publication, which by our count falls on 16 August 2026. Article 7 says administrative procedures pending on the day the law came into force stay under the previous wording. The IRN online service page, updated on 22 May 2026, repeats that some changes depend on further regulation.

On 18 October 2026 the consolidated Regulamento on the Diário da República shows its latest change as Constitutional Court ruling 522/2025 of 23 July 2025, and still has five years of legal residence in article 19. Its article 25 covers the proof of residence and the ways to prove Portuguese, and the Nationality Law as amended in May 2026 asks for a test or certificate of knowledge of the language and the culture, national history and symbols (article 6(1)(c)). That does not prove nothing was published since: the page itself says the consolidated version has no legal value and does not replace the acts it consolidates, and our search of the Diário da República did not settle the question.

The Regulamento page on the Diário da República lists no amendment after the Constitutional Court ruling of 23 July 2025. The Nationality Law page lists Organic Law 1/2026 and a rectification declaration, both dated 18 May 2026.

Until that is settled, the pages we read show: the law’s conditions are those of the new article 6; the procedural steps and time limits are those the consolidated Regulamento still shows; and the IRN’s 2026 request form is the most current statement of what to hand in.

More guides on this site: learning Portuguese: the official courses.

What should I read next?

The rest of this cluster takes the steps around the application: permanent residence and its requirements, the language requirement and how to prove it, and dual citizenship for Americans and Britons, which are being published. For the move that comes first, see our guide to the Portugal visa application from the UK.

Related guides: the AIMA residence permit process after arrival, the Portuguese language requirement and how to prove it, permanent residence requirements and dual citizenship for Americans and Britons.

Related guides: apostilles, translations and certified documents, what changed in the nationality law in 2026 and what to check before you apply.

Official pages read for this guide: the Ministry of Justice guide “Como obter a nacionalidade portuguesa”, the pages “Nacionalidade portuguesa”, the profile page for residents of at least 10 years, “Submeter pedido de nacionalidade”, “Pedido de nacionalidade por correio”, “Consultar estado do processo de nacionalidade” and “Cartão de Cidadão”; the IRN’s “Impressos e modelos” page, its Modelo 6.1 request form and its “Nacionalidade online: perguntas e respostas”; the consolidated Nationality Law (Law 37/81), Organic Law 1/2026, the consolidated Regulamento da Nacionalidade (Decree-Law 237-A/2006) and the consolidated fee schedule RERN (Decree-Law 322-A/2001) on the Diário da República; GOV.UK “Get your document legalised”; and the ACRO “Police Certificate” page. All were read on 18 October 2026.