Recently, the amendment to the Portuguese Nationality Law has attracted the attention of the investment immigration community. As this legislative amendment involves multiple aspects such as naturalization, residency calculation, and loss of nationality, some provisions remain highly controversial. The Socialist Party (PS) has officially submitted these controversial provisions to the Constitutional Court, requesting a constitutionality review.
For investors, there is widespread concern regarding two major issues:
First: The specific content and timeline of the Constitutional Court's review;
Second: The practical impact of this legislative amendment on existing Portuguese Golden Residence applicants, as well as those currently considering investment and submitting applications.
It should be noted that: The current amendment has not yet come into effect, and all matters remain subject to the current laws.
“The Nationality Law amendment is still under review”
The Nationality Law amendment was submitted to the Constitutional Court for preventive review on November 19. The Constitutional Court has 25 consecutive days to make a ruling; eight provisions will be subject to constitutionality review.
Main Controversial Provisions
The Socialist Party believes that some provisions in the amendment are problematic in terms of practical operation, fairness, and constitutional principles. The current focus is mainly on the following six points:
1. New rules for the naturalization of stateless persons: Considered unenforceable due to Portugal's lack of formal administrative procedures to recognize stateless status.
2. “Refusal of the national community” clause: The wording is too vague and may infringe upon freedom of speech.
3. Lowering the threshold for criminal sentences for naturalization: The minimum sentence to prevent naturalization has been reduced from three years to two years, and this applies to those naturalizing through marriage.
4. Loss of nationality due to the actions of third parties: Accused of violating the fundamental principles of sanction laws.
5. Lack of a transitional system: Creating legal uncertainty for thousands of immigrants who had reasonable expectations based on the current rules.
6. Cancellation of the residency waiting period calculation: The Socialist Party believes it is unfair to punish immigrants for administrative inefficiency, forcing them to wait up to three years to obtain documents while contributing financially and socially.
Among these, provisions 5 and 6 are most closely related to Golden Visa applicants, directly affecting: how residency time is calculated; whether the waiting time for the card is counted; and the cumulative time for naturalization eligibility. Therefore, the Socialist Party has specifically requested the Constitutional Court to review these provisions.
Worldway Group Warm Reminder
Continue to follow the policy; the window of opportunity remains open
Worldway Group will continue to monitor the progress of the review of the Portuguese Nationality Law amendment and its official effective date. Once there is new important information or official interpretation, we will share it with all investors immediately.
At the same time, we would like to remind all investors that Portugal remains one of the high-quality choices for immigrating to Europe today. As a member of the European Union, Portugal is not only politically stable, socially safe, and has a moderate cost of living, but also has significant advantages in educational resources, medical systems, living environment, and space for children's growth.
If you are interested in immigrating to Portugal, you can apply through the Portuguese Fund Investment Immigration Program. Investors can invest from 500,000 Euros in funds to apply for Portuguese Golden Residence status for their entire family of three generations.
In addition, you can also immigrate to Portugal through the Portuguese Cultural and Artistic Donation Program. According to the law, applicants only need to invest 200,000 Euros to apply for Portuguese Golden Residence status for their entire family of three generations, obtaining an EU passport at a low cost and with convenience.
For more details on Portuguese immigration, please contact Mainland China: 400-138-2929, or the Hong Kong Customer Service Center: (852)2802 8798