More than 500 Portuguese Golden Visa holders are preparing a collective legal action against the Portuguese state. The group, predominantly American but spanning several nationalities, organised through WhatsApp in early May and intends to register as a formal association before filing.
The trigger is not bureaucratic delay alone — it is a new piece of legislation. On 3 May 2026, President António José Seguro promulgated a revised Nationality Law that effectively doubles the path to citizenship for most foreign nationals. The bill had cleared parliament on 1 April by a vote of 152 to 64, following an agreement between the governing Social Democratic Party (PSD) and Chega.
Under the new framework, the standard naturalisation period runs to ten years instead of five. Citizens of the European Union and the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP) face a seven-year requirement. The residency clock now starts when the Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum (AIMA) issues the residence permit, not when the application is submitted. The law contains no formal transitional regime for applicants already in the system.
The "legitimate expectations" argument
The legal strategy rests on a single core principle: legitimate expectations. Investors who began the process under a five- or six-year horizon, the argument runs, formed a qualified expectation that deserves legal protection.
Sara Sousa Rebolo, partner at Prime Legal, describes naturalisation by residence as "a complex legal process formed over time." Madalena Monteiro, founder of Liberty Legal — the lawyer who filed an amicus curiae brief to the Constitutional Court in December 2025 — has gone further. "Legal stability and the protection of legitimate trust must prevail over rushed solutions," she said. The issue, for her, is not citizenship as an automatic right; it is the fairness of changing the rules mid-process.
A state-created delay, now extended
The AIMA factor sharpens the case. The agency, which replaced the previous immigration service SEF in late 2023, inherited a substantial backlog. Many Golden Visa applicants have waited three to five years simply to receive their initial residence card — delays attributed to administrative capacity, not to the applicants themselves. Under the new framework, those years effectively do not count toward the ten-year requirement, because the clock starts only at card issuance.
Rebolo frames this as a state-created problem. The same administration that received the investment and delayed the process, she argues, is now extending the path to citizenship for those it kept waiting.
Legal avenues
The plaintiffs are exploring several parallel routes: state liability claims for damages arising from legislative action, constitutional challenges before Portuguese courts, possible review by the Constitutional Court, and recourse to the European Court of Human Rights once domestic remedies are exhausted. Questions of compatibility with the European Convention on Nationality may also arise if effective residence periods exceed ten years for some applicants.
One member of the group, quoted by Expresso, summarised the strategy plainly: the investors intend to "exhaust the Portuguese legal system and then assess what legal avenues exist at the European level."
The damage is already showing
The reform is already producing effects beyond the courtroom. Some existing investors are withdrawing pending applications; others, who had planned to apply, are reconsidering Portugal as a destination. The Golden Visa itself was restructured in 2023 under the Mais Habitação law, which removed the real estate route while keeping fund-based investment open. The current dispute does not concern the visa structure — it concerns what that visa eventually leads to.
For investors weighing Portugal today, the question has shifted from the cost of entry to how stable the legal framework will remain over the next decade.
If you're planning to obtain a residence permit, invest in a country's economy, or purchase foreign real estate, we invite you to a consultation with our company. During a personal online meeting, we'll discuss your questions in detail and create a step-by-step action plan for you.
The trigger is not bureaucratic delay alone — it is a new piece of legislation. On 3 May 2026, President António José Seguro promulgated a revised Nationality Law that effectively doubles the path to citizenship for most foreign nationals. The bill had cleared parliament on 1 April by a vote of 152 to 64, following an agreement between the governing Social Democratic Party (PSD) and Chega.
Under the new framework, the standard naturalisation period runs to ten years instead of five. Citizens of the European Union and the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP) face a seven-year requirement. The residency clock now starts when the Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum (AIMA) issues the residence permit, not when the application is submitted. The law contains no formal transitional regime for applicants already in the system.
The "legitimate expectations" argument
The legal strategy rests on a single core principle: legitimate expectations. Investors who began the process under a five- or six-year horizon, the argument runs, formed a qualified expectation that deserves legal protection.
Sara Sousa Rebolo, partner at Prime Legal, describes naturalisation by residence as "a complex legal process formed over time." Madalena Monteiro, founder of Liberty Legal — the lawyer who filed an amicus curiae brief to the Constitutional Court in December 2025 — has gone further. "Legal stability and the protection of legitimate trust must prevail over rushed solutions," she said. The issue, for her, is not citizenship as an automatic right; it is the fairness of changing the rules mid-process.
A state-created delay, now extended
The AIMA factor sharpens the case. The agency, which replaced the previous immigration service SEF in late 2023, inherited a substantial backlog. Many Golden Visa applicants have waited three to five years simply to receive their initial residence card — delays attributed to administrative capacity, not to the applicants themselves. Under the new framework, those years effectively do not count toward the ten-year requirement, because the clock starts only at card issuance.
Rebolo frames this as a state-created problem. The same administration that received the investment and delayed the process, she argues, is now extending the path to citizenship for those it kept waiting.
Legal avenues
The plaintiffs are exploring several parallel routes: state liability claims for damages arising from legislative action, constitutional challenges before Portuguese courts, possible review by the Constitutional Court, and recourse to the European Court of Human Rights once domestic remedies are exhausted. Questions of compatibility with the European Convention on Nationality may also arise if effective residence periods exceed ten years for some applicants.
One member of the group, quoted by Expresso, summarised the strategy plainly: the investors intend to "exhaust the Portuguese legal system and then assess what legal avenues exist at the European level."
The damage is already showing
The reform is already producing effects beyond the courtroom. Some existing investors are withdrawing pending applications; others, who had planned to apply, are reconsidering Portugal as a destination. The Golden Visa itself was restructured in 2023 under the Mais Habitação law, which removed the real estate route while keeping fund-based investment open. The current dispute does not concern the visa structure — it concerns what that visa eventually leads to.
For investors weighing Portugal today, the question has shifted from the cost of entry to how stable the legal framework will remain over the next decade.
If you're planning to obtain a residence permit, invest in a country's economy, or purchase foreign real estate, we invite you to a consultation with our company. During a personal online meeting, we'll discuss your questions in detail and create a step-by-step action plan for you.