A coalition of 1,260 Portuguese golden visa investors has filed a collective complaint with the country’s ombudsman, challenging recent changes to Portugal’s Nationality Law that they say unfairly affect long-term applicants.
According to media reports, the investors are seeking a meeting with Portugal’s newly appointed Ombudsman, Luísa Neto, within the next two weeks and plan to request that she refer the amended Nationality Law to the Constitutional Court, while also encouraging the government to introduce measures that protect applicants who have already spent years in the residence permit process.
Investors Say The New Nationality Rules Are Unfair
The claimants advocate for a transitional framework that recognizes the time elapsed since an application was originally submitted, rather than calculating eligibility solely based on the date a residence permit is issued. They argue that such a measure would prevent applicants from losing years already spent waiting in the system.
The dispute centers on amendments to Portugal’s Nationality Law that leave the golden visa program intact but significantly alter the path to citizenship. Under the revised rules, the minimum residence period required before applying for Portuguese citizenship has increased from five years to 10 years (for non-EU/non-CPLP applicants) and 7 years for citizens from EU and Portuguese-speaking countries). In addition, the qualifying period now begins only after a residence permit has been granted, instead of from the date the initial application was filed.
These changes have affected investors who entered the country’s Golden Residence Permit Program, officially known as the Autorização de Residência para Atividade de Investimento (ARI), with the expectation of qualifying for citizenship under the previous framework. Many applicants have experienced lengthy administrative delays in obtaining residence permits, making the revised timeline particularly significant for those already in the process.
Investors are urging the government to provide transitional provisions for current applicants to acknowledge those delays. Without such measures, they argue that years spent waiting for government processing will no longer count toward eligibility for citizenship.
Legal representatives for the group say they are prepared to escalate the matter if no progress is made.
The group also expects the number of investors participating in the legal action to grow. Currently, the collective claim represents 1,260 applicants.
The coming weeks are expected to be crucial as investors await a response from the Ombudsman and the Portuguese government regarding possible safeguards for pending golden visa applicants.
