Portugal raises citizenship wait to 10 years for Nigerians, Indians, Pakistanis

By Nkiruka Nnorom
Nigerians seeking Portuguese citizenship will now wait 10 years as Portugal doubles its residency requirement.
The new regime, under Organic Law No. 1/2026, raised the qualifying period from five years to 10 years for nationals of Nigeria, India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and other non-EU, non-Portuguese-speaking countries.
Citizens of European Union countries and Portuguese-speaking nations, including Angola, Mozambique, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, São Tomé and Príncipe and Equatorial Guinea, will qualify after seven years.
The government also scrapped a 2024 rule that allowed waiting time for residence permits to count toward citizenship.
The law, passed by ...