Where do I read the rules for Portuguese citizenship?
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I have just arrived and I already see fights online about how many years of residence lead to citizenship, and whether a language test is A2. I want the page that is actually the law, not a summary.
1 answer
- Accepted answer
Citizenship is the Institute of Registries and Notaries, the IRN, not AIMA and not a landlord. The years of legal residence, what counts as residence, and the language proof have been argued in public and amended more than once. Any sentence that starts “it is definitely five years” without a date is already unsafe. Open the IRN citizenship pages, and keep the PDF of the version you read.
What you can do in year one is collect the documents that every later application wants: a stable address, tax returns once you are resident, and legal stay that you can prove. Language study is useful whether or not the test stays exactly where it is. This site will not invent the year-count. When you are close to applying, a lawyer who works on nationality can read your file. A group poll cannot.
Checked 24 October 2026. This is not legal, tax or immigration advice. If an official page disagrees, follow that page.