Portuguese ancestry can be a path to EU citizenship, but not all family connections work the same way under the law. A grandchild’s application looks different from a child’s. The approved 2026 changes are expected to affect great-grandchildren, and the Sephardic pathway open since 2013 is close to ending for new applicants.
If you have been following the news around Portugal’s 2026 nationality reforms, the headlines about residency requirements probably created more confusion than clarity. The shift from five years to ten for naturalisation is a genuine change but it applies to people building a life in Portugal and waiting for residency-based citizenship. It does not touch the descent route. Citizenship by descent (cidadania por descendência) has its own legal footing, governed by the principle of jus sanguinis (direito de sangue the right of blood), and the 2026 reforms affect it differently.
For descent cases, the important points are specific: who may become newly eligible, which routes are closing, and what connection to Portugal applicants need to prove. What has not changed is the essential structure no residency requirement, no minimum time in Portugal, and the IRN (Instituto dos Registos e do Notariado) as the authority that decides your file.
Quick Answer: Portuguese citizens’ children can claim citizenship by registering their birth in the Portuguese civil registry no language test, no residency, no age limit. Grandchildren can apply by demonstrating a ligação efetiva (effective connection) to Portugal; in practice, an A2-level Portuguese language certificate is usually the clearest proof. The 2026 law changes do not add any residency requirement to the descent route. The government application fee is €250. Children may be faster, while grandchild applications commonly take two years or more. The Sephardic route and possible great-grandchild eligibility are both changing the details are below.
What the 2026 Law Does and Does Not Change for Descent
The approved 2026 changes to the Lei da Nacionalidade (Nationality Law) affect descent-based applications in a few specific ways. Understanding which changes apply to you and which of the loudly reported changes do not is where most of the confusion lives.
What changed or is changing for descent:
The approved 2026 changes are expected to introduce a route for great-grandchildren (bisnetos). Under previous law, the descent path stopped at grandchildren. This new route is expected to require proof of genuine connection to the comunidade portuguesa (Portuguese community), but the final practical requirements should be checked once the law is published in the Diário da República and implementing guidance is available. Do not assume a Portuguese great-grandparent alone is enough.
The Sephardic Jewish descent route a special naturalisation pathway for descendants of Jews expelled from Portugal during the Inquisition is being closed to new applicants. This route has functioned alongside descent-based applications since 2013. If you are considering this route, check the latest publication status and speak to a qualified lawyer quickly, because the timing may change very soon.
Children born in Portugal to foreign parents face tighter rules: citizenship at birth will require at least one parent to hold legal residence for a minimum number of years. This affects birth on Portuguese soil, not descent from a Portuguese ancestor.
What did not change for descent:
There is still no residency requirement for children or grandchildren of Portuguese citizens. You do not need to have lived in Portugal, visited Portugal, or intend to move to Portugal. The application goes through the IRN, not AIMA (Agência para a Integração, Migrações e Asilo).
The law was approved by Parliament on 1 April 2026 by a two-thirds majority. On 3 May 2026, President António José Seguro promulgated the decree amending Portugal’s Nationality Law. Publication in the Diário da República remains the key step before readers should treat the final text and entry-into-force date as settled. The President also highlighted the importance of protecting pending cases, but the exact treatment of pending applications should be confirmed from the final published text and IRN practice.
If you are pursuing citizenship through long-term residency rather than descent, the Portugal citizenship residency requirement guide covers the five- versus ten-year question and what the law change means for pending applications.
Who Can Apply: Three Routes by Generation
Children of Portuguese citizens (filhos)
If at least one of your parents was a Portuguese citizen at the time of your birth, you qualify for citizenship by origin regardless of where you were born, and regardless of your age now.
The process is primarily administrative. Your birth must be registered in the Portuguese civil registry (Conservatória do Registo Civil). If your Portuguese parent did not register your birth abroad at the time which was common for emigrants who did not prioritise this step you can still register it now, at any age. There is no deadline.
No language test. No proof of connection to Portugal. No minimum residency. Dual citizenship is permitted by Portuguese law.
If your Portuguese parent was serving the Portuguese state abroad as a diplomat, military personnel, or in another official capacity Portuguese nationality is attributed automatically. Registration in the civil registry is still the practical step needed to formalise and use that status.
Grandchildren of Portuguese citizens (netos)
If one of your grandparents was a Portuguese national and did not lose or voluntarily renounce that nationality you can apply for citizenship by descent.
Grandchildren face two requirements that children do not.
The first is demonstrating a ligação efetiva (effective connection) to the Portuguese community. For most grandchild applications, an A2-level Portuguese language certificate the CIPLE (Certificado Inicial de Português Língua Estrangeira), issued by CAPLE (Centro de Avaliação de Português Língua Estrangeira) at the University of Lisbon is the clearest and safest evidence. Some applicants supplement it with Portuguese cultural association membership, records of regular visits to Portugal, or enrolment documents from a Portuguese language school. Submitting without the language certificate is risky and often leads to a request for additional evidence.
The second requirement is proving the grandparent’s Portuguese citizenship status. This means showing that the grandparent held Portuguese nationality and did not lose it. This matters most for families with complex histories: grandparents who emigrated from former Portuguese territories such as Angola, Mozambique, Cape Verde, or Timor-Leste, or who lived through the Estado Novo period, may have civil registry records that are incomplete, held in different countries, or not clearly linked to Portuguese nationality. That is solvable, but it takes time and sometimes specialist help.
There is no age limit for grandchildren.
Great-grandchildren (bisnetos) pending under new law
Under the rules in force before the 2026 changes, the descent path stopped at grandchildren. The approved changes are expected to extend the route to great-grandchildren, with a requirement to prove genuine connection to the comunidade portuguesa. What this means in documentary terms should be checked once the law is published and implementing guidance is available.
A practical alternative exists for those with great-grandparent Portuguese ancestry where a grandparent or parent is still alive: if that intermediate generation is eligible, they can apply for Portuguese citizenship first, become citizens, and then you apply through them as a child of a Portuguese citizen. The chain takes time, but each step follows a well-defined process. Until the new route is fully published and operational, do not assume you can skip a generation.
Documents You Actually Need
The documents differ by generation. The most common cause of mid-process delays is not that the application is rejected outright, but that the IRN sends a pedido de instrução adicional (request for supplemental documents) which pauses the application clock and restarts it.
| Document | Children of Portuguese national | Grandchildren of Portuguese national |
|---|---|---|
| Applicant’s long-form birth certificate (apostilled; translated into Portuguese if needed) | Required | Required |
| Portuguese parent’s birth certificate | Required | Required |
| Proof of parent’s Portuguese citizenship (citizen card or passport copy) | Required | Required |
| Grandparent’s Portuguese birth certificate (certified copy from Portuguese civil registry) | Not required | Required |
| Marriage certificates establishing the family chain (grandparent → parent → applicant) | Sometimes required | Required |
| CIPLE A2 certificate from CAPLE | Not required | Required |
| Criminal record certificate from every country lived in for 1 year or more | Required if 16 or older | Required |
| Completed application form (Modelo 6 from the IRN website, printed double-sided, signed) | Required | Required |
| Proof of €250 application fee payment | Required | Required |
All foreign documents birth certificates, marriage certificates, criminal records need to be either apostilled (for countries that have signed the Hague Convention on Apostille) or consularly legalised (for countries that have not). Certified translations into Portuguese are required for documents not originally in Portuguese. The apostille and the translation are separate steps; both must be done.
One practical note on criminal records: they are issued with a validity window in most countries typically 90 days from the date of issue. Time your requests relative to your target submission date, not relative to when you start assembling the rest of the file.
Where and How to Submit
In person at a Portuguese consulate abroad. The consulate takes your documents and forwards the file to the Conservatória dos Registos Centrais in Lisbon or the Arquivo Central in Porto. An appointment is usually required. If you are applying from outside Portugal, this is the most common route, though consulate forwarding adds weeks to the process before the IRN clock even starts.
In person at an IRN office in Portugal. The main submission points are the Conservatória dos Registos Centrais (Rua Rodrigo da Fonseca, 202, 1099-033 Lisbon) and the Arquivo Central in Porto. Queue times at Lisbon vary some periods have required people to arrive well before opening time to secure a slot. If you are in Portugal and want to submit in person, check appointment availability before assuming walk-in access.
By mail to the Conservatória dos Registos Centrais. Possible, but carries the usual risks: documents can be delayed, returned, or in the worst case lost. Use tracked and insured delivery if you go this route, and keep copies of everything before posting.
Through a Portuguese lawyer or solicitor (electronic platform). Since December 2023, Portuguese lawyers have access to an exclusive online submission system connected directly to the IRN’s central registry. If you are working with a lawyer, the application goes in electronically without requiring you to attend a consulate or IRN office in person. Lawyer fees vary, but for grandchild applications which involve more complex documentation and longer timelines having someone who can respond to IRN document requests and track the file through the queue has real practical value.
What It Costs and How Long It Takes
| Item | Approximate cost |
|---|---|
| IRN government application fee | €250 |
| CIPLE A2 language exam at CAPLE (grandchildren only) | €70–€100 |
| Document apostilling | €10–€50 per document (varies by country) |
| Certified translations into Portuguese | €40–€80 per document |
| Lawyer fees (if used) | €1,000–€3,000+ depending on complexity |
| Cartão de Cidadão after approval | Approx. €15 |
| Portuguese passport | €65 in Portugal; higher at consulates abroad |
The €250 fee is non-refundable, whether the application is approved or refused.
| Route | Planning-range processing time |
|---|---|
| Minor children of Portuguese parent | 3–5 months |
| Adult children of Portuguese parent | 8–12 months |
| Grandchildren | 24–30 months |
These are planning ranges based on practical experience with IRN processing, not official guarantees. Straightforward child applications may be faster, while grandchild applications commonly take two years or more. Files that generate supplemental document requests can extend beyond these windows.
What Usually Slows an Application Down
The grandparent’s Portuguese civil registry records are incomplete
This is the most common structural problem for grandchild applications. Families whose connection runs through former Portuguese territories Angola, Mozambique, Cape Verde, Timor-Leste, Macau sometimes find that critical records are held in civil registries outside Portugal, are incomplete, or do not clearly establish Portuguese citizenship rather than colonial residency status. The distinction matters to the IRN.
If a key ancestral record is missing, working with a lawyer who has contacts with Portuguese civil registries in Portugal and who understands how to reconstruct the chain through alternative sources is more practical than sending queries yourself. Do not attempt to fill gaps with approximate information the IRN will flag inconsistencies.
The CIPLE certificate is missing from a grandchild application
Submitting a grandchild file without the A2 language certificate is one of the most predictable causes of a mid-process document request. The CIPLE exam must be booked at an authorised CAPLE centre in Portugal (Lisbon, Porto) or at authorised centres abroad. Dates book up months in advance. Schedule the exam early, not after the rest of the file is ready.
Names do not match across documents
A grandparent whose name appears as “José Ferreira” in a Portuguese civil registry record and “Jose Ferreira” in a foreign marriage certificate are the same person but the IRN may request clarification or supplemental documentation if it cannot confirm this automatically. Names transliterated differently, middle names dropped or added, or the same person appearing under different regional spellings across documents: all of these create flags. If your documents have name inconsistencies, address them before submission rather than hoping the IRN will connect them internally.
Documents expire between preparation and submission
Criminal records in many countries are valid for 90 days from issue. Some apostilles carry expiry dates. Applicants who front-load all document collection and then take four months to prepare the full file often find the first batch has expired. Work backwards from your target submission date and time the requests accordingly.
After Approval: What Happens Next
When the IRN approves your application, a letter arrives from the Conservatória dos Registos Centrais. That letter confirms that Portuguese nationality has been attributed. At that point, you are legally Portuguese.
But the letter does not come with a passport, or even a citizen card. There are two more steps.
First: a certidão de nascimento portuguesa (Portuguese birth certificate) must be issued or updated by the Conservatória do Registo Civil. This typically takes two to four weeks after the approval letter.
Second: with the Portuguese birth certificate in hand, you can apply for your Cartão de Cidadão (Portuguese national ID card) at any IRN office in Portugal or at a Portuguese consulate abroad. The card takes four to eight weeks. It is required before you can apply for a passport.
Once the Cartão de Cidadão is issued, the passaporte (passport) application is a separate process at an IRN office, a Loja do Cidadão (citizen’s shop), or a consulate. Standard processing takes another four to eight weeks.
If you are living in Portugal on a residence permit at the time of approval, your status with AIMA changes you no longer need a título de residência (residence card) as a Portuguese citizen. The practical records to update include your status with Segurança Social (Social Security) and your employer. The AIMA residence card guide covers what that card is used for and how it interacts with other systems, which helps clarify what you are stepping away from.
As a Portuguese citizen, you can also sponsor family members to join you in Portugal under EU freedom of movement rules a different and often less document-heavy process than the AIMA family reunification route that applies to non-EU nationals and residents.
Once citizenship is in place, sorting out your position with the Portal das Finanças matters if you are becoming a Portuguese tax resident particularly to ensure your NIF (Número de Identificação Fiscal) is correctly registered under your new status.
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Assuming the 10-year naturalisation rule now applies to descent
The most asked question after the April 2026 parliamentary vote was some version of “does the 10-year rule affect my grandchild application?” It does not. The extended residency requirement applies to naturalisation citizenship earned by living in Portugal long enough. Descent-based citizenship has no residency requirement, and that has not changed. The two routes operate under different legal mechanisms.
Mistake: Submitting a grandchild application without the CIPLE certificate
For most grandchild applications, the A2 language certificate is the clearest and safest way to satisfy the ligação efetiva requirement. Submitting without it is risky and often leads to a supplemental document request, extending the timeline by months. Book the exam early slots at CAPLE-authorised centres fill up well in advance.
Mistake: Collecting all documents at once, then waiting
Criminal records have expiry windows. So do some apostilles. An applicant who requests all documents in January and submits in June may find that the criminal record from January is no longer valid. Time each document request based on when you plan to submit, not based on when you start the process.
Mistake: Confusing the IRN with AIMA
AIMA handles immigration and residency. The IRN handles nationality. The two systems do not share data in ways that simplify your application. What AIMA has on file about your residency status, your NISS (Número de Identificação de Segurança Social), or your address does not reduce the documentation the IRN needs. They are separate processes with separate requirements and separate timelines.
Mistake: Assuming the Sephardic route is already closed
As of May 2026, the revised Nationality Law had not yet been published in the Diário da República which means the Sephardic route was technically still open. But Parliament approved the closure in April 2026 and the President promulgated the amendments on 3 May 2026. If this route matters to you, check the latest publication status before relying on it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to live in Portugal to get citizenship by descent?
No. There is no residency requirement for citizenship by descent through a Portuguese parent or grandparent. You can apply from abroad through a Portuguese consulate or by mailing your complete file to the Conservatória dos Registos Centrais in Lisbon.
Do children of Portuguese parents need a language test?
No. Children applying through a Portuguese parent do not need to prove Portuguese language proficiency or demonstrate any effective connection to Portugal. The process is about proving lineage and registering the birth in the Portuguese civil registry.
What counts as effective connection to Portugal for grandchildren?
For most grandchild applications, the A2 Portuguese certificate usually CIPLE from CAPLE is the clearest and safest proof of effective connection. Some applicants add Portuguese cultural association membership, regular-visit records, or language-school documents, but submitting without the language certificate is risky and often leads to extra document requests.
Can I claim citizenship through a great-grandparent?
Under the rules in force before the 2026 law, citizenship by descent stops at the grandparent level. The approved 2026 changes are expected to introduce a route for great-grandchildren (bisnetos), but the final practical requirements should be checked after publication in the Diário da República and any implementing guidance. Do not assume a Portuguese great-grandparent alone is enough.
Is the Sephardic Jewish citizenship route still open?
As of May 2026, the Sephardic route has not yet been formally closed because the revised Nationality Law is still awaiting publication in the Diário da República. Parliament approved the closure in April 2026. If you are considering this route, check the latest publication status and speak to a qualified lawyer quickly, because the timing may change very soon.
What is the application fee for Portuguese citizenship by descent?
The government application fee is €250, payable to the IRN. This is separate from translation, apostille, language exam, and lawyer fees, which can add several hundred to several thousand euros depending on how complex your case is.
How long does the IRN take to process a descent application?
Processing times vary widely. Straightforward child applications may be faster, while adult-child files often take longer and grandchild applications commonly take two years or more. Treat any month estimate as a planning range, not a promise. The IRN often provides little communication during long waits silence is normal, not automatically a sign of a problem.
Can I submit my citizenship application online?
Only through a Portuguese lawyer or solicitor who has access to the IRN’s dedicated electronic submission platform. Individual applicants cannot submit online directly. Without a lawyer, applications go in person to an IRN office, a Portuguese consulate, or by post to the Conservatória dos Registos Centrais.
Does my Portuguese grandparent need to still be alive for me to apply?
No. You can apply through a deceased Portuguese grandparent, provided you can document that they held Portuguese citizenship and did not renounce or lose it. Death certificates and Portuguese civil registry records form part of the file.
Do I lose my current citizenship when I become Portuguese?
Portugal allows dual citizenship and does not require you to renounce your existing nationality. Your home country’s laws are a separate matter some countries do require renunciation when you acquire a second citizenship, so check your own country’s position before you apply.
The descent route is slow grandchild applications commonly take two years or more in the IRN queue but it remains one of the few paths to EU citizenship that does not require you to move countries first. Get the CIPLE exam scheduled early, and get each document apostilled and translated to a clear standard before submission. If your case depends on a changing route such as Sephardic ancestry or a great-grandparent, check the latest Diário da República publication status and IRN practice before filing.
If you are building a life in Portugal through residency and looking at citizenship from that angle instead, permanent residence after five years is the relevant milestone and explains what AIMA actually requires before citizenship becomes the next question.