State of Citizenship Law 2026

A prospective amendment to the Nationality Act (possible Act No. 21725, promulgated 2026-06-02) is expected to enter into force on 2026-12-03. The scope of the amendment is NOT yet confirmed against the promulgated text; this entry is a watchlist item, not a settled change. Route documentation will be updated once the amendment text is verified against the official gazette (law.go.kr).

Nationality Act — prospective Act No. 21725 (unverified) · effective 2026-12-03

Ligj 49/2026 amends Ligj 113/2020 (the Albanian citizenship law), in force 2026-06-20. Naturalization through marriage to an Albanian citizen (Neni 8/a) was restructured into a tiered residence framework in which the required residence period depends on the duration of the marriage, alongside a restructure of Article 9 procedures. Applications from the in-force date follow the amended framework.

Ligj 49/2026, amending Ligj 113/2020 Neni 8/a · effective 2026-06-20

The Asyl- und Migrationspakt-Anpassungsgesetz (AMPAG) was adopted by the Nationalrat on 20 May 2026 (XXVIII. GP, 444 d.B. / AB 457 d.B.), passed the Bundesrat on 3 June 2026, signed by the Federal President, and PROMULGATED as Bundesgesetzblatt I Nr. 39/2026 (published / ausgegeben 11 June 2026). It is an omnibus asylum-and-migration adaptation act amending eight statutes – AsylG 2005, BBU-Errichtungsgesetz, BFA-Einrichtungsgesetz, BFA-Verfahrensgesetz, Fremdenpolizeigesetz 2005, Grundversorgungsgesetz-Bund 2005, the Staatsbürgerschaftsgesetz 1985 (Article 7), and the Ausländerbeschäftigungsgesetz (Article 8) – implementing/aligning Austria with the EU Asylum and Migration Pact. The StbG-amending provisions (Article 7) are technical, terminological and cross-reference adjustments – §5 Abs.1, §10 Abs.2 Z1 and Z2, §11a Abs.7, §15 Abs.1 Z2/Z3 (deleting Z4), §16 Abs.1 Z2 lit.b, §59 Abs.3, §60 and §66 Z1 lit.b – e.g. replacing AsylG-2005 cross-references with NAG references and substituting 'Status als Asylberechtigter' with 'Flüchtlingseigenschaft'. They do NOT change naturalisation eligibility criteria, residence periods, fees or the §58c restitution route, and are substantively neutral for ordinary citizenship applicants. Per the new StbG §64a Abs.40, these StbG amendments entered into force on 12 June 2026.

Asyl- und Migrationspakt-Anpassungsgesetz (AMPAG), BGBl I Nr. 39/2026, Artikel 7 (Änderung des Staatsbürgerschaftsgesetzes 1985); StbG amendments in force 2026-06-12 per StbG §64a Abs.40 · effective 2026-06-12

Bill XVP-1441 ('amending Arts 2, 9, 23, 24, 27, 32, 33, 36, 38 of the Law on Citizenship No. XI-1196 and adding a new Art 6-1'), authored by the Ministry of the Interior (VRM), is a substantive loss/reinstatement amendment. It would: prohibit a Lithuanian citizen serving in another state's service without a permit and move permit authority from the Government to the Interior Minister (civil) / Defence Minister (military) via the MIGRIS one-stop; make loss for unauthorised foreign service INDIVIDUALISED (loss only where the service threatens Lithuania's security/national-security/key-foreign-policy interests, not automatic) while adding a retroactive trigger where past unauthorised service is established; give the Migration Department express authority to decide PRESERVATION (issaugojimas) of held citizenship; and clarify reinstatement (Art 9) where the other state provides no renunciation procedure. The bill renumbers loss-on-acquisition from Art 26 to Art 27 in its draft text. STATUS: government-approved 2026-04-22, registered in the Seimas 2026-04-27, first reading (pateikimas) approved 2026-05-13 and assigned to the Human Rights Committee (ZTK) — still under consideration, NOT enacted. The previously projected 'entry into force 1 October 2026' is an anticipated, unconfirmed date.

Bill XVP-1441 amending Law on Citizenship No. XI-1196 Arts 2, 9, 23, 24, 27, 32, 33, 36, 38 + new Art 6-1 (registered 2026-04-27; first reading 2026-05-13)

Lag (2001:82) § 11 was amended (Prop 2025/26:175), in force 2026-06-06: the standard naturalization residence (hemvist) requirement rose from 5 to 8 years, with a self-sufficiency requirement (250,200 SEK) and knowledge tests. Reduced tracks: refugees and spouses of Swedish citizens 7 years, stateless persons 5 years, Nordic citizens 2 years. Applications decided from the in-force date are assessed under the new requirements.

Lag (2001:82) § 11, as amended by Prop 2025/26:175 · effective 2026-06-06

Lei Organica n.o 1/2026 eliminated the special naturalisation regime for descendants of Portuguese Sephardic Jews effective 19 May 2026. The Ministry of Justice notice states the law 'elimina o regime especial dos descendentes de judeus sefarditas'. From 19 May 2026 there is no Sephardic naturalisation pathway for new applicants - the route that, since DL 30-A/2015, allowed descendants to naturalise on the basis of a heritage certificate (originally with no residence and no language requirement) is closed. The Sephardic repeal was NOT among the four norms struck by the Constitutional Court in Acordao 1133/2025 (15-12-2025) and survived into the enacted law. Only applications submitted to the IRN on or before 18 May 2026 survive, processed under the prior law (the new provisions apply only to applications submitted after entry into force). In practice, the certifying community in Lisbon (CIL) announced it would accept no new certification submissions, and the Porto community (CIP) had already ceased certifying in 2022, so anyone without an already-issued/already-submitted certificate had little realistic route into the transitional cohort even before the cut-off. This route does NOT confer originaria status: a Sephardic grantee is not a portugues originario and cannot seed an Art 1(1)(d) descent chain.

Lei Organica 1/2026, de 18 maio - elimina o regime especial dos descendentes de judeus sefarditas; transitorio para pedidos anteriores; EIF 19-05-2026 · effective 2026-05-19

Lei Organica n.o 1/2026 (the 13th amendment to the Nationality Law, Lei 37/81) republished the statute and made a restrictive turn to ordinary naturalisation effective 19 May 2026. The minimum legal-residence threshold rose from the prior uniform 5 years (LO 2/2018) to 7 years for nationals of CPLP/Portuguese-speaking States and EU citizens, and 10 years for all other nationalities. Three new cumulative conditions were added to Art 6 n.1: (d) demonstrated civic/political knowledge of fundamental rights/duties and the political organisation of the Portuguese State; (e) a solemn declaration of adherence to the fundamental principles of the democratic rule of law; and (i) capacity to ensure one's own subsistence. Alinea (c) was expanded from language alone to also require culture, national history and national symbols. The law also extends eligibility to great-grandchildren (bisnetos) of Portuguese nationals. Several harsher draft norms of the predecessor Decreto 17/XVII were struck before enactment by the Constitutional Court in Acordao 1133/2025 (Proc. 1383/25, 15-12-2025): the proposed Art 6 n.1 f) 2-year criminal bar, the vague conduct-based opposition/cancellation ground in Art 9 n.1 a) 2nd part, the Art 12-B n.3 manifesta-fraude clause, and the Art 7 n.3/4 retroactivity (apply-requirements-as-at-application-date) rule. A separate proposed Penal Code provision creating a pena acessoria de perda de nacionalidade (Decreto 49/XVII) was sent for its own preventive review and is NOT part of LO 1/2026. After enactment, Declaracao de Retificacao 17/2026/1 corrected the Art 6 n.11 criminal-bar wording from 'pena de prisao igual ou superior a 2 anos' to 'pena de prisao efetiva superior a 3 anos'. Pending IRN e-submissions filed on or before 18 May 2026 are processed under the prior law. The precise procedural format of the new culture/civics tests, the solemn-declaration form and the subsistence proof standard await the updated Regulamento da Nacionalidade, which the Government has 90 days (~16 August 2026) to adapt and which was not yet published as of this verification.

Lei Organica 1/2026, de 18 maio (EIF 19-05-2026); Declaracao de Retificacao 17/2026/1; amends Lei 37/81 Arts 6, 12-B; Decreto 17/XVII norms struck by TC Ac. 1133/2025 · effective 2026-05-19

Law 5265/2026 (the Armed Forces 'Transition Charter' omnibus, 'Chartis Metavasis ton Enoplon Dynameon'), through its Article 298 ('Apoleia ithageneias - Tropopoiisi par. 1 arthrou 17 KEI'), amends paragraph 1 of Article 17 of the Greek Code of Nationality (Kodikas Ellinikis Ithageneias, L.3284/2004, FEK A' 217) by ADDING a NEW fourth deprivation (ekptosi) ground, sub-paragraph (d): a person may be declared deprived of Greek nationality if they commit the offence of Article 146 of the Penal Code (L.4619/2019, FEK A' 95, 'paraviasi mystikon tis Politeias' / violation of state secrets) OR Article 144 of the Military Penal Code (L.2287/1995, FEK A' 20, 'metadosi stratiotikon mystikon' / transmission of military secrets), PROVIDED they have been IRREVOCABLY convicted ('efoson echei katadikastei ametaklita') for those offences. Deprivation under Art 17 is an exceptional, individually pronounced act: it is declared by decision of the Minister of Interior after a reasoned concurring opinion of the Citizenship Council (Symvoulio Ithageneias), and the loss of nationality takes effect on publication of that decision in the Government Gazette (Art 17(2)). The deprivation acts individually and does not affect the nationality of the spouse or minor children (Art 17(3)). It applies only to an already-Greek citizen, not to applicants. This is a different statute from Law 5275/2026 (one digit apart), which transposes the EU Single-Permit Directive into the Migration Code and does NOT touch nationality law.

Law 5265/2026, Art 298 (FEK A' 3/10.01.2026), adding sub-para (d) to Art 17(1) of the Greek Nationality Code (L.3284/2004 / KEI) · effective 2026-01-10