Ordinary naturalisation — CPLP / EU nationals (7-year track) (Art 6 n.1)

PT-NAT-01 is the ordinary-naturalisation (concessão) pathway for foreign nationals who hold a preferential residence threshold under the republished Lei da Nacionalidade: nationals of the Comunidade dos Países de Língua Portuguesa (CPLP) and citizens of European Union Member States. It is the principal discretionary route by which a long-settled foreign resident acquires Portuguese nationality, as distinguished from the attribution (originária) routes of Article 1 (jus soli / jus sanguinis) and the declaration-based acquisition routes of Articles 3 (marriage / união de facto) and 5 (adoption).

The defining change introduced by Lei Orgânica n.º 1/2026 (in force 19 May 2026) is the residence threshold. Where the prior regime (Lei Orgânica n.º 2/2018, in force from 6 July 2018) imposed a uniform 5-year legal-residence requirement on all foreign nationals, LO 1/2026 split the threshold into a 7-year track for CPLP and EU nationals and a 10-year track for all others (PT-NAT-02). This route covers the 7-year cohort. The residence and integration conditions are assessed at the moment of application ("no momento do pedido"), not at any earlier vesting moment, and acquisition takes effect from the date of the act / registration (Art 12.º), i.e. nationality is acquired (não originária) — it does not relate back to birth.

The naturalisation grant is operated by the Instituto dos Registos e do Notariado (IRN) / Conservatória dos Registos Centrais (CRC) under the Ministério da Justiça, and is in form a discretionary Government grant ("o Governo pode conceder a nacionalidade") subject to the cumulative satisfaction of nine alíneas in Art 6.º n.º 1. For CPLP nationals, a statutory language presumption (Art 6.º n.º 10) covers the language component only of the integration test; it does not dispense with the residence, culture/history/symbols, civics, solemn-declaration, criminal/security, or subsistence conditions.

This route sits in the W7 restrictive turn. Applications with an IRN electronic submission on or before 18 May 2026 are governed by the transitional regime (the prior 5-year uniform rule) and are documented separately at PT-NAT-01-TRANS (status: closed_transitional). New applications from 19 May 2026 are governed by this route.

CPLP Member States (the cohort entitled to the 7-year track on the CPLP basis): Angola, Brasil, Cabo Verde, Guiné-Bissau, Guiné Equatorial, Moçambique, São Tomé e Príncipe, Timor-Leste. EU Member-State citizens form the parallel limb of the 7-year cohort.

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To be granted nationality under PT-NAT-01, an applicant must be a CPLP-State national or an EU Member-State citizen and must satisfy all nine cumulative conditions of Art 6.º n.º 1 (alíneas a)–i)), assessed at the moment of application. The conditions are cumulative ("preenchimento dos requisitos") — failing any one is, in principle, fatal, subject to the alínea f) rebuttable presumption.

1. (a) Maioridade / legal capacity — be of age (or emancipated) under Portuguese law or the law of the applicant's nationality.
2. (b) Residence — 7 years legal residence in Portuguese territory (the CPLP/EU preferential threshold; 10 years for non-CPLP/non-EU under PT-NAT-02). The residence must be legal (held under a valid residence title/status), and the clock runs from the date of issuance of the residence title (see Temporal Windows).
3. (c) Language + culture/history/symbols — sufficient knowledge of the Portuguese language and of Portuguese culture, national history, and national symbols. For CPLP nationals, Art 6.º n.º 10 establishes a presumption covering the language component only (the "primeira parte da alínea c)"); the culture/history/symbols component is not presumed and must be demonstrated. EU nationals enjoy no such presumption.
4. (d) Civic / political knowledge (NEW under LO 1/2026) — knowledge of fundamental rights and duties and of the political organisation of the Portuguese State.
5. (e) Solemn declaration of adherence (NEW under LO 1/2026) — a solemn declaration of adherence to the principles of the democratic rule of law (Estado de direito democrático).
6. (f) Criminal bar (rectified) — no final conviction to a sentence of effective imprisonment exceeding 3 years ("pena de prisão efetiva superior a 3 anos") for an enumerated category of crime (terrorism; violent or especially violent crime; highly organised crime; crime against State security; aiding illegal immigration). Operates as a rebuttable presumption (Art 6.º n.º 14). The original LO 1/2026 text ("igual ou superior a 2 anos") was an unconstitutional formulation struck by TC Ac. 1133/2025 and corrected to the present "efetiva superior a 3 anos" by Declaração de Retificação 17/2026/1.
7. (g) Security threat — applicant must not represent a danger or threat to national security or defence (no involvement in activities related to terrorism).
8. (h) UN/EU restrictive measures (relocated) — applicant must not be subject to UN or EU restrictive measures within the scope of Lei n.º 97/2017. This restriction was relocated from the now-revoked Art 13.º (Suspensão de procedimentos; see PT-XCT-03).
9. (i) Subsistence capacity (NEW under LO 1/2026) — capacity to ensure his/her own subsistence (proof of means).

CPLP / EU as the entitling status. CPLP membership entitles the applicant to the 7-year residence track (Art 6.º n.º 1 b)) and to the language presumption (Art 6.º n.º 10). It is constitutionally licensed by CRP Art 15.º n.º 3. EU citizenship entitles the applicant to the same 7-year track but without any language presumption.

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Status / eligibility documents

• Proof of CPLP-State nationality or EU Member-State citizenship (passport / national ID).
• Evidence of 7 years' legal residence in Portugal — a valid residence title/status throughout the qualifying period, with the clock anchored to the title-issuance date.

Integration evidence (Art 6.º n.º 1 c)–e))

• Language (alínea c), first part): minimum A2 CEFR Portuguese, certified by CIPLE (Centro de Avaliação de Português Língua Estrangeira, CAPLE / Universidade de Lisboa); Portuguese school-leaving certificates and Ministry-of-Education-recognised equivalents are accepted; an adapted test exists for illiterate applicants. CPLP nationals are presumed to satisfy the language component (Art 6.º n.º 10).

Eligibility bars (Art 6.º n.º 1 f)–h))

• Criminal record (alínea f)): certificate(s) of criminal record (PT and country/countries of prior residence) demonstrating no final conviction to effective imprisonment exceeding 3 years for an enumerated crime. The bar is a rebuttable presumption weighed by the Ministério Público against the nature/circumstances of the offence, time elapsed, rehabilitation, and concrete circumstances of genuine effective integration (Art 6.º n.º 14).
• Security (alínea g)): no danger/threat to national security or defence.
• UN/EU measures (alínea h)): not subject to restrictive measures within Lei n.º 97/2017.

Means (Art 6.º n.º 1 i))

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1. Application (pedido). The applicant files a naturalisation request with the IRN / Conservatória dos Registos Centrais (CRC) under the Ministério da Justiça, typically via the IRN electronic-submission platform (irn.justica.gov.pt). The electronic submission date is the operative anchor for determining which redaction of the law applies (transitional vs W7).
2. Assessment "no momento do pedido". All nine Art 6.º n.º 1 conditions are assessed as at the moment of the request. CPLP nationals invoke the Art 6.º n.º 10 language presumption; the culture/history/symbols, civics, solemn-declaration, and subsistence conditions are assessed on their own evidence.
3. Criminal-bar evaluation. The Ministério Público evaluates the alínea f) criminal bar as a rebuttable presumption (Art 6.º n.º 14), weighing the nature and circumstances of any conviction, time elapsed, rehabilitation, and concrete evidence of genuine effective integration.
4. Grant. Naturalisation is a discretionary Government grant ("o Governo pode conceder"), assessed under the Ministério da Justiça; on a positive decision nationality is acquired and registered at the RNP.
5. Effects. Acquired nationality takes effect from the date of the relevant act/registration (Art 12.º) — not ex tunc from birth. The naturalised person is not "português originário", which is load-bearing for descent transmission (their children claim under Art 1.º n.º 1 a)–c) as children of a Portuguese national, but cannot use the Art 1.º n.º 1 d) originário-grandchild route).
6. Opposition / control layer. Naturalisation under Art 6.º (a Government grant, "Secção II — aquisição por naturalização") is distinct from the Art 9.º oposição regime, which governs acquisition by will/declaration (marriage, união, adoption). The oposição control layer (PT-XCT-02) is therefore not the primary control on this route; the control is the cumulative-condition assessment and the discretionary grant itself.
7. Appeals. Refusals are challenged in the administrative courts, with ultimate appeal to the Supremo Tribunal Administrativo (STA) — not the civil courts / Supremo Tribunal de Justiça (the administrative-jurisdiction route has applied since the LO 2/2006 modernisation). The executive is confined to implementing, not supplementing, the organic law: it cannot read unlegislated conditions into Art 6.º (STA Proc. 0219/10.6BEPRT, 14-02-2019).

Authorities engaged: Assembleia da República (legislator, reserva absoluta) · Ministério da Justiça · IRN / Conservatória dos Registos Centrais (CRC) · Ministério Público (criminal-bar evaluation) · Tribunal Constitucional (constitutional review of the statute) · Supremo Tribunal Administrativo (appeals).

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Constitutional basis. Nationality (aquisição, perda e reaquisição da cidadania portuguesa) is the exclusive, non-delegable competence of the Assembleia da República under CRP Art 164.º f), exercisable only by lei orgânica (CRP Art 166.º n.º 2). The CPLP preferential treatment is constitutionally licensed by CRP Art 15.º n.º 3 (which permits attributing to citizens of Portuguese-speaking States rights not conferred on foreigners generally, on terms of reciprocity and as established by law). Regional autonomy of the Azores and Madeira does not create any separate nationality or different regional rules (CRP Art 225.º n.º 3); there is a single national registry, the RNP at the Conservatória dos Registos Centrais.

Statute. The operative instrument is Lei n.º 37/81 in the redaction republished in annex to Lei Orgânica n.º 1/2026 (the 13th amendment / 13ª versão consolidada), rectified by Declaração de Retificação n.º 17/2026/1 (which corrected the criminal-bar threshold). The relevant provisions for this route are:

• Art 6.º n.º 1 — the nine cumulative conditions for ordinary naturalisation (alíneas a)–i)).
• Art 6.º n.º 1 alínea b) — the residence threshold: 7 anos for CPLP/EU nationals; 10 anos for others.
• Art 6.º n.º 10 — the CPLP language presumption (covers the first part of alínea c) — the language requirement — only).
• Art 6.º n.º 14 — the criminal bar (alínea f)) operates as a rebuttable presumption (presunção ilidível) assessed by the Ministério Público.
• Art 11.º / Art 12.º — effects rules: attribution (originária) is ex tunc; acquisition (this route) takes effect from the relevant act.

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