More than half a million nationality requests pending – minister
“We currently have 512,000 pending applications for nationality, and 15% of them originate from Portuguese nationality; every applicant was born abroad,” said the minister for Cabinet Affairs.
Portugal has 512,000 pending applications for nationality, with only 15% of these coming from Portuguese nationals born abroad, according to António Leitão Amaro, Minister of Cabinet Affairs, who made the statement on Friday.
During the debate on the nationality law in parliament, the minister explained that “last year, applications for naturalisation by foreigners based on residence increased fivefold compared to 2015 and tripled compared to 2021”.
“We currently have 512,000 pending applications for nationality, and 15% of them originate from Portuguese nationality; every applicant was born abroad,” said the minister in his speech presenting the government’s bill.
“Access to Portuguese citizenship cannot be facilitated, cannot be traded,” because “nationality cannot be a transaction or a transition to obtain a passport and then move to other European countries,” said the minister.
In recent years, he considered, “the required link to the national community has weakened and this has had consequences, with a surge in the number of applications for nationality, but not those from children of Portuguese parents”.
“In 2015, there were 194,000 applications for nationality, almost all from children of Portuguese nationals. But in 2022, applicants submitted 362,000 applications, and 160,000 of them came from children of Portuguese nationals,” he explained.
Since 2015, “applications for nationality have increased significantly, especially through naturalisation”.
“This increase would be much greater if we tightened the nationality rules now, given that in the last seven years the number of foreign residents has quadrupled, increasing by one million, so naturally the number of potential applicants would increase much more if we tightened the rules,” the minister added.
And “all this would happen while we ensure integration and emotional ties,” he added.
The nationality law aims to “advance the effectiveness of recent policies,” which, according to the government, made it easier to obtain Portuguese nationality, which “presupposes a solid connection with our political community.”
“Being a citizen is a title of belonging to the Portuguese people”. It implies a “range of rights and duties, including the right to vote and be elected,” to “participate in the government of our country.”
He said that a “lenient nationality regime created a pull effect, and lawmakers corrected it.”