A recent ruling by Portugal’s Constitutional Court has brought a measure of clarity—though not finality—to the future of the country’s Golden Visa program. The court assessed proposed amendments to the Nationality Law and found four of the seven provisions to be unconstitutional, requiring Parliament to re-draft them.
Key clarifications from the ruling include:
The constitutionality of counting the residency period from the date a residence permit is issued.
The principle that new rules can only apply to future applications, protecting all pending cases under the laws that were active when they were submitted.
Until Parliament completes its revisions, the existing legislation, including the five-year timeline for citizenship, remains unchanged. This ongoing uncertainty persists against a backdrop of significant processing delays, with over 20,000 investors awaiting appointments.