Italy vs. Portugal: Citizenship Timeline Comparison

Italy and Portugal have both undergone important changes to their citizenship rules, making it essential for investors and internationally mobile individuals to distinguish between residence permits, qualifying residence, and citizenship eligibility.

While Italy generally requires 10 years of legal residence for non-EU nationals, Portugal's 2026 nationality reforms introduced different residence periods depending on the applicant's nationality.

1. Italy: 10 Years of Legal Residence

For a non-EU foreign national, the ordinary Italian naturalisation route generally requires at least 10 years of legal residence in Italy.

The Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirms the 10-year requirement for non-EU foreign nationals under Article 9 of Law No. 91/1992.

Citizenship also requires other conditions, including the applicable criminal-record and security requirements and Italian language proficiency of at least B1 under the CEFR, subject to specified exemptions.

2. Portugal: 7 or 10 Years Depending on Nationality

Portugal's nationality law changed on 19 May 2026 through Organic Law No. 1/2026.

Under the new rules, the ordinary naturalisation residence period is:

• 7 years for nationals of Portuguese-speaking countries and EU Member States; and
• 10 years for nationals of other countries.

The applicant must also satisfy additional requirements concerning Portuguese language and culture, Portuguese history and symbols, fundamental rights and duties, democratic principles, criminal record, security, and ability to support themselves.

For many non-EU investors who are not nationals of a Portuguese-speaking country, the relevant baseline is therefore 10 years.

3. The Physical-Presence Comparison Needs Care

It is tempting to describe Portugal as requiring only approximately seven days per year, but this should not be presented as the current statutory citizenship rule.

Portugal's 2026 law focuses on legal residence and provides rules for counting periods of residence, including the possibility of adding periods that are continuous or interrupted within specified maximum intervals.

Therefore, an investor should not assume that spending seven days per year automatically satisfies the requirements for Portuguese citizenship.

The practical residence requirements should instead be analysed according to the applicant's specific residence permit, nationality, and the applicable nationality legislation.

4. Language Requirements

The language requirements are also different.

Italy:

Citizenship by residence generally requires demonstrated Italian language knowledge at B1 level, subject to statutory exemptions.

Portugal:

The 2026 nationality law requires sufficient knowledge of Portuguese language and culture, together with knowledge of Portuguese history and national symbols. The precise assessment and applicable certification requirements should be considered under the nationality regulations.

It is therefore safer to avoid reducing Portugal's current requirement to simply “A2” without specifying the applicable legal and certification framework.

5. Residence Permit vs. Citizenship

For Golden Visa investors, one of the most important distinctions is that holding an investment residence permit does not automatically mean that the same conditions apply to citizenship.

An investor may be able to maintain an investment residence status with relatively limited physical presence, while citizenship requires satisfaction of the separate nationality-law requirements.

This distinction applie