Portugal's 2026 citizenship test: the complete guide
Since 19 May 2026, applying for Portuguese nationality through naturalisation means proving you know the language, culture, history and national symbols — plus fundamental rights, duties and how the Portuguese State is organised. That's Organic Law 1/2026, which amended the Nationality Law. One piece is missing: the regulation defining what the test will actually look like. Here's what's certain, what isn't, and what you can do in the meantime.
What the law actually requires
The amended article 6 of the Nationality Law adds two requirements. Point c) asks for proof, “through test or certificate”, of sufficient knowledge of the Portuguese language and culture, history and national symbols. Point d) adds fundamental rights and duties and the political organisation of the State — without saying, yet, how that gets proven.
In practice, five themes: history of Portugal, culture and society, national symbols, rights and duties, organisation of the State. Our free 20-question mock exam is built on exactly these five.
Who has to take it
- Naturalisation by residence — the main route. Now 7 years of legal residence for CPLP and EU citizens, 10 for everyone else.
- Brazilians and CPLP citizens — exempt from the language component only, not the rest. Details in our article on Brazilians and the test.
- Grandchildren of Portuguese citizens — article 1(3) explicitly applies the same knowledge requirements to them.
- Great-grandchildren — the article 6(8) route waives the residence period, but not the knowledge requirement.
Exempt: minors, people who completed their schooling in Portugal, and special health situations. One crucial timing rule: applications filed before 19 May 2026 follow the old rules — no test (article 7(2)).
What nobody knows yet
Almost everything that matters for exam day. The Government had 90 days from 18 May to publish the implementing regulation — that points to mid-August 2026. Until then there is no official format, question count, pass mark, fee or confirmed administering body. Anyone claiming otherwise is guessing.
There are reasonable clues. Portugal's existing language test for nationality (the IAVE-run PaN) costs €65. Equivalent civic tests abroad are multiple-choice: 25 questions with a 60% pass mark in Spain, 33 questions in Germany. Something in that family is the sensible expectation — and it's how we structured our mock exams, with a guaranteed update the day the regulation lands.
How to prepare now
The facts won't change with the regulation. Portuguese history, the Constitution, the symbols, how the organs of sovereignty work — the material is the material. The regulation will fix the format, not the content. Studying now is time banked, not time wasted.
Start with the free mock exam: 20 questions across the 5 themes, every answer explained. Then, for serious practice, the plans unlock 600+ annotated questions and unlimited mocks — one-time payment, official updates included.