The number of Brazilian nationals applying for Portuguese citizenship has seen a significant increase in recent years. According to the Foreigners and Borders Service of Portugal (SEF), Brazilians represented a high proportion of foreigners in the country by the end of 2022.
From 2018 to 2022, the number of citizenship applications filed by Brazilian nationals increased by 81 per cent, with around 89,000 Brazilians filing a citizenship application in these years. This sharp rise compared to previous years suggests that more Brazilians are seeking to obtain a Portuguese passport.
Data provided by SEF show that in 2018 alone, around 11,500 nationals of Brazil submitted an application for Portuguese citizenship. The number continued to remain high in the following years, with more than 20,900 citizenship applications filed by Brazilians in 2020, and around 89,000 by the end of 2022.
As a result of the increase in citizenship applications, the number of Brazilians in Portugal also increased, rising to around 30.7% of the foreigners in the country by the end of 2022.
Brazilians were among the top ten main recipients of an EU Member State citizenship in 2021, representing 2.5% of EU citizenship recipients. In 2021, about 20,400 Brazilians were granted citizenship in an EU country, with 65% of them acquiring citizenship in Portugal or Italy.
This trend highlights the growing interest of Brazilians in obtaining EU citizenship and the appeal of Portugal as a destination for citizenship acquisition. The data also sheds light on the broader patterns of citizenship acquisition in the EU, with Moroccans, Syrians, and Albanians also being significant groups acquiring EU citizenship in 2021.
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