The petition was organised by Ilia Bobin, a Russian doctor who fled Putin’s regime and has lived in Portugal for the past three years. With 12,167 signatures, it asks that the government’s proposed changes to nationality law - extending the required residency period to seven years for Portuguese-speaking nationals and ten for others - only apply to new arrivals. Those already living in Portugal should retain the current five-year requirement, the petition states.

“We are many who work and want to integrate,” said Bobin, who lives in Seixal and is learning Portuguese in hopes of practicing medicine. Until then, he runs a cleaning business with his wife. He said he chose Portugal partly because of its fair naturalisation timeline.

The group began the petition to protect the expectations of thousands of foreign residents who have planned their lives, careers, and futures around the five-year rule. They argue that applying new rules retroactively would not only be unfair but would also breach the principle of legal certainty enshrined in the Portuguese Constitution.

Signatories include professionals from sectors such as IT, business, healthcare, and services, as well as parents of children who are already integrated into the Portuguese school system. “We are not potential immigrants, we are already here,” they argue.

The petition emphasises that foreign residents followed the law in good faith and now risk having their plans upended. Legal principles such as the protection of legitimate expectations, prohibition of retroactive laws, and equality before the law are cited in their appeal.

The petition also highlights international studies showing that naturalisation helps migrants integrate more fully, with better job prospects, higher incomes, and stronger community ties.

While the government claims the changes are necessary, critics point out that removing the path to citizenship from existing residents will not reduce immigration, but could instead prompt more skilled migrants to leave.

The proposed legal reforms are currently under debate in the Portuguese Parliament. They include not only changes to the length of residency required for naturalisation but also new rules allowing the revocation of citizenship in cases involving serious crimes, measures already facing constitutional concerns from left-wing parties.