One in every 25 non-European citizens acquires Portuguese nationality annually.
Portugal is one of the European countries where non-EU residents find it easier to obtain citizenship. The study was carried out by CanadaCIS, Canada’s immigration agency, which analyzed data between 2009 and 2021.
Overall, Portugal finished fourth ranking, 6.6% of non-EU citizens acquired nationality during the period in question. This means that one out of every 25 non-European citizens acquires Portuguese nationality annually.
Sweden tops the list with an approval rate of 9.3%, meaning one in ten non-EU citizens acquires the nationality. This is twice the EU average of 3.56%.
In Sweden, foreign women can acquire more nationality than foreign men.
Norway is in second place with a rate of 7.4% and the Netherlands is third with 7.1%.
In a detailed analysis, CanadaCIS found that most northern European countries offer more easily to non-EU citizens, giving examples of countries such as Sweden (9.3%), Norway (7.4%), Iceland (6.5%) and Finland (5%). In this region, only Denmark is not included.
In Southern Europe, Portugal stands out for easily granting citizenship to non-EU citizens.
However, the distribution of nationality is much easier in Northern and Western Europe, with an acceptance rate of 5.9%, which drops to 3.6% in Southern Europe and 1.9% in Central Europe.
Where is the most difficult?
Estonia is one of the most difficult countries to obtain citizenship, with an acceptance rate of just 0.6%. “It has a very low percentage of residents with one in every 200 people getting citizenship,” it says.
“Men are also less likely to be accepted, with a rate of 0.58% compared to 0.69% for women.”
explains that ranking Central Europe is the most difficult region to obtain citizenship. They are followed by Latvia (0.7%), Czech Republic (0.73%) and Lithuania (0.8%).
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