Does time spent in Portugal as a D4 student count toward permanent residence?

Permanent residence in Portugal is typically available after five years of legal residence, and time held legally on a D4 residence permit counts toward that clock. Keeping your permit continuously valid is what protects that accrued time.

For naturalisation, recent changes to the Nationality Law (applying to applications from 2026) extended the required period to seven years for EU and CPLP nationals and ten years for others, and tightened how residence time is counted. Because study periods can be treated differently, students planning long-term should confirm the current rules before relying on a specific timeline.