New rules come into force regarding Portuguese nationality

Following recent news citing the Jewish community in Portugal, and of course the political context the world is going through, one of the main changes is connected to the new requirements demanded for acquiring Portuguese nationality, through naturalization, granted to descendants of Portuguese Sephardic Jews.

In this way, article 24.º – A of the Regulation of the Nationality Law, which grants Portuguese nationality, by naturalization, to descendants of Sephardic Jews, introduces the following relevant changes, due to the high demand that has been placed on the requirements, namely, the one with regard to point d) of its number 1.

Therefore, in addition to having to demonstrate a tradition of belonging to a Sephardic community of Portuguese origin, through a certificate issued by a Jewish community with the status of a registered religious legal person, based in Portugal, which attests to the tradition of belonging to a Sephardic community of Portuguese origin, based on objective requirements of connection to Portugal - namely, the applicant's surname, family language and genealogy -, now a proven connection to Portugal was also introduced as a requirement to be fulfilled by interested parties.

This connection to Portugal must be proven through a certificate or other supporting document such as the ownership, transmitted by death, of ownership rights over real estate located in Portugal, other personal rights of enjoyment or shareholdings in commercial companies or cooperatives headquartered in Portugal, as well as regular travel to Portugal, throughout the applicant's life.

It should also be noted that the certificate issued by the Jewish community based in Portugal became more complex. Its content now requires the express indication of direct descent or family relationship in the collateral line of a common parent from the Sephardic community of Portuguese origin, with an indication of the evidence presented for this purpose and identification of the relevant elements able to attest the tradition of belonging to that community and, finally, the applicant's family lineage coming from the common Sephardic parent of Portuguese origin.

If there are doubts about the veracity of the content of the documents issued by the Jewish community based in Portugal, the member of the Government responsible for the area of ​​justice may ask one of the Jewish communities their opinion about the evidence provided.

This specific change does not apply to Nationality Processes that are already underway, nor to those submitted by August 31^st 2022, as it only enters into force on September 1^st 2022.

Other important changes are as follows:

a) the de-bureaucratization of the procedures and applications, which must be processed online. In addition to the electronic processing of nationality procedures, it is expected that lawyers and solicitors perform the requested acts by electronic means and be notified by the Registry Office in the same way, with the use of electronic means being optional, but not mandatory, for applicants not represented by these professionals. Communications between the Registry Office and other services or entities will also be carried out, whenever possible, by electronic means. Additionally, the inquiries regarding process status will also be available online.

b) the attribution of nationality by origin to individuals born in Portuguese territory, children of foreigners, even of those whose situation is not regulated before the Portuguese immigration authorities.

c) In specific situations, the excuse of submitting certain documents and the excuse of translation, improving, simplifying, and streamlining the process of acquiring Portuguese nationality.

These and other changes will enter into force on April 15^th 2022. 

Madalena Viana Pedreira

Lawyer