President Enacts Citizenship Law Post Constitutional Court Approval

On February 24, 2024, Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa enacted a new nationality law following the constitutional court’s affirmation of the constitutionality of alterations made to Portuguese citizenship for descendants of Portuguese Sephardic Jews. These changes were prompted by concerns that the new alterations to the nationality law could exacerbate the situation of hostages in Gaza, where Portuguese nationality requests are pending.

On February 20, 2024, the constitutional court ruled, by majority, that this alteration does not harm the legitimate expectations of applicants for nationality nor compromise the dignity of the human person. Consequently, the measure was deemed constitutional for this transitory regime. The court clarified that it does not impose any restrictions on rights, freedoms, or guarantees, nor does it violate the principle of trust protection, in accordance with the rule of law.

The President of the Portuguese Republic's enactment serves to endorse a series of legislative amendments to the nationality law, with the following being particularly noteworthy:

• The five-year period needed to pursue citizenship starts to count from the day of application for residency rather than the date of the first residency permit;
• The new regime for descendants of Sephardic Jews;
• The recognition of paternity of adult applicants;
• The impact of restrictions imposed by the EU and the UN on the citizenship applications;
• The introduction of biometric data collection in citizenship applications.

The amendments to the citizenship law were approved in the Portuguese parliament on January 5, 2024. The majority of votes came from the Partido Socialista, Iniciativa Liberal, Bloco de Esquerda, Pessoas, Animais e Natureza, and Livre parties. The Partido Social Democrata abstained, and three members of parliament from the Partido Socialista also abstained. The Chega and Partido Comunista Português parties voted against the amendments.

Article 6 specifies the conditions for granting nationality by naturalisation. It includes a provision that the final approval for such a grant will now be given by an evaluation commission. This commission will be appointed by the relevant government official responsible for the area of justice. The commission will comprise representatives from the competent services, researchers or teachers, and representatives of Jewish communities.

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