INTRODUCTION

On 1st April 2024, Law no. 1/2024 of 5th March came into force, amending the Portuguese Nationality Law for the tenth time, with relevance in the counting of legal residence time and the regime for descents of Sephardic Jewish.

TIME PERIOD AMENDMENTS REGARDING PORTUGUESE CITIZENSHIP ACQUISITION THROUGH NATURALIZATION

The definition of Legal Residence is set out in Article 15 of the Nationality Law.

Under the terms of this article, individuals who have their situation regularized before the Portuguese Authorities under any of the visas or permits provided for in the “Foreigners Law” (Law no. 23/2007 of 4th July) or by the “Asylum or Subsidiary Protection Regime” (Law no. 27/2008, 30th June), are considered to be legally resident in Portugal.

The sum of all periods of legal residence, whether consecutive or interpolated, within a maximum interval of 15 years, is considered for the purposes of counting periods of legal residence.

The most significant amendment is that the time elapsed since the temporary residence permit was applied for will also be considered for the purposes of counting legal residence periods, provided that the residence permit is granted, and only the validity of residence permits will no longer count.

Given that legal residence is one of the requirements that must be met in order to apply for Portuguese nationality by naturalization, this legislative change is extremely important and practical.

In this sense, the legislative amendment aims to overcome the slowness of the Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum (AIMA) - formerly the Aliens and Borders Service (SEF), in analyzing and issuing residence permits in recent times, so that those legally resident in Portugal are not disadvantaged.

AMENDMENTS TO THE NATURALIZATION REGIME FOR DESCENDANTS OF SEFARDIC JEWISH

Contrary to what was previously announced, Parliament approved the extension of the special regime for the acquisition of Portuguese nationality by descendants of Sephardic Jews until 31st December of this year.

The main change to this regime is the need for the cumulative fulfillment of the objective requirements listed below:

1. Demonstration of a tradition of belonging to a Sephardic community of Portuguese origin, based on proven objective requirements of connection to Portugal, namely surnames, family language, direct or collateral descent; and
2. Legal residence in Portuguese territory for a period of at least three years, consecutive or interspersed, instead of five years.

One of the most significant changes was the approval of the creation of an evaluation committee, which will bring together representatives of the relevant departments, researchers or lecturers at higher education institutions in Sephardic studies and representatives of Jewish communities based in Portugal for the purpose of final approval of applications for certification of the demonstration of a tradition of belonging to a Sephardic community of Portuguese origin (a requirement mentioned in point 1).

A transitional regime has also been created to pending applications for Portuguese nationality that were submitted before April 1st, and until the entry into force of the Nationality Regulation, in which the government can grant nationality by naturalization to descendants of Portuguese Sephardic Jews, by demonstrating a connection to Portugal through holding a residence permit for more than a year.

CONCLUSION

With these changes, the naturalization procedure will become more demanding and is expected to be a serious obstacle for many descendants of Sephardic Jews, whereas the changes regarding the counting of legal residence time are extremely important and advantageous for those wishing to apply for Portuguese nationality.

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Rogério Fernandes Ferreira
Duarte Ornelas Monteiro
Joana Marques Alves
Ana Sofia Gariso
Amélia Carvela
Carlos Alcântara Neves
João Aguiar Câmara
Inês Marques Dias
Nicolas Corrêa Simonini