Changes to the Nationality Law

On 24/07/2020, the Portuguese Parliament approved Bills 117/XVI/1.ª (PAN) and 118/XVI/1.ª (PCP), by an absolute majority of the Deputies.

The aforementioned bills encompass a series of changes to the Portuguese Nationality Law.

Among the most anticipated points, the waiver of the requirement for proof of ties by grandchildren of Portuguese citizens stands out. Once the new Law comes into force, it will be enough for the grandchild of a Portuguese citizen to prove knowledge of the Portuguese language.

This specific change will benefit countless descendants of Portuguese citizens who were prevented from proceeding with their respective applications, because they were unable to prove the ties required by the previous legislation.

Regarding the processes for Portuguese spouses, it is worth noting that they will no longer need to wait for the three-year period if they have children in common with Portuguese nationality.

As for the processes via acquisition by de facto union, they will no longer need to be processed through the judicial route in Portugal if there are children in common with Portuguese nationality, which will speed up and make the processes carried out through this route less expensive. With regard to this legal provision, unless I am mistaken, it may be legally questionable because it is contrary to other legal rules, provided for in the Portuguese Civil Code.

Furthermore, there has been a new change in relation to the jus solis institute. It is now possible to apply for nationality for children born in Portugal, in cases where one of the parents legally resides in the country for a period of one year.

Although the aforementioned changes bring numerous benefits to the grandchildren and spouses of Portuguese citizens, it is important to clarify that there are still pending stages of the regular legislative process, since the approved text will then be forwarded to the President of the Republic for evaluation, who may:

– Approve it;
– Veto it;
– Forward it to the Constitutional Court, if he believes that any point of the law may constitute a violation of the Constitution;

If it is approved directly by the President, the text will be published in the official press.

Once published, it will still require regulation, which, in principle, will take 90 days after the date of publication (it is important to note that the legal deadline was not met in the last three amendments to the Nationality Law).

Therefore, it is important to highlight that these changes are not in force and do not have immediate effects, so they will not impact the processes already underway, which are analyzed based on the current legislation in force.

Only after all the above-mentioned steps have been completed will the established guidelines come into effect, at which point we will be able to initiate new processes.

For this reason, we will continue to monitor developments on a daily basis in order to keep you informed of the progress of this process.

Sincerely,

Gustavo Hofstaetter Tramujas