Details about the changes in the law – Grandchildren

Dear Client,

In view of the change in the nationality law, voted on July 24, 2020 by the Portuguese Parliament, we have verified that the approved text does indeed bring several changes, mainly in relation to the processes of attribution for grandchildren.

The aforementioned change dispensed with the need for grandchildren of Portuguese citizens to prove ties with Portugal and its community. From its entry into force, it will be enough for the grandchild of a Portuguese citizen to prove knowledge of the Portuguese language for such ties to be proven. This specific change will benefit thousands of descendants of Portuguese citizens, currently prevented from moving forward with their respective applications because they are unable to prove the ties required by the previous legislation.

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 for evaluation by the President of the Republic, who may:

– Approve it;
– Veto it;
– Forward it to the Constitutional Court, if it is understood 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 amendments 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 aforementioned steps have been completed will the established guidelines come into force, at which time we will be able to initiate new processes.

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