Amendments to the Nationality Law

On April 1, several amendments to the Nationality Law came into effect. Clara Vendramini highlights the main changes in the informative note you can read here:

On April 1, 2024, several amendments to the Nationality Law came into effect, as introduced by Organic Law No. 1/2024, of March 5. In this informative note, we emphasize the main novelties.

For the purposes of nationality attribution, both original and by naturalization, the existence of effective ties to the national community now depends, among other requirements, on not being involved in activities related to violent crime, especially violent or highly organized crime.

In the context of nationality acquisition by descendants of Sephardic Jews, it is now required to demonstrate residence in Portugal for a minimum period of 3 consecutive or interpolated years, in addition to the tradition of belonging to a Sephardic community of Portuguese origin, subject to final approval by an evaluation commission to be appointed by the Government.

A new ground for opposing the acquisition of Portuguese nationality by declaration is established, namely involvement in activities related to terrorism, violent crime, especially violent or highly organized crime.

Regarding the acquisition of Portuguese nationality by declaration, the procedure is suspended while the applicant is subject to restrictive measures approved by the United Nations or the European Union.

Regarding nationality attribution by filiation, it is now possible to attribute original nationality when filiation is established in adulthood, provided it occurs following a judicial process or when it is recognized in a legal action, after the judgment has become final and unappealable.

Finally, the most impactful change for the hundreds of people with pending cases in the AIMA focuses on the calculation of legal residence periods for nationality acquisition through residence in Portugal.

For this purpose, “legal residence” is now considered to be all time elapsed since the request for temporary residence authorization, when granted, and no longer the validity period of the permits.