Changes to the law of Portuguese nationality

The first aspect involves granting nationality to children born in Portugal whose parents were already living in Portugal at the time of their children’s birth, regardless of the title and duration of such residency. The main drive behind this change is to anchor the principle of granting of Portuguese Citizenship on the place of birth of the child, thus waiving any time factors – currently at least 2 years of residency – which is something not controlled by parents at the time of birth of their children.

The second aspect in which this draft bill brings change to the Nationality regime is by eliminating the sufficient knowledge of the Portuguese language as a requirement for obtaining nationality. This is relevant to those applying via having had residency in Portugal in the 5 years prior to the nationality application.

This draft bill has obtained approval in general in Parliament and will now be discussed in the special committees and subsequently fully approved.

Lisbon, 17 th December 2019

By EDGE – International Lawyers