This Friday, January 5th, parliament approved changes to the regime for granting nationality to descendants of Sephardic Jews, which include the validation of the connection to Portugal by an evaluation or naturalization commission after three years of residence in national territory.
At issue was the replacement text presented by the Committee on Constitutional Affairs, Rights, Freedoms and Guarantees, which brought together legislative initiatives from PS, PSD, IL, BE, Livre and PAN on various aspects of the Nationality Law.
The diploma was approved in a final global vote with favorable votes from PS, IL, BE, PAN and Livre, and abstentions from PSD and three socialist deputies, with Chega and PCP voting against. In the vote on the specialty that preceded this vote, all PSD proposals had been rejected.
According to the approved text, the «certification of demonstration of tradition of belonging to a Sephardic community of Portuguese origin based on proven objective requirements of connection to Portugal (…) is subject to final approval by an evaluation committee appointed by the member of the government responsible by the area of Justice».
This committee includes «representatives of the competent services in relation to the subject, researchers or teachers in higher education institutions in Sephardic studies and representatives of Portuguese Jewish communities».
Among the changes is also the suspension of the procedure for acquiring nationality when the applicant is subject to "restrictive measures approved by the United Nations or the European Union", after cases of Russian tycoons subject to sanctions for the war in Ukraine were publicized. who sought to obtain Portuguese nationality under this regime.
The Government may grant nationality to descendants of Sephardic Jews who demonstrate "the tradition of belonging to a Sephardic community of Portuguese origin, based on proven objective requirements for connection to Portugal, namely surnames, family language, direct or collateral descent" and who have resided in Portugal for at least three years, instead of the usual five years.
In addition to issues relating to the regime for descendants of Sephardic Jews, the changes to the nationality law include the elimination of the age limitation on access to nationality through affiliation, with PSD and IL seeing their proposals in this regard approved with the votes of the social -democrats and liberals, but also from PAN and Livre, benefiting from the abstention of the PS.
If previously nationality could only be obtained if affiliation was recognized by the age of 18, now affiliation established at the age of majority also allows the obtaining of Portuguese nationality under certain conditions, namely when affiliation occurs after a judicial process, with the attribution of nationality must be requested within three years following the final decision.
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