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PORTUGAL CITIZENSHIP LAW AMENDMENT
We would like to apprise that on 5th January, 2024, the Parliament approved changes to the Citizenship law. The key fact of the conversation was the changes to be implemented to Portuguese citizenship by Sephardic Jews, in which it stayed decided that a connection to the Portuguese community would be requested as part of the process.
However, some other subjects were debated, like the exclusion of the limitation on the establish of filiation during the childhood period, and another point, and an important one in our perspective, was the approval of an addendum to the clause that regulates the acquisition of the Portuguese Citizenship through holding a legal residency for 5 years.
About the above subject, it was introduced the following change to article 15th: 4 - For the purposes of counting legal residence periods provided for in present law, the time elapsed since the moment in which the temporary residence permit was requested, provided that the same will be granted.
Derision the clear intentions of the legislator's power to compensate for any backlogs that are currently in place by the immigration services, it is unclear what moment will be considered a key moment, and any guess that we would make would be only speculation since there are several points of the current process that can be selected as the “the request”, for example,
- From the online submission date
- From the date of payment of the online application
- From the date of biometrics
- From the date of biometrics with no notice of further documents missing,
- From other moment
In any situation, we believe that the proposed changes are in line with the government's conclusion to progress its immigration policy and social affairs related to it.
The next step will be to send to the President of the Republic the now-approved changes. After the reception of the petition one of three realities can happen:
- Direct ratification and in this case, the proposal will come into force on the first day, of the next month after the publication;
- The President of the Republic does not accept the proposal as it is, and returns it to the Parliament for alteration (note that the Portuguese parliament will be dissolved on January 15th, and new elections will be held by March 10th, 2024) or
- The President of the Republic accepts the document but requests the evaluation of the Constitution Court.
However, it is significant to understand, that the introduction of changes to the regulation that manages the citizenship law will only take place in 90 days after the publication of the changes now approved.
It is again significant to notice, that such guideline will give us the overview and answers to the questions now raised, namely what will be the key point to be considered a submission.
We shall keep our clients updated as and when we hear current discussion and decisions.
Bilimoria & Associate is a leading immigration visa service provider in Chennai and has seamlessly helped thousands of people migrate to different countries. Whether you are looking to build your future in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the USA, the UK, or Portugal, Bilimoria & Associate will guide you and your family to fulfil your dream to live and work in these countries.
For further queries related to immigration, the visa process or the latest updates, you can call our office on +91 44 2823 9229 / +91 44 2822 7127 / +91 444 350 8191 (or) mail us at neville@bilimoriaassociate.com