Portuguese Citizenship - The right to be Portuguese
I. What forms are there for obtaining Portuguese citizenship?
Portuguese citizenship can be obtained by assignment or by acquisition. The citizenship obtained by assignment is the so called original citizenship, which produces effects from birth, due to filiation or consanguinity. This means that even if someone obtains citizenship many years after his birth, its effects are retroactive to the birth date. In turn, citizenship obtained by acquisition is a derivative citizenship, which only produces effects from the moment of its registration and which depends on the performance of a certain legal act or fact.
II. Who are considered Portuguese of origin? [1]
The children of a Portuguese mother or Portuguese father born abroad if they have their birth registered in the Portuguese civil registry or if they declare that they want to be Portuguese;
The individuals with at least one ascendant with original Portuguese citizenship, of the 2nd degree in the straight line (grandparents) that has not lost that citizenship, if they declare they want to be Portuguese and have effective ties to the Portuguese community.
III Who may acquire Portuguese citizenship by willpower or naturalization (derived citizenship)?
The foreign citizen married or living in a non-marital partnership [2] for more than 3 years with a Portuguese national (by willpower), as long as he/she proves the existence of an effective link to the Portuguese community, has not been sentenced to a prison sentence equal to or exceeding 3 years, with the sentence having become final and unappealable, for a crime punishable under Portuguese law, and there is no danger or threat to national security or defense, by involvement in activities related to the practice of terrorism, under the terms of the respective law;
The foreign citizen, of legal age, who has legally resided in Portuguese territory for at least 5 years, provided he/she knows the Portuguese language well enough, has not been sentenced to a prison sentence of 3 years or more, with the sentence having become final and unappealable, for a crime punishable under Portuguese law, and there is no danger or threat to national security or defense, by engaging in activities related to the practice of terrorism, under the terms of the respective law.
IV How can the existence of ties of effective connection to the Portuguese community be proven?
The existence of ties of effective connection to the Portuguese community is verified by sufficient knowledge of the Portuguese language and depends on not being sentenced to a prison sentence of 3 years or more, with the sentence having become final and unappealable, for a crime punishable under Portuguese law, and on the non-existence of danger or threat to national security or defense, through involvement in activities related to the practice of terrorism, under the terms of the respective law.
V Is there a situation in which a foreign citizen is exempt from taking the Portuguese language test in case of marriage to a Portuguese citizen?
Yes:
National citizens of Portuguese-speaking countries (Brazil, for example) are exempt from having to prove knowledge of the Portuguese language;
Foreign citizens, even those who are not nationals of Portuguese speaking countries, who during their marriage have children with Portuguese citizenship, do not have to prove knowledge of the Portuguese language;
Foreign citizens, even those who are not nationals of Portuguese speaking countries, married to a Portuguese citizen for at least 6 years, are exempt from having to prove knowledge of the Portuguese language.
VI What is the main difference between obtaining the original or derived Portuguese citizenship?
As mentioned above, original citizenship is a citizenship that produces effects from birth, even if it is only obtained many years after birth. Thus, if a foreign citizen manages to obtain Portuguese citizenship through his grandfather who was Portuguese, he will be considered Portuguese of origin. This means that this citizen can pass on Portuguese citizenship to his children, even if they are already of legal age, and later the children can pass on Portuguese citizenship to their children.
Derivative citizenship, on the other hand, only produces effects from the moment of registration. Thus, if a foreign citizen marries a Portuguese citizen and already has children from a previous marriage, he cannot pass Portuguese citizenship to his children who were born before his Portuguese citizenship registration. Citizenship, in this case, is not transmitted from generation to generation.
[1] We address only those situations that we consider to be most relevant to foreign citizens.
[2] In case of non-marital partnership, it will be necessary to file a lawsuit for recognition of this situation in the civil court, before filing the lawsuit for acquisition of Portuguese citizenship.
