Specialists in Portuguese citizenship, heard by the Portugal Giro, warn of the circulation of false information in this first month of the entry into force of the regulation of the law from 2020.
The most worrying concerns the false revocation of the right to nationality for Sephardic Jews, expelled from the Iberian Peninsula in the Inquisition. The rumor even boosted demand, but some may have given up along the way.
The truth is that, as of September 1st, descendants of Sephardic Jews must present “an effective and lasting connection with Portugal”.
Portugal decided to tighten the rules due to the abramovich factor, but those who meet the new requirements will not have any problems. See a short itinerary here amendments and how to prove entitlement.
Lawyer and director of Martins Castro, Renato Martins says that orders increased by 30% between March and May. And make an alert.
— It is important that descendants of Sephardic Jews have information that the law has not been repealed and that, until September 1 of this year, applicants do not need to prove a link with Portugal — explained Martins, noting that descendants of Sephardic Jews also accelerate the requests while it is “easier”.
Thiago Huver, a specialist in Private International Law, claims that erroneous information has been disseminated since the regulation of the law.
"We recommend that people seek official data to organize their genealogy research and court cases in a timely manner," Huver said.
When the abramovich case, the dentist Pedro Henrique Lopes thought he could no longer get Portuguese citizenship for himself and his family. The potiguar claimed to have read that the right had been revoked, but does not remember the source of the misinformation. Now, he said he gathered the documents and sent them to the responsible office to avoid new surprises.
- We decided to anticipate, because there was a change in the law, which ended up causing concern. (…) We were apprehensive about the tightening of rules. Unfortunately, some used it in bad faith to obtain citizenship and ended up compromising others who, by right, and in recognition of a historical atrocity, would be entitled - said Lopes.
By Gian Amato