President of Portugal submits nationality reform to the Constitutional Court
The proposed reform of the Nationality Law approved by the Portuguese Parliament followed the same path as the Foreigners Law: it was sent to the Constitutional Court for preliminary review. In an interview with the column Portugal Giro, from the newspaper The globe, Isabel Comte pointed out the possibility that President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa would send the text to the TC before any promulgation.
The package is part of a broader set of anti-immigration measures. The changes to the citizenship law were separated from the main proposal and will be voted on separately in September. They are expected to be approved.
Main proposed changes:
- Residence time: Increases from 5 to 10 years for foreigners and from 5 to 7 years for Brazilians and CPLP nationals;
- Revocation of citizenship: Possibility of loss of nationality for serious crimes;
- Children born in Portugal: Requirement of 3 years of legal residence of parents to grant nationality;
- Offspring: Nationality can be granted to great-grandchildren of Portuguese citizens;
- End of the Sephardic way: Removal of the possibility of citizenship for descendants of Sephardic Jews.
Experts point out risks of unconstitutionality
THE jurist Isabel Comte, a former Ministry of Justice analyst and nationality expert, argued that the president should submit the text to the Constitutional Court for review. "Nothing prevents, for similar reasons and perhaps with greater justification, the same thing from happening with this proposed amendment to the Nationality Law," he declared.
Comte listed three central points that generate legal uncertainty:
- Retroactivity: Applying residency periods to processes not yet governed by the new law violates the principle of legality;
- Discrimination: It provides for the loss of citizenship only for naturalized citizens, which differentiates Portuguese by origin and by naturalization — something considered unconstitutional;
- Instrumentalization of citizenship: The proposal treats nationality as a tool of criminal and immigration policy, contradicting its status as a fundamental right.
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