The recent regulation of amendments to the Nationality Law, approved in 2020, helped boost the number of requests and queries from Brazilians seeking Portuguese citizenship.
Among the main changes of 2020 that have now been regulated: grandchildren of Portuguese people are exempt from proving a link with the country. For Brazilians, it is enough to master the Portuguese language. And they can apply without the parents having citizenship. People married to Portuguese men and women can obtain citizenship after three years of stable union.
Changes to the Nationality Law are not new. But it was only on April 15, almost two years late, that the decree amending the Portuguese Nationality Regulations, published in the Diário da República on March 18, entered into force.
Experts say that the regulation of the law adds a new factor of desire for citizenship, alongside the traditional security, quality of life and stability in the economy and politics. Even more so in a presidential election year in Brazil.
Thus, there was an increase in consultations and requests in at least four of the most active offices in aiding immigration consulted by the Portugal Giro.
At Clube do Passaporte, there was an increase of 368% in contracts in the first four months of this year, guaranteed Gabriel Ezra, one of the partners.
“We consider the number of customers closed in the first four months of this year, compared to 2021. Last year it was 50. This year, 184. That's an increase of 368%,” said Ezra.
The office admits that there was an increase above expectations after the new rules, but points out that demand has been intense since the beginning of this year.
The same happened at Pimentel Aniceto Advogados, assured partner Fábio Pimentel.
— Demand increased between 45% and 50%. The regulation of that 2020 law reinforces the establishment of fairer and more beneficial criteria - said Pimentel.
Lawyer Thiago Huver, partner at Martins Castro Consultoria Internacional, says that there has been an increase of 30% in the last two weeks.
— The fact that the command of the Portuguese language is a proof of connection to the Portuguese community facilitated access to the descendants of Portuguese grandchildren — declared Huver.
At ALM Advogadas Associadas, the increase was 20%. Vanessa Lopes, one of the partners, points out that the possibility of making the order over the internet, provided for in the decree, is promising. But the electronic form is not yet available and there is no date for it to take effect.
— I believe that the government needs to implement a new support system for registry services, which works in a less bureaucratic and agile way — declared Lopes.
Lawyer Mafalda Dias Martins warns that the regulation of the law does not immediately guarantee more speed, but promises agility in the processes, which have accumulated over the years. She analyzes the growing requests made by Brazilians as the possibility of having an alternative to Brazil.
— The presidential elections and exchange rate uncertainty have been some of the reasons that lead more and more Brazilians to look for the possibility of applying for citizenship. It is not necessarily a desire to move to Portugal, but the possibility of having a plan B - revealed Martins.
The process of lawyer Francisco Rocha from Minas Gerais is one of those in the queue for analysis. A grandson of Portuguese, he filed in 2020 before the law was changed, but he had to apply for his father's citizenship first, which delayed the procedure.
— It was not easy to obtain citizenship directly from grandfather to grandson. My dad's already gone. If we think that maybe mine would take the same time, I would already be a Portuguese citizen - said Rocha.
In practice, in addition to regulation, the decree introduces “some improvements in the handling of nationality procedures (…) streamlining some aspects”. This could happen with an attempt to standardize procedures and better electronic communication between the Central Registry Office and other services or entities.
In the decree, Portugal also extends citizenship to babies born in the country, even if the parents are not legally resident.
With regard to Sephardic Jews, the government, as of the decree, starts to demand evidence of “effective and lasting connection with Portugal”.