Portuguese citizenship sephardic Law No. 1/2013 DL n. 30-A/2015

Acquisition of Nationality by Descendants of Sephardic Jews

The Portuguese government may naturalize the descendants of Portuguese Sephardic Jews who were expelled from Portugal and Spain in the fifteenth century.

This measure was authorized by Law No. 1/2013 of July 29. The requirements of the Regulation, which was authorized by DL 30-A/2015 on February 27, are as follows:

Applicants must be Sephardic Jews of Portuguese descent, of legal age or emancipated under Portuguese law, and must not have been convicted of an offense carrying a maximum incarceration sentence of three years or more under Portuguese law.

In the application, the following requirements for granting Portuguese nationality to Sephardic Jews of Portuguese descent must be declared and demonstrated:

Family Surnames, Family Language, Direct Descendants or Family Relations in the Portuguese Sephardic Genealogical Lines.

The following documents must accompany the application:

• Certificate of birth registration;
• Criminal record certificate issued by the competent Portuguese authorities; country of nationality and country of domicile.
• Proof of 3 years legal residency in Portugal.
• Jewish community certificate with religious-related status in Portugal, in accordance with the law in force at the date of entry of the Regulation, proving Sephardic Jewish lineage of Portuguese origin via surname, family language, genealogy, and family memory.
• Copy of the applicant’s passport with notarized verification of conformity with the original.

This certificate should include the following information:

Name, Date of Birth, Birth, Membership, Nationality, Residency of the Applicant.

Description of direct descent or family relationship in the genealogy of a common ancestor from the Sephardic community of Portuguese descent.

Evidence of each of these components.

In the absence of such a certificate, the following evidence may be admitted (not recommended):

• Document issued by the Jewish community demonstrating the applicant’s eligibility for Portuguese citizenship.
• Documentary records, including records of synagogues and Jewish cemeteries, as well as residence permits, property deeds, wills, and other documents proving the family relations of the applicant, by way of direct descent or family relationship in the collateral line of the Portuguese in Jewish rites, or as spoken by itself in the heart of this community, the rogue.
• Documentary records, including records of synagogues and Jewish cemeteries, as well as residence permits, property deeds, wills, and other documents proving the family relationship of the applicant, by direct descent or family relationship in the collateral line of the common ancestor belonging to the Sephardic community of Portuguese origin.
• If there are doubts about the authenticity of the contents of foreign-issued documents, the competent authorities may provide the Jewish communities registered in Portugal with their assessment of the evidence.