The Portuguese nationality law for Sephardic Jewish descendants, established in 2015 as a way to rectify a historical injustice against Jews expelled from the Iberian Peninsula, has undergone significant changes with the introduction of Organic Law No. 1/2024 of March 5, 2024.
Recent Legislative Changes
The new Organic Law introduces fundamental changes to the Portuguese nationality acquisition process for Sephardic Jewish descendants. These modifications significantly impact both new and pending applications.
Key Changes Effective April 1, 2024
A mandatory three-year residence requirement in Portugal has been introduced. This residence period can be continuous or intermittent but must be legally documented through proper residence permits.
Proof of Sephardic Heritage
While maintaining the requirement to demonstrate connection to a Portuguese Sephardic community, the law reverts to accepting proof through:
- Family surnames
- Family languages
- Direct or collateral descent
- Certification from recognized Jewish communities in Portugal
New Evaluation Committee
A significant change includes the establishment of an evaluation committee appointed by the government’s justice department. This committee will include:
- Academic researchers or professors specializing in Sephardic studies
- Representatives from legally recognized Jewish communities in Portugal (currently the Jewish Communities of Porto and Lisbon)
Transitional Provisions
For applications submitted between September 1, 2022, and March 31, 2024, special provisions apply. These applications can demonstrate Sephardic connection through:
Traditional Methods
- Family surnames
- Family language
- Direct or collateral descent
Additional Proof Options
- Inherited property rights in Portugal
- Regular visits to Portugal throughout life
- Holding Portuguese residence permits for over one year
- Ownership of business interests in Portuguese companies
Impact on Current Applications
The new law maintains the possibility for Sephardic descendants to acquire Portuguese nationality but introduces more stringent requirements. The most significant challenge for many applicants will be the new residence requirement, as many potential applicants may not currently live in Portugal or plan to do so.
Historical Context
The original 2015 law was implemented to address historical injustices against Sephardic Jews expelled from the Iberian Peninsula. This initiative represented Portugal’s commitment to reconciliation with its Jewish heritage and recognition of past wrongs.
Application Process
Under the new framework, applications require:
- Proof of Sephardic heritage
- Documentation of three-year residence in Portugal
- Certification from recognized Jewish communities
- Approval from the evaluation committee
Future Implications
These changes significantly impact the accessibility of Portuguese nationality for Sephardic descendants. While maintaining the program’s existence, the new requirements create additional hurdles for potential applicants.
Practical Considerations
Prospective applicants must now consider:
- Establishing residence in Portugal
- Gathering comprehensive documentation
- Building connections with Portuguese Jewish communities
- Planning for a longer-term commitment to Portugal
Professional Support
Given the complexity of these new requirements, professional assistance becomes increasingly valuable for:
- Understanding legal requirements
- Documentation preparation
- Residence permit applications
- Community connections
- Application monitoring
Looking Forward
While the continuation of the Sephardic Jewish nationality program demonstrates Portugal’s ongoing commitment to historical reconciliation, the new requirements represent a significant shift in policy. These changes require careful consideration by potential applicants and may necessitate substantial life changes for those seeking Portuguese nationality through this pathway.
For many, the mandatory residence requirement presents a significant new challenge, potentially affecting their ability or willingness to pursue Portuguese nationality through this program. However, for those able to meet these new requirements, the program continues to offer a path to Portuguese citizenship and connection to their Sephardic heritage.
VERY IMPORTANT: Jewish community certificate with religious-related status in Portugal
CIL Jewish community certificate - Lisbon
Legal Framework
We request that the above-mentioned procedures listed below are duly complied with. These procedures do not dispense with the careful reading of the procedures described below:
- DIGITALIZED PROCESSES– All processes should be scanned in a SINGLE file, in PDF format, by applicant, who must respect the order of the documents as they appear in the table below (document list). The process will follow for due consideration of our responsible committee. This procedures aims to facilitate and streamline the analysis process, but does not replace or eliminate the need to send the paper documentation in case of and after proper approval, a condition that is fundamental for sending the final certificate of approval.
- DONATION – After sending the scanned documentation by email and the confirmation of our receipt, the applicant will have a maximum period of 1 week to send the respective proof of the donation made. Otherwise, the process will not proceed to the next phases of commission review and eventual issuance of the respective certificate in case of approval.
- VALIDITY OF PASSPORTS– Passports of applicants with validity less than 6 months will not be accepted.
- FAMILY PROCESSES– We request that you inform us of all new cases sent and that are associated with family members who were previously certified by us, indicating the respective case number of the holder of the family.
- ISSUANCE OF CERTIFICATES– The name of the applicant and the parents of the applicant as indicated in the application form that initiates the process must appear on the certificate, accurately and strictly. Considering that the Registry requires the inclusion of the name of the birth register and the current name that may vary in the passport, by means of marriage or other reasons, it is important to do so strictly according to the translations made by a competent body or person who, by necessity may be included in the proceedings.
- RECTIFICATION OF CERTIFICATES– Only requests for rectification of certificates will be accepted, in the case of a proven spelling error committed by us, or if there is an official request for reissue by the Conservatória, which must be sent to us by e- mail when communicating the same.
- PUBLIC ATTENDANCE– also from now on the public telephone service will be available through the following contacts: +351 213 931 130. Office hours: Monday to Thursday from 10am to 1pm | 2pm to 5 pm. Friday: 9am to 1pm. (Portugal time). New applicants and general information click here . Information about ongoing process click here . To send processes for pre-analysis fill out the form .
1 – APPLYING FOR CERTIFICATION AT THE JEWISH COMMUNITY OF LISBON (CIL)
By Decree-Law, it is mandatory to hold a certificate issued by the Portuguese Jewish Communities – duly registered locally under the status of religious legal entities, that is, the Jewish Communities of Lisbon (CIL) and of Porto (CIP).
The Jewish Community of Lisbon has made available:
- Administration staff – to answer all questions, receive and perform a pre-check of the documentation. You’ll find all the contacts below.
- A Committee of Experts in Jewish Sephardic genealogy and the historical routes of the Jewish Iberian Diaspora – to evaluate the provided means of proof.
- A Certification Committee – to issue the certificates to be mailed to the applicants or to their legal representatives.
The “burden of proof” rests on the applicant, who must provide as much evidence as possible, of all kinds, showing direct or collateral progeny and the tradition of belonging to a Sephardic community of Portuguese origin. In fact, since a very large number of Spanish Jews migrated to Portugal when they were expelled from Spain, proving Spanish ancestry from families known to have lived in Portugal is also acceptable. Please note that our internal Experts’ Committee verifies the information provided but does not run genealogical studies itself.
Administrative documents
- Filling and signing in good faith an application form (see bellow)with all the required personal details, including the place of residence.
- A simple copy of a valid passport (page containing personal data, picture and signature) expiring date larger than 6 months.
- A birth certificate (including name and parents’ name, proof of name changes when applicable, place and date of birth).
- A valid and specific power of attorney (when not presented by the applicant himself).
Means of proof
Applicants are expected to provide different means of proof and it is understood that they will not be the same in each particular case and some people won’t be able to provide all of them:
- Personal – family name, records and documents (including image, video and audio) of family ceremonies, weddings, burials, registration at Jewish communities, birth certificates, property deeds, bibliography and book quotes, copies of inquisition archives and alike.
- Genealogical – According to the Conservatória dos Registos Centrais the certificates issued by the Jewish communities must be followed by the applicant’s genealogical tree. Therefore, the certificate must be provided with the genealogical tree indicating dates and places of ancestor’s birth, death and marriage.
The Jewish Community of Lisbon informs:
- The family tree should be as complete as possible, based in the submitted documentation.
- The family tree should fit on two pages at most, visible and understandable.
- It should mention the respective ancestry and descendancy (if necessary), places and dates of birth, marriage and death.
We propose this model bellow – A genealogical description with the direct ancestors in text . (download)
Model B Genealogical Description PT EN.doc
- We reiterate the importance of using this model in order to simplify the analysis.
- Testimonial – to be provided either/or by external experts, your Sephardic community’s rabbi, people who know the applicant, etc.
- Emotional memory – we expect the applicant to explain in short his motivation to apply for Portuguese nationality based on his Sephardic family and tradition roots. A simple letter will do. If/when possible, evidence of some level of ladino speaking proficiency/culture will be highly appreciated although it’s not a must.
All the above may be presented in Portuguese, Spanish, French or English.
All the applications and attached documents/means of proof are kept in our records for future reference and a list of all issued certificates is sent monthly to the Portuguese Ministry of Justice.
See below the complete list of documents to be presented (end of page)
Donations
Please check with our Customer Service information about donations to do this process. These donations will be used in the development and maintenance of our services and activities which guarantee the continuation of culture and traditions in our jewish community, as well as in the Portuguese society in general, through several solidarity programs with whom the community contributes.
Our Customer Service Staff does a pre-analysis without commitment of any advance donation or final approval obligation. We hereby, clarify that, a first opinion by e-mail is not binding.
On the other hand, the power of the final decision whether it is an approval or a request for more documents that corroborates your sephardic origins is solely taken by the Commission of Analysis.
Also, we inform you that, in case of no approval, the donations given are not refundable, without prejudice of the process come to be analyzed again through presentation of additional documents.
Bank details
IBAN: PT 50 0007 0006 0025 6930 0064 8
SWIFT/BIC: BESCPTPL
Owner: Comunidade Israelita de Lisboa (CIL)
Bank: Novo Banco
Agency: Marquês de Pombal (Lisboa – Portugal)
Account nr. : 0062 5693 0006
or by PAYPAL
Contact
E -mails:
New applicants and general information – click here
For ongoing processes click here
Phones: +351 213 931 130 (Portuguese/English)
PUBLIC ATTENDANCE : Monday to Thursday from 10am to 1pm | 2pm to 5 pm.
Friday: 9am to 1pm.
Closed on Shabbat, Jewish Holidays and Portuguese Bank Holidays
CIP Oporto Jewish community certificate - Porto
1) A completed Personal Details form (available in this link). This form must be filled with personal data, typed on the computer, not handwritten and sent to us in Word format (.doc or .docx). Kindly ensure the accuracy of the personal information you provided on the Personal Details Form to avoid delay in the remittance of the certificate. It is crucial that the information on this form is correct since it will be used in the issuance of your certificate. A certificate with incorrect or incomplete data will not be valid. Therefore the applicant must take the greatest care in completing the form.
The Jewish Community of Oporto will digitally sign the certificate. This is a valid certified signature. The Conservatória of Portugal is fully aware of this valid certification procedure. Therefore the Administrative Department will not send the certificate by post. It sends a printable version of the certificate by e-mail to the e-mail addresses provided on the form only. Each applicant must print his/her own certificate and may then proceed with the subsequent steps of the Portuguese Nationality process. The Jewish Community of Porto will not take responsibility for the e-mails not received or automatically sent to the SPAM box by the applicant’s e-mail provider.
2) A completed Family Tree (available in this link)- This form must be filled with your family tree data, typed on the computer, not handwritten, and sent to us in PDF format. Make sure to include the applicant’s full name in the file’s name, by substituting the “(ApplicantFullName)” area. The family tree should include the generations of ancestors known to the applicant. In some cases, this may be only two or three generations, as is likely to be the case for families expelled from ten Arab countries during the twentieth century. In other cases, many more generations may be known, for example in the case of families that immigrated to London and Amsterdam in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. It must include the following information for each person mentioned: (I) date of birth, (II) date of death (III) date of marriage and (IV) place of birth. In situations where some data is unknown, even after due research, the corresponding entry should be left blank. Any family tree that is not designed according to these instructions or contains incorrect data will be rejected by the PORTUGUESE STATE. Corrections to the family tree, due to incorrect information provided by the applicant, will take at least 60 days from the date the applicant requests to the Administrative Department. Therefore the applicant must take the greatest care in completing the family tree.”
3) Please make a bank transfer to the Jewish Community of Oporto. The fee is €500,00 per applicant and all costs associated with the transfers must be borne entirely by the payer. The Community gives Tzedakah via a vast network of Jewish organisations in many countries and it promotes Jewish life and culture in the city of Oporto. The fee must be made by bank transfer to the account of the Jewish Community of Oporto. It is mandatory that you send us the SWIFT document (we only accept the SWIFT proof of payment) with the legible payer’s name and transfer date. Write please the applicant’s name in the payment details. Bank: Santander Totta, Branch: Porto, 0018 – Porto Julio Dinis, Rua Júlio Dinis, 818, 4050-322 Porto, Swift code: TOTAPTPL, IBAN: PT 50 0018 000013154515001 80, Account of the Jewish Community of Oporto: 000013154515001 80
Please only pay the fee when the other two documents are ready to be sent. We have fiscal deadlines to comply with and we will only be able to issue the invoice after you submit the three requested files (family tree, personal details form and proof of payment) together.
In order to avoid delays in our process we require that you send the proof of payment in English. If you are paying for more than one candidate together, you should also send an Excel List with the applicants’ names written exactly as in the Personal Details Forms.
To continue with your application, please send us the requested files together as attachments in reply to this email (to portuguesenationality@
All other matters relating to the issue (or correction) of certificates and the accompanying family tree for approved applicants should be addressed to backoffice@comunidade-
In case you need your invoice, please request it to backoffice@comunidade-
By determination of the Board of Directors of the Jewish Community of Oporto, from now on, when the reissue of a certificate is requested due to an error attributable to the applicant (who sent the form or family tree with incorrect or incomplete data), the reissue will take at least 45 days. We are overwhelmed with work and cannot afford to waste time as a result of negligently completed forms. The efficiency of our organization depends on the collaboration of the applicants in following our procedures. When our guidelines are not obeyed, an even greater workload falls on us, making our issuing process slower and thus affecting all the applicants – who, for the most part, have government deadlines to comply with.
Link for pay application process gor Portuguese nationality by Sepharadic
Payment link (250 euros cost) to obtain the form for the application of your naturalization process to the Portuguese government only for Sephardic case:
https://crcpagamentos.irn.mj.pt/pagvisamc.aspx?productid=nac6.7
