This statement by António José Seguro appears in a note published on the official website of the Presidency of the Republic, in which he announced the promulgation of the parliamentary decree amending the Nationality Law, which extends the timeframes for foreigners legally residing in Portugal to acquire Portuguese nationality.
“The President of the Republic emphasizes the importance of ensuring that pending cases are not – in effect – affected by the legislative change, which would constitute an undesirable breach of trust in the State, both domestically and internationally,” the note reads.
In this message, the head of state “also emphasizes the importance of ensuring that the calculation of the legally established timeframes for obtaining citizenship is not affected by the State’s delays.”
The revision of the Nationality Law, enacted today, extends the timeframes for foreigners legally residing in Portugal to acquire Portuguese nationality from five to seven years for citizens of Portuguese-speaking countries and the European Union, or to ten years for nationals of other countries.
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As for its “application in time,” the decree promulgated today provides that “this law takes effect as of the date of its entry into force,” which is “the day following its publication,” without prejudice to the fact that “Law No. 37/81 of October 3 applies to administrative proceedings pending as of the date of entry into force of this law” – the Nationality Law “in the version prior to this law.”
This decree was approved by Parliament on April 1, in a second version, following declarations of unconstitutionality by the Constitutional Court (TC), by the PSD, Chega, IL, and CDS-PP, with votes against from the PS, Livre, PCP, BE, and PAN, and an abstention by the JPP, and was sent to the Belém Palace on April 13. The President of the Republic had until today to promulgate or veto it.
On the same date and with the same vote, Parliament also approved, in a second version following the Constitutional Court’s declaration of unconstitutionality—in this case, all unanimously—the decree amending the Penal Code to create the accessory penalty of loss of nationality. On April 21, the PS submitted this decree for a new preventive review of constitutionality. The Constitutional Court has 25 days to rule on this request.
The majority by which these two decrees were approved – more than two-thirds of the deputies present – allows for their eventual confirmation in Parliament both in the event of a veto by the President of the Republic and in the event of unconstitutionalities declared by the Constitutional Court, in accordance with the Constitution.
This process originated from a government proposal and was subsequently transformed into two bills by the PSD and CDS-PP, which justified the establishment of the loss of nationality as an accessory penalty by citing constitutional doubts on the matter, without, however, withdrawing the proposal.
António José Seguro took office as President of the Republic on March 9, already in the midst of this legislative process—following the declarations of unconstitutionality issued by the Constitutional Court on December 15, which led to vetoes by his predecessor, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, on December 19.
