About new internal procedure in IRN for Minors citizenship process - ART. 2 Nationality Law (NL)
The NL has not clarified the concept of connection to Portugal for minors process (ART. 2), even if by designing a new concept based on certain facts for citizenship process based on marriage or civil union ( ART 3. NL) as it did in 2020 NL change.
On the other hand, in 2017 the Nationality Regulation (NR) has detailed the connection to Portugal requirements, aimed specifically for minors applicants, by requesting the minor his/her:
- Legal residency in the previous 5 years before the application;
- NIF and SNS numbers;
- Enrollment in school.
In December 2019, IRN internal procedure was to assume connection to Portugal for minors applicants until 14 years old, based on a much lighter law interpretation.
The NR change in 2022 has decided to keep the same connection to Portugal requirements, except for NIF and SNS numbers.
Following this NR change, IRN has decided to revoke the 2019 internal procedure since October 2022.
It is our belief that IRN will not follow the restrictive requirements in NR but will make its own interpretation based on each case details.
It is important to notice that we are still not aware of the exact content of this new internal procedure, and that the application shoud be sustained by evidence of connection to Portugal even in the case of 14 year-old minors, however it seems that IRN will continue to give major relevance if more than one close family member is portuguese citizens (both parents and / or sister/ brother being portuguese citizens).