The Jewish Community of Lisbon (CIL) has criticised the Portuguese Ministry of Justice of “deafening silence” regarding reform of the Portuguese Nationality Regulation concerning the descendants of Sephardic Jews.
“The CIL would like to be able to speak with the Minister of Justice. We have already made three requests for a hearing, and there is not even an acknowledgement of receipt of the request,” said José Ruah, Treasurer of the CIL.
Mr. Ruah lamented the change in the government’s position with regard to the law in recent months, which coincided with suspicions of irregularities in the process.
Furthermore, Mr. Ruah stated that he regards two measures adopted in MArch 2022 the context of this regulation as unconstitutional, namely the requirement for applicants to provide documents proving the transfer of property by inheritance, as well as evidence of regular trips to Portugal throughout their lives.
Despite the intention to change this new regulation, which enters into force on September 1st, Mr. Ruah acknowledged that the new changes “with the exception of these two measures, are good,” since they introduce several guarantees ensuring greater oversight.
He also criticised the Institute of Registration and Notary Affairs (IRN), the entity under the Ministry of Justice responsible for granting naturalization, for not clarifying questions concerning the precise moment where the naturalization process begins, specifically whether it begins upon receipt of the request or upon the issuance of a ‘sine qua non’ document issued bt the relevant Registry.
“We questioned the IRN about this August 31st deadline. We haven’t been able to get answers from anyone, and since we can’t, we will eventually be the ones to lead these answers. I cannot exclude that we may decide that the deadline of August 31 is for entry into the communities and not in the Registry office (…) Strictly speaking, nothing prevents us from continuing to analyze requests and issue certificates after September 1,” he added.
Given the “great confusion” generated among applicants, Mr. Ruah did not rule out the possibility of taking other measures.
Between March 1, 2015 and December 31, 2021, 56,685 naturalization requests were approved for descendants of Sephardic Jews out of a total of 137,087.
According to data sent to the Lusa news agency in February by the Ministry of Justice, only 300 cases were rejected during this period, leaving, according to data registered at the end of last year, 80,102 pending requests.
The CIL is Portugal’s EJC affiliate.
