Hello! My wife and i have acquired Portugal citizenship
We have a child under 18 (13 years old) resident in PT since 7 years. So he is child of Portuguese parent and born before they both acquired the citizenship
We asked lawyer to apply for his citizenship since we are now PT citizens
Lawyer old us that he must have residency of min 5 years…( that is Ok ) AND be studying in a Portuguese school in Portugal ( that s not the case )!
we have challenged lawyer and told him that to prove link to portuguese community the other way is to submit his Portuguese vaccines records (boletim de vacinas) (he has already one) as it is mentioned in the official website (see link )
**** como uma declaração da escola que frequenta em Portugal ou o boletim de vacinas.***
Please can any lawyer help help us resolving this misunderstanding !?
Hello Sam, as per the regulations the minor should show some connection to the Portugese community. There are several ways to prove the same including 5 years of residency in the country and also Minor’s under the age of 18 are highly recommended to enrol in any school within protugal at the time of application for the automatic qualification of Nationality. On the contrary, you can still apply for the nationality but the process can be bit lengthy with just a boletim de vacinas.
Thank you Tomas for your reply.
With all respect to the laws, I don t understand why he can get his citizenship only when he turns 18, so just !?
Weird use case! Shall a minor follow parents …!??
When he turns 18, and filho of PT parents
Indeed he has 8 years residency in Portugal, and currently has valid residency
But he is not living in PT, We have to wait till he turns 18,
I am not a lawyer or a law maker, my best guess this has to do with encouraging the immigrant kids to attend the school and not to skip it. As the education is free and compulsory until 18 years of age.
I do not see a reference to the requirement to be in a Portuguese school. Just that the child “is studying in portugal” (está a estudar em Portugal) .
Can you discuss with your lawyer where they obtain the reference to the requirement that the child has to be in a Portuguese school in Portugal?
It is very clear with the requirement here. I do not see any ambiguity with the words. It is just about “study in the school in Portugal”. It can be any kind of school (public, private, international), but must be in Portugal for 5 years as it is required.
Evil is in the detail. At least the kids now have enough residency and they have to wait until 18 to apply themselves. As I remember correctly, one important thing to take note is that at the time of applying, the applicant must have a valid resident card. Therefore, technically if the kids stop their GV now, they will need to find an other resident card in order to apply for citizenship at age of 18. Keeping the GV nows until they are 18 is a big cost.
It is a real life example that it takes over 10 years to get full citizenship for a family (parents need 8-9 years, then the kids take 10 years or 14-15 years in this case).
Thank you so much for the answer
That s said, is there any type of resident permit he can apply for it till 18 in stead of GV as his parents have already been Portugueses?
thank you
I know one person. He has to take Master in University of Lisbon, just for the sake of having resident card while applying for the citizenship. I think resident card thru student’s path is the cheapest and easiest way.
Yes, your kin is eligible for a family reunification under Article 98, Paragraph 1 – Family Reunification residency permit at a reduced rates. No need to apply for a Golden Visa permit route anymore.
I think reunification visa is when they live in Portugal. In this case, the family does not live in Portugal and it sounds a bit strange to have "reunification". They’ve been reunifying elsewhere
The parents are PT nationals, so it shall be a family reunification for the dependant minor irrespective of their area/country of residence. This is in accordance with the EU Council directive E 2003/86/EC. This directive has been legally enforced on every EU signatory country.
Following up on the suggestion given by you to continue Sam’s son’s GV permit extension might not be feasile as the primary applicant shall not possess a GV permit anymore. In this case it might be Sam or the Spouse who are PT citizens and the minor can only have a dependant GV permit at the moment which might not be easy to renew. It is highly suggested to consult a professional in this case for a faster resolution.
Yeah, but regular residence cards have mandatory presence in Portgual requirement of 6 months/year, and since they don’t live in Portugal, they can’t keep that mandatory presence, so when the child actually turns 18, he/she won’t be eligible due to not complying with this residency period.
Thank you very much for correcting me. You are absolutely right about it. GV will not be applicable once the parents already become PT citizen. Reunification is the cheapest way. Maybe they can do the reunification when the kids turn 17.5 years old. Then, after 6 months, kids turn 18 and will be able to apply for citizenship.
Let us know how you manage to do it in the end, there are many other GV applicants with minor kids who will be in the same situation down the road. Your update will be really helpful to all
Good Morning everyone
yes for sure, I have a meeting with lawyer to discuss the topic
will revert you back with more details
Tomas Reine has submitted the true route and road. Lawyer will confirm and revert back
Special thank you to Tomas and to all others having interacted and brought their
See you later then
Special thank you Tomás. The true road is what you have submitted ( following a law firm meeting )
Thank you again
Will receive written conclusion from a law firm and will share more details.
The rules are meant to be followed blindly by the officer who is involved in granting the citizenship, means checking the boxes for an automatic route period. For a minor there are 2 things which needs to be satisfied:
A. 5-year residency in PT (GV dependency does qualify)
B. Enrolled in a school within the national territory, a certificate shall be issued by the school as a bonafide student.
Both are mutually exclusive and not related to each other, if someone can get their kid to study an year in a boarding school in portugal shall be able to apply for the citizenship within weeks after enrolling in a PT institution. I am not sure about the summer schools, which are not an ideal option to begin with.
. They’ve been reunifying elsewhere