Ana Rita Gil and Nuno Piçarra For the purpose of counting legal residence periods, the sum of all legal residence periods in the national territory, followed or interpolated, shall be considered, provided that they have elapsed within a maximum of 15 years (art. 15(3)). The influence of the parents’ legal situation on the acquisition of citizenship of children has been debated by Portuguese legal scholars. According to the pure principles of justice, the legal situation of the parents should not influence the acquisition of citizenship by the children, but only their own acquisition of citizenship. The position of the parents could cause discrimination based on ancestry between the children of legal immigrants and children of irregular immigrants. This is forbidden by the constitutional principle of equality (Silva 2004: 113). Nevertheless, one cannot totally separate the parents’ behaviour and the children’s destiny: when children are born, their only link with the community is established through their parents (Silva 2004: 113). Ignorance of the parents’ legal situation can also create constitutional problems. According to Portuguese law and the Constitution, it is not possible to deport an alien who is the parent of a Portuguese minor.77 Allowing children to obtain Portuguese citizenship irrespective of their parents’ legal situation implies the impossibility of deporting their parents, even if they remain in an illegal situation. Nevertheless, the law does, in some cases, grant Portuguese citizenship to children of irregular immigrants. This can occur in cases of acquisition at birth (regarding the immigrants of the second78 and third generations), and in cases of naturalisation (of the minors who have completed the first cycle of compulsory education in Portugal). The Immigration Law is used to deal with the expulsion of parents in those situations.79 Loss of citizenship The legal arrangements for the loss of citizenship are influenced by the 1976 Constitution which states that citizenship is the fundamental right of an individual (art. 26(1)) and forbids the loss of citizenship for political reasons (art. 26(4)) or as a consequence of serving a prison sentence (art. 30(4)). These constitutional principles and the general principle that no one can be deprived of his or her citizenship arbitrarily have influenced the laws governing loss of citizenship. Loss of citizenship must be defined by law and cannot be determined by an act of the public authorities (Ramos 1994: 114; Ferreira 1987: 8). Loss of Portuguese citizenship is also not possible if the citizen in question becomes stateless (Jalles 1984: 172). The 1981 Nationality Act is underpinned throughout by these principles. It does not allow any ex lege loss of Portuguese citizenship or loss of citizenship due to state intervention. Art. 8 of the Nationality Act only allows for the loss of citizenship through the individual’s own free will and only so long as he or she has another citizenship. The state therefore cannot impose a loss of citizenship even as a result of the acquisition of another state’s citizenship. Neither is the mere wish to renounce citizenship sufficient. In order to avoid situations of statelessness, the applicant must hold the citizenship of another state. 77 This rule is justified by two constitutional principles: the protection of family unity (arts. 36 and 67 of the Portuguese Constitution) and the prohibition on deporting national citizens (art. 33(1) of the Portuguese Constitution). The deporting measure would violate one or another of the rules, depending on whether the infant would follow his or her parent abroad or not. 78 It allows the acquisition of citizenship to those who were born in Portugal even if only one of the parents is in a regular situation. 79 Current immigration law (Law 23/2007 of 4 July), forbids the expulsion of immigrants who have effective custody of minor children of Portuguese nationality and who were residing in Portugal (art. 135) and foresees their regularisation (art. 122 n.1 (l)). 24 RSCAS/GLOBALCIT-CR 2020/1- © 2020 Author