Ana Rita Gil and Nuno Piçarra Naturalisation The final means of acquisition after birth considered by the law is naturalisation. Naturalisation depends, above all, on an expression of intent, since naturalisation can only be conferred following an application to the Portuguese Ministry of Justice (art. 7(1) of the Nationality Act and art. 18(1) of the Nationality Regulation). Yet, the foreigner’s intent is not enough: legal requirements which allow the government to confer Portuguese citizenship by naturalisation also must be met. The nature and requirements of the naturalisation mechanism were thoroughly revised in 2006. Until then, naturalisation was a type of citizenship acquisition that was completely dependant on a discretionary decision by the government.65 The law included several requirements but meeting them was not enough to grant naturalisation. The government always had the last word and could deny naturalisation for reasons of convenience (Ramos 1992: 163). This situation was criticised by Portuguese legal scholars, who claimed that Portuguese law had created a single arrangement for two different realities: naturalisation stricto sensu, as a political act (and therefore, discretionary) and the right of foreigners to obtain Portuguese citizenship based on their residence in national territory (Silva 2004: 124). The former corresponded to a sovereign prerogative, which was dictated by politics. The latter corresponded, to a certain extent, to a fundamental right granted in the Portuguese Constitution. The 2006 Organic Law finally differentiated these two situations. It maintains the existence of discretionary naturalisation but, at the same time, creates a subjective right to naturalisation in certain circumstances. In these situations, if the applicant meets the necessary requirements, the government does not have discretionary power. Its activity is linked to the law and, therefore, is submitted to judicial review. This new arrangement dramatically changes the nature of the naturalisation principle and reinforces the construction of a fundamental right to citizenship (Ramos 2007: 207). The concrete requirements for the acquisition of citizenship through naturalisation were also amended in 2006 and in the following revisions of 2015 and 2018. To have a subjective right to naturalisation, the individual must meet the following requirements (art. 6(1) of the Nationality Act): (1) to be of legal adult age or emancipated according to the Portuguese law;66 (2) to have legally resided in Portugal for a period of five years; (3) to have sufficient knowledge of the Portuguese language;67 According to art. 6 (9), the knowledge of the Portuguese language is presumed to exist for applicants who are nationals and nationals of Portuguese-speaking countries. 65 In this sense, the decision by the Supreme Court of Justice of 26 February 2004. Emancipation before the age of majority can be achieved through marriage. 67 Required knowledge of the Portuguese language means the minimal skills indispensable for interacting with the Portuguese community. It corresponds to the A2 level of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. If the applicant is a person with serious health issues, disability or aged above 60 years old, who does not know how to read or write, the Portuguese language test shall be adapted to be appropriate to his or her capacity to show his knowledge of the language (art. 25(6) of the Nationality Regulation). In case of children who have not completed the first cycle of basic education in a school with the Portuguese official curricula, the Portuguese language knowledge may be proven by declaration issued by a Portuguese language education institution. The High Commissioner for Migration provides free Portuguese language courses. 66 20 RSCAS/GLOBALCIT-CR 2020/1- © 2020 Author