Ana Rita Gil and Nuno Piçarra As a result of all the above-mentioned amendments, the acquisition of the Portuguese nationality has increased substantially in the recent years (Figure 1). Figure 1. Acquisition of citizenship after birth, Portugal, 1996-2018 35000 30000 25000 20000 15000 10000 5000 0 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 Sources: Ministry of Justice, Directorate General of the Justice Politics (data 1996-2007)49 and National Statistics Institute (data 2008-2018) 50. 3. The current citizenship law 3.1. Main modes of acquisition and loss of citizenship The general objective of the 2006 reform was to broaden the criteria for the acquisition of Portuguese citizenship and to facilitate the respective process of application. Yet, the current citizenship regime can still be described as a mixed system of acquisition at birth, with a predominance of ius sanguinis. In fact, the general principle that the descendants of Portuguese citizens are considered to Portuguese citizens is still applied today (Canas 2007: 520). Nevertheless, Organic Law 2/2006 reinforced the ius soli principle. Automatic acquisition of citizenship at birth According to the Nationality Act, the following persons acquire citizenship at birth ex lege through ius sanguinis: 49 50 https://estatisticas.justica.gov.pt/sites/siej/pt-pt/Paginas/Atos_registos_centrais.aspx https://www.ine.pt/xportal/xmain?xpid=INE&xpgid=ine_indicadores&indOcorrCod=0008368&xlang=pt&conte xto=bd&selTab=tab2 14 RSCAS/GLOBALCIT-CR 2020/1- © 2020 Author