Patrícia Jerónimo on the part of the Timorese authorities, the Order is entitled ‘attribution of Timorese citizenship by marriage’. Acquisition by naturalisation: Per Article 12 (1) of the Nationality Act, the Minister of Justice may grant Timorese citizenship to foreigners, upon request, provided that, at the time of the request, the applicants meet five cumulative requirements: (a) they have reached majority according to Timorese law and to the law of their State of origin;126 (b) they have resided on a regular and habitual basis in Timor-Leste for at least ten years, counted before 7 December of 1975 or after 20 May 2002; (c) they know how to speak one of the official languages; (d) they offer moral and civic guarantees of integration in Timorese society; (e) they are capable of governing themselves and of providing for their own subsistence; and (f) they know the history and culture of Timor-Leste. Article 12 (2) adds that the foreigners who established residence in Timor-Leste as a result of the transmigration policy or of foreign military occupation are not considered habitual nor regular residents. This provision reinforces and widens the temporal limits of the residence requirement in Article 12 (1) (b), by making it impossible for someone who arrived in Timor-Leste under the Indonesian transmigration policy or military occupation to ever naturalise as Timorese, even if resident in Timor-Leste for more than ten years after independence. The naturalisation procedure is regulated in Articles 12 to 14 of the Nationality Regulation. The request is directed at the Minister of Justice and submitted before the competent service of the National Directorate for Registries and Notary (Direcção Nacional dos Registos e do Notariado), which is currently the Department for Civil Central Registry and Citizenship (Departamento de Registo Central Civil e da Nacionalidade).127 Besides the identification of the applicant, it must include information on his or her current and previous places of residence, his or her (presumably, professional) activities and the reasons for wishing to be Timorese [Article 12 (2)]. The application must be accompanied by the following documents: (a) applicant’s birth certificate, certified by the competent authorities of the state where it was issued and, if necessary, translated; (b) applicant’s valid residence permit, issued by the competent Timorese authorities; (c) document attesting the applicant’s entrance and permanence in Timor-Leste; (d) document attesting the applicant’s knowledge of one of the official languages of Timor-Leste, issued by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth and Sports; (e) document attesting the applicant’s integration in Timorese society, issued by the community structures in place, namely social clubs and centers for cultural training; (f) document attesting the applicant’s capacity to provide for his or her own subsistence; (g) document attesting the applicant’s knowledge of the history and culture of Timor-Leste, issued by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth and Sports; and (h) the applicant’s updated criminal record in the country of origin, duly certified and translated, and his or her updated criminal record in Timor-Leste [Article 12 (3)]. The procedure to obtain the documents listed in subparagraphs (d) and (g) is to be established jointly by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth and Sports and the Ministry of Justice [Article 12 (4)].128 Upon submission, the request is subject to a preliminary assessment by the Director of the Department for Civil Central Registry and Citizenship who determines whether the file is 126 In case the foreign applicant has already more than one citizenship at the time of the request, the criteria set in Article 30 of the Nationality Act with regard to conflicts among foreign citizenships may be used to determine which of the foreign laws is to be considered for the purpose of determining whether the applicant has reached majority or not. 127 Information available at http://www.mj.gov.tl/?q=node/481 [30.01.2017]. 128 It was not possible to confirm whether the joint Ministerial Diploma was already adopted, since the information available from the official journal’s website is incomplete. 32 RSCAS/GLOBALCIT-CR 2017/7 - © 2017 Author