Report on Citizenship Law: East Timor (Timor-Leste) the citizenship of either parent at the time of birth and as long as they did not acquire the citizenship of one of the parents [Article 1 (i)]. Indonesian citizenship could furthermore be acquired in a number of ways, including adoption [Article 2], marriage [Article 7], and naturalisation [Article 5]. The acquisition and the loss of Indonesian citizenship by the husband were automatically extended to the wife (Article 9).40 The acquisition and loss of Indonesian citizenship by the father were also extended to his legitimate children under the age of 18 and single, provided that the children resided in Indonesia and, for purposes of loss, that the children did not become stateless [Articles 13 (1) and 15 (1)].41 Indonesia’s refusal to allow dual citizenship was reflected inter alia in the naturalisation requirement that applicants declared to have renounced to any prior citizenship according to the legal provisions in force in the country of origin [Article 5 (2) (h)], and in the norm according to which foreign women married to Indonesian citizens could only make a statement to the effect that they wished to acquire Indonesian citizenship if they did not possess another citizenship [Article 7 (1)]. Furthermore, Indonesian citizenship would be lost in case of voluntary acquisition of another citizenship [Article 17 (a)], in case an Indonesian citizen failed to reject or renounce another citizenship while having the opportunity to do so42 [Article 17 (b)], and in case of possession of a valid passport from a foreign country [Article 17 (j)]. Meanwhile, Portugal continued to perceive itself as the ‘administering power’ of the territory and to legislate accordingly in matters of citizenship. As mentioned earlier, DecreeLaw no. 308-A/75, of 24 July 1975, did not apply in East Timor and therefore those in East Timor who had been attributed or had acquired Portuguese citizenship before 25 April 1976 were able to keep their Portuguese citizenship and to pass it on to their offspring. Persons born in East Timor after that date were considered to be born abroad, since East Timor ceased to be part of the Portuguese territory (Ramos 2013: 131). Anyway, all those born in East Timor to a Portuguese citizen – the majority of the inhabitants of East Timor at the time – were entitled to Portuguese citizenship, having only to fulfil one of three alternative requirements: (a) declare their wish to be Portuguese; (b) have their birth registered in the Portuguese Civil Registry; or (c) voluntarily establish domicile in Portuguese territory and declare it before the competent authorities (Article 4 of Law no. 2098, of 29 July 1959). In 1981, a new Nationality Act – Law no. 37/81, of 3 October 198143 – introduced the reference to ‘territories under Portuguese administration’, treating these territories as separate but equivalent to the national territory for purposes of attributing Portuguese citizenship by birth and of granting Portuguese citizenship by naturalisation.44 Per Article 1 (1) (a) of Law no. 37/81, Portuguese by birth were, among others, the children born to a Portuguese father or mother in Portuguese territory or in a territory under Portuguese administration. This provision made access to Portuguese citizenship for persons born in East Timor even easier, since the attribution was no longer conditional on declaration, registration or residence in Portugal, but occurred by operation of the law. 40 Unless, in the first case, the wife possessed another citizenship and, in the second case, she became stateless following the loss of the Indonesian citizenship (Article 9). Women were not allowed to apply for naturalisation while married [Article 5 (2) last par.]. 41 Similar rules applied for the children born out of wedlock, who would acquire or lose Indonesian citizenship upon acquisition or loss of Indonesian citizenship by their mother [Articles 13 (2) and 15 (2)]. 42 A contrario, one can assume that Indonesian citizenship would not be lost if the other citizenship had been imposed by a foreign State or could not be renounced according to the laws of that State. 43 Available at https://dre.pt/application/file/564082 [04.01.2017]. 44 Per Article 6 (1) (c), one of the naturalisation requirements was that the applicant had resided for at least six years in Portuguese territory or in a territory under Portuguese administration. RSCAS/GLOBALCIT-CR 2017/7 - © 2017 Author 11