Report on Citizenship Law: Portugal vote in local elections, they must be registered on the electoral lists. They also enjoy special representation in parliament by electing four members.82 Some scholars claimed that the new law should temper the ius sanguinis criterion, arguing that it would result in the recognition of a truly ethnic privilege derived from descent (Silva 2004: 108), as the children of expatriates would have the same political rights as the other Portuguese citizens, regardless of having a link to the country. Despite this concern, however, the 2006 reform has reinforced the ius sanguinis principle, which was further expanded in 2018. The new version foresees that grandchildren of Portuguese citizens may acquire Portuguese citizenship by birth, provided that they have a sufficient connection to the Portuguese community. The right of grandchildren to acquire Portuguese citizenship was firstly foreseen, by the 1006 reform, as a ground for a subjective right to naturalisation. The Social-Democratic Party (PSD) suggested this arrangement to address the fact that in communities of Portuguese expatriates, there were people who had maintained strong links with Portugal but could not accede to Portuguese citizenship solely because their parents had never asked for such citizenship for themselves. It also invoked the national interest, since many of the potential applicants had relevant positions in the societies where they lived, so this arrangement could contribute to create an image of a modern Portugal.83 This is an innovation in Portuguese law. Until now, the ius sanguinis principle was only relevant regarding the descendants of first degree. By contrast, the majority of the legal norms introduced by the 2006 reform, this one considered the large community of Portuguese expatriates who, despite the immigration phenomena, still represent a Portuguese reality. If it is true that the children of first generation emigrants often maintain genuine ties with the country of origin of their parents and frequently learn their mother tongue at home, this is rarely the case among subsequent generations, who do not have an effective link with the country of origin of their grandparents. It is also hard to understand why the law requires that the applicant be born abroad. The applicant can not rely on this legal arrangement if he was born in Portugal, even if he has Portuguese grandparents. This is a paradox, because the ius soli principle should favour the acquisition of Portuguese citizenship in these circumstances (Ramos 2007: 210).84 The Nationality Act provides other arrangements for the community of descendants of Portuguese expatriates. Art. 6(6) provides for the discretionary naturalisation of foreigners who are descendants of Portuguese citizens and members of communities of Portuguese origin. Art. 6 (7), as already mentioned, also foresees such a solution for the descendants of Portuguese Sephardic Jews. Such individuals are exempted from residence and language requirements, but do not have a subjective right to naturalisation. The law also provides special arrangements for former Portuguese citizens. Those who have held Portuguese citizenship and have never acquired any other citizenship have a subjective right to naturalisation and are exempted from fulfilling the requirements regarding the period of residence and knowledge of Portuguese language (art. 6(4) of the Nationality Act). This is a mode of reacquisition of citizenship which makes naturalisation more appealing. The 82 According to art. 12(4) and 13(3) of Law 14/79 of 16 May (Parliamentary Elections Act), expatriates who are registered as voters are divided into two constituencies: one which covers European states and another which represents all non-European countries. Each of these constituencies elects two members for parliament. 83 Parliamentary Debates, Diary of the Assembly of the Republic 54, 2005: 2479. The PSD went even further. It claimed that the grandchildren of expatriates who were born abroad should acquire Portuguese citizenship by birth providing that one makes a declaration (Parliamentary Debates, Diary of the Assembly of the Republic 54, 2005: 2459). The new legislation has not included this proposal. 84 In such cases, in order to have a subjective right to naturalisation, he or she must meet the general requirements of art. 6 (1) of the Nationality Act. RSCAS/GLOBALCIT-CR 2020/1 - © 2020 Author 27