Report on Citizenship Law: East Timor (Timor-Leste) requirements: (a) are married for more than five years;122 (b) have resided in national territory for the previous two years; and (c) are able to speak one of the official languages, i.e. Portuguese or Tetum.123 The residence in national territory must not be irregular, at least at the time of the submission of the request, since Article 9 (3) (c) of the Nationality Regulation requires the presentation of a valid residence permit issued by the competent authorities. These requirements are waived whenever the foreigner proves to have lost his or her foreign citizenship as a consequence of the marriage [Article 11 (2) of the Nationality Act];124 a waiver which is designed to prevent statelessness. Per Article 11 (3) of the Nationality Act, neither the declaration of nullity nor the annulation of the marriage hinder the citizenship acquired by the spouse who married in good faith. The Nationality Act is not very clear as to whether the Public Prosecutor can oppose the acquisition under Article 11 and whether the government has any margin of appreciation when ruling on the requests. The different wording of Article 11 (1) – ‘may acquire’ – and Article 11 (2) – ‘acquire’ – may suggest that only those who fall under Article 11 (2) have a legal entitlement to Timorese citizenship unopposable by the Timorese authorities. Furthermore, Article 16 lists grounds for opposing the acquisition of Timorese citizenship without excluding any type of acquisition, and it is arguable that some of these grounds, such as the conviction for crimes against the internal or external security of Timor-Leste [subparagraph (c)], should be applicable to foreign spouses of Timorese citizens who request Timorese citizenship under Article 11 (1) of the Nationality Act. However, the way in which the acquisition of Timorese citizenship based on marriage is regulated by the Nationality Regulation suggests a more favourable reading, since it does not foresee the possibility of opposition. Article 9 (5) of the Nationality Regulation prescribes that two provisions [Articles 12 and 13] of the section on acquisition of citizenship by naturalisation are applicable to the acquisition of citizenship by marriage, but significantly leaves out Article 14, which sets the deadlines for the appeals against decisions by the Minister of Justice, depending on whether the decisions follow or ignore the opinion of the Public Prosecutor. The only reason to leave Article 14 out is that the Public Prosecutor is not at liberty to oppose the acquisition of Timorese citizenship under Article 11 of the Nationality Act. This reading is welcome, since it strengthens the legal standing of foreigners married to Timorese citizens, entitling them to Timorese citizenship whenever they fulfil the requirements in Article 11 of the Nationality Act. If such is the case, however, it would be advisable for the Timorese legislator to explicitly restrict the scope of Article 16 of the Nationality Act to cover only cases of opposition to acquisition of Timorese citizenship by naturalisation. The only official data available regarding the acquisition of Timorese citizenship based on marriage to a Timorese citizen is Order no. 74/III/2008, of 5 March 2008,125 which lists, by name, 86 individuals – all Indonesian citizens, 67 women and 19 men – whom the Minister of Justice granted Timorese citizenship. In another case of terminological confusion 122 The marriage is proved by a marriage certificate, which must be certified by the corresponding consular authorities if the marriage was celebrated abroad [Article 9 (2) and (3) (b) of the Nationality Regulation]. 123 Article 13 (1) of the Constitution. The ability to speak one of the two official languages is proved by a document issued by an institution recognised by the Ministry of Justice [Article 9 (3) (d) of the Nationality Regulation]. 124 Per Article 9 (4) of the Nationality Regulation, the loss of citizenship referred to in Article 11 (2) of the Nationality Act is proved by the presentation of a declaration by the foreign state or by copy of the legal act of that state duly translated into one of the official languages. 125 Despacho n.º 74/III/2008 Atribuição de Nacionalidade Tomorense [sic] por Casamento, published in the second series of the Official Journal, on 7 March 2007, available at http://www.mj.gov.tl/jornal/public/ docs/2008/serie_2/serie2_no7.pdf [09.02.2017]. RSCAS/GLOBALCIT-CR 2017/7 - © 2017 Author 31