I don’t know how much of an overkill it might be…I have a close friend who married a Russian woman. She is a concert violinist and speaks English at a B2 level with a reasonable knowledge of US history. It took her 5 years and over 5000 in legal fees to get her citizenship here. There are always stories of easy US citizenship but it actually ranks as one of the more difficult ones to get if you have minimal legal standing for it. Portugal is considered somewhat easier, just not the easiest. If you want citizenship just to have a second passport then there are other places to go. If you want to be part of Portugal and its people then that is possible…But, you must prove your interest in the country. You can do this by living there for 5 years and being part of their economy, by ancestry to the gparent level, by ancestry to the ggparent level with language ability, by investing in the country 350,000 euro. It is not impossible and it is not difficult by most developed nation standards. One must decide the route, the reason, and the qualifications necessary and then be about the business of applying.
I am surprised at the interesting observations made by my US based relatives. There seems to be an expectation that if it isn’t done the way it is in the USA it isn’t right or easy or modern. The correct observation is that it is different and works for Portugal, that is all that matters in this case. I have no interest in stirring up a hot debate; my interest is in encouraging those that want to try for citizenship to do so and to do it by the Portuguese parameters, after all Portugal is the country they are applying to. We Americans always criticize immigrants that don’t want to become American they just want the citizenship but not the culture or ideas…well? Sent from Windows Mail From: Jose Medeiros Sent: Friday, August 21, 2015 1:51 AM To: [email protected] Cc: [email protected] This is an overkill compared to getting US citizenship On Thursday, August 20, 2015 at 5:58:11 PM UTC-4, Phil Lopes wrote: I received my citizenship about a year ago. I was required to take a Portuguese exam offered by the University of Lisbon at San Jose State University. At the time exam was only offered twice a year. Exam took about three hours and included comprehension, writing, and conversation and cost about $100.00. My guess is that the ability to speak Portuguese will continue to be required. On Wednesday, August 19, 2015 at 4:46:40 AM UTC-7, nancy jean baptiste wrote: Thanks for the information. It's still unclear if a language exam will be necessary. Does anyone know? Nancy Jean From: [email protected] Date: Wed, 19 Aug 2015 06:27:28 -0400 Subject: [AZORES-Genealogy] Fwd: Interested in Portuguese citizenship To: [email protected] Here is information I received from the Portuguese Citizenship Reconnect organization. Attached are two documents with specific information. Hope this helps! MaryAnn ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Portuguese Citizenship <[email protected]> Date: Mon, Aug 3, 2015 at 6:40 PM Subject: Re: Interested in Portuguese citizenship To: MaryAnn Santos <[email protected]> Good afternoon Ms. MaryAnn Santos, I hope this e-mail finds you well. On 29 July an alteration to the Portuguese Nationality Act was approved in order to consider the grandchildren of Portuguese citizens Portuguese by origin. In sum, under the newly enacted law, obtaining citizenship depends on three requirements: (i) knowledge of the Portuguese language; (ii) regular visits to Portugal; and (iii) the applicant cannot have been found guilty of a crime with a prison sentence over 3 years. I attach hereto our Legal News Alert on the new law. If you feel you meet these requirements, kindly complete the assessment form attached hereto. Feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns. Best Regards, Lisette -- -- For options, such as changing to List, Digest, Abridged, or No Mail (vacation) mode, log into your Google account and visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Azores. Click in the blue area on the right that says "Join this group" and it will take you to "Edit my membership." --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Azores Genealogy" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/azores. -- For options, such as changing to List, Digest, Abridged, or No Mail (vacation) mode, log into your Google account and visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Azores. Click in the blue area on the right that says "Join this group" and it will take you to "Edit my membership." --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Azores Genealogy" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/azores. -- For options, such as changing to List, Digest, Abridged, or No Mail (vacation) mode, log into your Google account and visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Azores. Click in the blue area on the right that says "Join this group" and it will take you to "Edit my membership." --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Azores Genealogy" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/azores.
