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In depth
A Decreto-Lei (decree-law) is a Portuguese legislative instrument issued by the government (the Council of Ministers) with the force of law, subject to ratification by the Assembly of the Republic (parliament).
Decreto-Lei has been used to make significant changes to Portuguese citizenship law, including the 2006 amendment (Decreto-Lei n.º 43/2006) and the 2017 amendment (Decreto-Lei n.º 30-A/2017) that expanded eligibility for descendants of Portuguese emigrants.
The Sephardic citizenship path was established by Decreto-Lei n.º 30-A/2015 and amended by Decreto-Lei n.º 26/2022, which tightened the requirements.
Related terms
The Ley de Memoria Democrática (Democratic Memory Law, 2022) is the Spanish law that opened citizenship to descendants of Civil War and Franco-era exiles.
The Ley de Memoria Histórica (Historical Memory Law, 2007) was the predecessor Spanish law granting citizenship to descendants of Civil War exiles, replaced by the 2022 Democratic Memory Law.
The Registro Civil is the civil registry in Spain and Latin American countries that maintains records of births, marriages, and deaths.
The Ministerio de Justicia (Ministry of Justice) is the Spanish government ministry that processes citizenship applications under the Memory Law.
Sephardic citizenship is the Portuguese (and formerly Spanish) path to citizenship for descendants of Sephardic Jews expelled during the Inquisition.
The Inquisição (Portuguese Inquisition, 1536-1821) was the persecution that expelled Sephardic Jews from Portugal, whose descendants are eligible for Portuguese citizenship.