State Act

Portuguese Civil Code, 1867

Article 19 – Requirements for grant of naturalization – The Government may grant a certificate of naturalization to the foreigners who so apply at the municipality of their residence, if found to satisfy the following conditions: 1. They are major or deemed as major, both by Portuguese law as well as by the law of their country; 2. They are able to earn a salary through their labour or have other means of subsistence; 3. They have resided at least for three years in Portuguese territory; 4. They are free from Penal liability; 5. They have fulfilled the law of military recruitment of their own country. § 1 - The signature on the application referred to in this article requires to be authenticated. § 2 - The third condition is not essential to the descendants of Portuguese blood who have come to be domiciled in the country and may be dispensed with in case of a foreigner married to a Portuguese wife, and to one who has rendered or has been called to render any relevant service to the Nation which justifies the exemption. § 3 - The fourth condition is proved by a certificate of the country of the origin of the foreigner who applies for naturalization and by a certificate of his criminal record in Portugal. § 4 - Besides the documents mentioned above, only those which may be prescribed by treaty or convention between Portugal and the country of the person who applies for naturalization, may be demanded. § 5 - The documents are not subject to law of stamp duty and the Government may dispense them and substitute them by other information supplied by competent institutions, authorities and functionaries.