Children of Either Portuguese Parent, Born Abroad - Part I

Source: cafepress.co.uk

Previously, I have explained about the case of the children of either Portuguese parent, born in the Portuguese territory.

Today, I will explain the case of the children of either Portuguese parent, born abroad.

As you may have noticed, I have written “Part I” on the title of this post because there are two possible situations that we must take into account when analysing the cases of such applicants:

The children of either Portuguese parent that were born abroad because their Portuguese parent(s) was/were serving the Portuguese State;

The children of either Portuguese parent, whose Portuguese parent (s) was/were not serving the Portuguese State abroad.

When I say “Portuguese parent (s) that was/were serving the Portuguese State” abroad, I refer to the Portuguese diplomats, members of the Portuguese Army in mission abroad and any other public servant performing any activity abroad due to order of the Portuguese State.

Mr. Miguel Reis understands that the expression “Portuguese State” also comprises those workers who render services to the indirect public administration abroad.

In this case the birth of the child must be registered in the Portuguese Civil Register Office at any time by the parents, when the child is still underage; by the child himself/herself, if he/she is over 18, or by the child’s descendents if the child has passed away.

The Birth Record of this child will contain a special remark informing that his/her parents were serving the Portuguese State abroad when he/she was born.

When registering the birth in the Portuguese Civil Register Office, the applicant must provide a document, issued by the department in which the Portuguese parent was working, proving that he/she was abroad to serve the Portuguese State.

This demand can be dispensed if the Registry Officer has official knowledge of the situation the Portuguese parent.

For example: the Consul of the Portuguese Consulate has the official knowledge that the Portuguese employees of the Consulate are serving the Portuguese State abroad. Therefore, if one of these employees has a child abroad and goes to the Consulate to register his/her child, the Consul will have official of knowledge of his/her status.

Summing up:

Case: children of either Portuguese parent, born abroad, when his/her Portuguese parent (s) was/were serving the Portuguese State abroad.

Type of citizenship: Original Citizenship;

Procedure indicated: Registration of birth;

Documents to instruct the application: Birth Certificate of the child; ID of the child; Birth Certificate of the Portuguese parent; Proof that the Portuguese parent was serving the Portuguese State abroad.

Larissa Bona

The Portuguese Community in Canada

Source: crossed-flag-pins.com

Today, I am going to talk about the Portuguese Community in Canada, which is the 6^th biggest Portuguese Community in the world, with around 400,000 members.

The Portuguese migration to Canada is not as ancient as the migration to Brazil or the USA, although there are records of Portuguese migration since the 16^th Century.

The first time that a considerable number of Portuguese people migrated and settled in Canada was in 1953, after the Canadian government invited them to come to Canada, most of them coming from the Azores.

The members of the Portuguese Community in Canada are mostly based in Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia.

In Toronto the neighbourhood Trinity-Bellwoods is also known as Portugal Village or Little Portugal, because the Portuguese Community and now the Brazilian Community are based there. Due to the fact the most of the Portuguese migrants that went to Canada were of Azorean origin, there is also a street there called “Rua Azores”.

There are several notable Portuguese Canadians, being the singer Nelly Furtado the most famous world-wide, who has strong roots with the Portuguese Community, to the point she was the one who recorded the theme-song of Euro 2004, which took place in Portugal.

My personal impression of the Portuguese Community in Canada is that, although they are in a smaller number than in other countries, they seem to be very united and attached to their roots.

I wish that someday I could have more contact with such community and I am really planning to go to Toronto to pay a visit. This may happen sooner than later.

Larissa Bona

Children of Either Portuguese Parent, Born in the Portuguese Territory

Source: cafeprees.com

Now, that we know who is entitled to the citizenship, the types of citizenship, the procedures through which someone can obtain it and the effects of such procedures, we will now analyse case by case of those who are entitled to the Portuguese citizenship.

The Article 1, 1, (a) of the Nationality Act and the Article 3, (a) of the Portuguese Nationality Statute establish that “the children of either Portuguese parents, born in the Portuguese territory” are native Portuguese citizens.

This is, indeed, the most straightforward case of all, in which a child of a Portuguese couple or of a couple formed by at least one Portuguese citizen is born in Portugal, Azores or Madeira.

The Portuguese Civil Registration Code, on its Article 96, establishes that the births occurred in the Portuguese territory must be verbally communicated to a “Conservatória do Registo Civil” – Portuguese Civil Register Office, within 20 days of the birth, or at the hospital or maternity in which the birth took place, if the hospital/maternity has this service available, until the date mother and child are discharged from there.

The Registration Code also establishes that the parents are the ones who should communicate the birth of the child to the Portuguese Civil Register Office. Only in their absence is that a third person or entity can make such declaration.

So, every child that is born in the Portuguese territory to a Portuguese parent will grant his/her citizenship in the moment the parent register his/her birth in the Portuguese Civil Register Office. And this is it, nothing further must be done.

But this does not mean that exceptions cannot take place and that something that seems to be so straightforward cannot become complicated.

For example: the case of the children of Portuguese citizens born in the Portuguese territory that, later on, have stopped being a Portuguese territory. This we will talk about further on.

Summing up:

Case: children of either Portuguese parent, born in the Portuguese territory;

Type of citizenship: Original Citizenship;

Procedure indicated: Registration of Birth.

Larissa Bona

History of Portugal: The Pre-History

Source: eb1-mateus-n2.rcts.pt

The region of present-day Portugal was inhabited by Neanderthals and then by Homo sapiens.

Early in the first millennium BC, several waves of Celts invaded Portugal from central Europe and intermarried with the local populations, forming different ethnic groups, with many tribes.

Chief among these tribes were the Calaicians or Gallaeci of northern Portugal, the Lusitanians of central Portugal, the Celtici of Alentejo, and the Cynetes or Conii of the Algarve.

Among the lesser tribes or sub-divisions were the Bracari, Coelerni, Equaesi,Grovii, Interamici, Leuni, Luanqui, Limici, Narbasi, Nemetati, Paesuri, Quaquerni, Seurbi, Tamagani, Tapoli,Turduli, Turduli Veteres, Turdulorum Oppida, Turodi, and Zoelae).

There were, in the southern part the country, some small, semipermanent commercial coastal settlements founded by Phoenicians-Carthaginians (such as Tavira, in the Algarve).

It should also be mentioned that, according to some scholars, Celtic culture may well have developed first in far Southern Portugal and Southwestern Spain, approximately 500 years prior to anything recorded in Central Europe.

Source: Wikipedia

Larissa Bona

The Effects of the Procedures to Obtain the Portuguese Citizenship

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Larissa Bona

Visa

Source: uwf.edu

The Oxford Dictionary says that border means “a line separating two political or geographical areas, especially countries”.

The borders establish the boundaries of the territory of the nations and, even though most of them are just fictional, they are sometimes harder to be surpassed than if they were high mountains.

Every day, we see in the press cases of people who risk their lives to surpass the border of the countries seeking better life condition, like those migrants that cross the Mexican desert to reach the USA or those migrants that go from Africa to Europe in canoes.

Some of these people make it, some of these people are arrested and some of these people die trying to reach other countries, but all of them have something in common: they do not have a Visa.

The Visa, word derived from the Latin expression “Charta Visa” – which means paper that has been seen, is the right key that opens the gates of all borders in the world, that is, this document is an authorisation issued by the countries allowing people that are not their citizens to enter in their territories.

There are several reasons that motivate a person to leave his/her own country and head to another country: tourism, medical treatment, work, seeking asylum, war, investment and others.

Due to this, all countries have several types of Visas, each one suitable for every single reason that justifies the entrance of a foreigner in their territories, and each type of Visa has the requirements that the aliens (word also used to refer to foreigners) must meet in order to earn the permission to enter in the territory of a country.

For example, when someone applies for a Tourist Visa, this person is usually required to show proofs that he/she has enough bonds with his/her country, so they are not using the trip to migrate illegally, thus this person will have to show that he/she has a job, money to support himself/herself during the trip, accommodation and so on.

Sometimes, depending on the country that the foreigner comes from, due to international agreements, he/she does not need a Visa to enter in the territory of another country.

An example of this is the fact that Portuguese citizens do not need a Visa to enter in the USA or Brazil as tourists.

Larissa Bona

Procedures to Obtain the Portuguese Citizenship

Source: europabrasil.com.br

The Portuguese Nationality Act, on its Title I, lists the procedures through which someone can obtain the Portuguese citizenship, which are:

• The Attribution of Citizenship (Chapter I);
• The Acquisition of Citizenship (Chapter II).

The attribution of citizenship is the procedure that those persons who are entitled to the original citizenship must follow in order to obtain the Portuguese citizenship.

It is in this procedure that we see the “transmission” of citizenship from parents to children and it is the easiest and most straightforward way to obtain the Portuguese citizenship.

The acquisition of citizenship is the procedure that the persons who are entitled to the derivative citizenship must follow to obtain the citizenship.

The Nationality Act subdivides the acquisition of citizenship into:

1. Acquisition of citizenship through effect of will: this is the procedure that must be followed to obtain the citizenship for spouses and civil partners of Portuguese citizens and for underage children of Portuguese citizens that have obtained the Portuguese citizenship through acquisition of citizenship;
2. Acquisition of citizenship through adoption: this is the procedure that must be followed by the underage adopted children of Portuguese citizens;
3. Acquisition of citizenship through naturalisation: this is the due procedure for grandchildren, great grandchildren, children of foreign parents born in Portugal, foreign citizens that live in Portugal for over 6 years.

Besides these two procedures, there is also the late registration of birth, regulated by the Portuguese Civil Registration Code, which is suitable for the cases in which the birth of the child was not registered within one year of his/her birth.

This is the procedure that must be followed by those who were born in Goa, the former African Colonies, Macau and East Timor, because these people are all Portuguese but, because the territories they were born are no longer part of Portugal, their births were not registered in the Portuguese Civil Register Office.

Summing up and still speaking roughly, we have three procedures through each the applicants can obtain the Portuguese citizenship.

Larissa Bona

The Portuguese Community in the USA

Source: Presidency of Portugal website

Today, I will talk about the Portuguese Community in the USA, the second largest Portuguese community outside Portugal (only Brazil has more Portuguese community members than the USA).

For a long time, there were not accurate numbers with regards to the Portuguese community in the USA, because the American Census always included them in the Latino category.

However, since 2007, the U.S. Census has included the option Portuguese when asking the ancestry of the USA residents and then it was discovered that there were around 1,5 million members in the Portuguese community.

In June of that same year, the President of Portugal, Mr. Cavaco Silva, travelled to the USA and had a meeting with the Portuguese Community in Newark, NJ. And below I put a text I have extracted from the website of the “Meeting with the Portuguese Communities”, talking about the Portuguese people in the USA:

“The Portuguese presence in America goes back to 1850, when many Portuguese took part in the gold rush and in the creation of agricultural settlements in California. Businesses connected with whale fishing equally contributed to a large wave in immigration.

In the first twenty years of the XX century some 130,000 Portuguese emigrated to the USA. From 1900 to 1914, that number represented 16.7% of our emigration. In 1916 and in 1920 that percentage increased to 46.3% and 37.3%, respectively. The 30’s and 40’s witnessed a large decrease (11,372), an effect of the immigration quotas, by the great depression and by the universal instability. From the mid 50’s (Capelinhos volcanic eruption in the Azores) and during the 60’s, emigration to America again increased and, in accordance with official figures, the USA received, from 1960 to 1990, 218,.541 Portuguese. The last American census, dated 2000, states a total number of 1,173,691 Portuguese and Portuguese descendants resident in the USA.

The large majority of the members of the Portuguese Community are employed by industrial enterprises, and a considerable number are employed by the service industry and are also noted personalities in the scientific, educational and arts areas. A significant number are also members of the liberal professions.

At this moment there are approximately 95 Portuguese or citizens of Portuguese ascendancy elected to political office.

There are 385 Portuguese and Portuguese descendant communities in the United States of America, which include recreational and cultural associations, social and sports clubs, educational foundations, libraries, theatrical groups, brass bands, folklore dancing groups, philanthropic and religious societies and regional associations.

Portugal currently has Consulates General in Boston, New York, Newark and S. Francisco, Consulates in New Bedford and Providence and a Consular Section in the Portuguese Embassy in Washington.”

Larissa Bona

Types of Portuguese Cizenship

Cristiano Ronaldo (left) is a Portuguese footballer with original citizenship and Deco (right) is a Portuguese footballer with derivative citizenship (he is naturalised)

Now that we already know who is entitled to the Portuguese citizenship, the next step is to establish the types of citizenship these people are entitled to.

This is important to know because each type of citizenship determines which procedures the applicants must follow to submit the application and, consequently, which effects his/her citizenship will have on the future generations of his/her family.

There are two types of Portuguese citizenship:

•          Original Citizenship; and
•           Derivative Citizenship

The Original Citizenship is the citizenship of those who are considered native Portuguese citizens by the Portuguese law, who, according to the article 1 of the Nationality Act, are:

• Children of either Portuguese parents;
• Children of foreign citizens, born in the Portuguese territory, as long as:

1. At least one of the parents was also born in the Portuguese territory and was living in    Portugal on the birth date of the child; or
2. Neither of his/her parents was in Portugal to serve to their own country, at least one of the parents was legally settled in Portugal for at least five years on the birth date of the child and the child also officially declare he/she wants to be a Portuguese citizen.

• People born in the Portuguese territory who does not hold any other citizenship.

The Derivative Citizenship is the citizenship of those who are not native Portuguese citizens but have obtained the Portuguese citizenship due to other requirements than the mentioned above. This is the case of:

•           Adopted children of Portuguese citizens;
•           Grandchildren of Portuguese citizens;
•           Great grandchildren of Portuguese citizens;
•           Spouses and civil partners of Portuguese citizens;
•           Children of foreign citizens, born in the Portuguese territory, that do not meet the requirements of the article 1 of the nationality law;
•           Those who had lost the Portuguese citizenship;
•           Foreign citizens who are legally settled down in Portugal for at least 6 years.

Despite of being special cases not brought by the article 1 of the Portuguese Nationality Act, those citizens born in the former Portuguese territories in India, Africa, Macau, East Timor are entitled to the original citizenship.

Larissa Bona

Places of Portugal: Lisbon

Centre of Lisbon from the top of Santa Justa Lift by Larissa Bona

Lisbon is the capital of Portugal and its largest city with a population of almost 3 million people (Metropolitan Area of Lisbon). Placed at the mouth of the Tagus River, it is the westernmost capital of continental Europe.

Although there is a legend saying that Lisbon was founded by Ulysses, Lisbon was founded by the Phoenicians. In 711, the city was taken by the Moors, who ruled the city for 450 years until the 12^th Century, when the Christians recovered the city. Yet, the Arabic influence is still seen nowadays on the architecture of the city.

With the Age of Discovery, Portugal has become one of the most powerful nations of that time; consequently, Lisbon has become one of the most important cities in Europe.

In 1755, an earthquake destroyed the city centre and the city was rebuilt by the 1^st Marques of Pombal, who demolished everything that was left and reconstructed the area according to the modern urban style, creating an area called the “Baixa Pombalina”, which still remains much of its original layout.

Actually, the architecture of Lisbon is one of its best assets, since there you can find several styles as Romanesque, Gothic, Manueline, Baroque, Traditional Portuguese, Modern and Post-Modern coexisting.

The city also hosts several museums that are worthy to visit as Museum of the Portuguese Style-Tile, Calouste Gulbekian Museum, and Lisbon Oceanarium.

Besides this, there are several monuments as Padrão do Descobrimento (a monument built to honour the sailors who faced challenged the oceans), Torre de Belém, Jeronimos Monastery, all placed in the neighbourhood of Belem, in which you can also eat the famous Pastel de Belem.

In 1998, Lisbon hosted the Expo ´98, hence, built a brand new and modern space called Parque das Nações that, after the event finished, has become a multipurpose space. As you can see, there is a lot to do in Lisbon during the day.

In the Historic Centre of Lisbon, you can find the famous neighbourhoods of Alfama, Baixa, Chiado, Bairro Alto, where the best of the nightlife of Lisbon is placed, including the famous "Casas de Fado", which are restaurants where you can eat a proper Portuguese cod-fish, drinking a genuine Portuguese wine, whilst seeing a Fado show. (I’ve already done this and I guarantee that it’s an excellent experience).

My advice is: visit Lisbon, you won’t be disappointed.

Larissa Bona

Why Should Someone Obtain the Portuguese Citizenship? - Part III: To Not Let the Chain Break

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Larissa Bona

Why Should Someone Obtain the Portuguese Citizenship? - Part II: The European Citizenship

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Larissa Bona

Portugal & Qatar - A Re-New Beginning

Source: nuqataropen.wordpress.com

Qatar, a small peninsula in the Gulf, has now become a major international player in the World Market, setting new bench marks in fields of lnnovation, Infrastructure development, LNG, Education and Sports.

With Qatar bidding for the prestigious World Cup 2022, it becomes imperative that this jewel in the pearl of the Gulf has reached new governments to invest in Qatar as the destination of the world.

On a maiden visit to Lisbon in the summers of April 2009, HH Emir of Qatar Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani and Her Royal Consort Sheikha Mozah with the accompanying delegation held official round talks with the Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates and accompanying delegation Minister of State and Foreign Minister Luis Amado, Minister of State and Finance Minister Fernando Teixeira dos Santos and Minister of Economy and lnnovation Manuel Pinho.

A joint statement, agreement and the MoU were signed for Qatar by Minister of Business and Trade H.E. Sheikh Fahad bin Jassem Bin Mohammad Al-Abdurrahman AL-Thani and for Portugal, the Minister of State and Foreign Minister Luis Amado.

A major boost of co-operations signed between the two friendly countries in May 2010 with HE the Premier of Qatar and Portugal Foreign Minister Luis Amado signed an agreement between both the governments on the cancellation of entry visa for holder of diplomatic and special passports. A protocol of co-operation and joint news exchange was also signed.

Recently on 24 October 2010 Qatar welcomed the arrival of Portuguese Minister of Economy and Innovation Jose Vieira da Silva led by a 15 member delegation held bilateral co-operation in sectors as Banking and Finance, Tourism, Telecommunication and Energy. Portugal famed for its historical tourism is also on the anvil which chips in 11% of Portugal's GDP.

It's hoped Qatar takes this promotion in investing in resorts and hotels in Portugal, adding to economic co-operation including Protection of investment and other instruments to be finalized before end of 2010.

According to Mr. da Silva, the time is right for both countries to move beyond government-level relationship to – where company to company partnership can be created.

Portugal is also interested in importing Qatari LNG and a deep sea harbour is currently being developed to receive supplies.

No links can be possible without flight services and therefore, Qatar Airways, currently ruling the skies in being of the most prestigious airline in the world, is also in negotiating to have direct flight between Doha and Lisbon, once all technical issues are completed.

On a closing note, the former deputy PM of Portugal and chairman of Friendship Association Portugal-Qatar Jose Luis Arnaut said, "any relationship between Qatar and Portugal will be a win-win opportunity for both countries.

With the Portuguese Goan community increasing in Middle East, its hoped that the Portuguese authorities may setup a permanent Cultural office in Qatar with facilities of issuing Passports and legal support making it a one stop destination barring restrictions and simple efficient single window system.

Bonding a partnership with Miguel Reis Associados, the proximity between Europe and the Middle East is as close to a mouse click away to help fellow Goan brethren to claim their right of Portuguese Citizenship.

Anthony Peter D'Souza¹

Doha - Qatar

[1] Mr. Anthony Peter D'Souza is a Portuguese citizen of Goan descent, member of the Portuguese community in Qatar and our partner in that country.

Who Is Entitled to the Portuguese Citizenship?

Source: arrastao.org

Every day I receive several e-mails with a very similar content. The person usually begins telling his/her case and then ends up with the "golden question": Am I entitled to the Portuguese citizenship?

Therefore, in today’s post I will answer the “golden question” of most of my clients. Below, those who are entitled to the Portuguese citizenship:

• Children of either Portuguese parents;
• Grandchildren of at least one Portuguese citizen;
• Great grandchildren of at least one Portuguese citizen;
• Spouses of Portuguese citizens, married to them for over 3 years;
•  Women that got married to Portuguese citizens before 1981;
• Civil partners of Portuguese citizens, whose civil union has over 3 years;
• Persons born in the Old Portuguese State of India;
• Persons born in the former Portuguese colonies in Africa, before their independence;
• Persons born in Macau during the Portuguese administration;
• Persons born in East Timor until 1981;
• Stateless persons born in Portugal;
• Those who had lost the Portuguese citizenship;
• Children of foreign citizens, born in the Portuguese territory, whose at least one of the foreign parents is settled in Portugal;
• Children of foreign citizens, born in the Portuguese territory, who lived permanently for 10 years prior to the submission of the application;
• Foreign citizens who are legally settled down in Portugal for at least 6 years.

Remember that the information above is summed up and not sufficient to establish if someone is really entitled to the Portuguese citizenship, because there are some legal requirements that must be met in addition to what is mentioned above.

Consequently, I warn you that the situations above-listed must be faced as just a hint of who may be entitled to the citizenship.

But you should not be worried because I will discuss every single case further on.

Larissa Bona

Portugal: a Country that Has Changed the World

Source: Video posted on Youtube by user jocamar15 (click here to access his page)

I saw this video on Youtube and thought it would be perfect to introduce our new series: History of Portugal.

The Portuguese history has over 2000 years and it is impossible to tell it in a very detailed manner here. Yet, I think it would be nice for the readers to know a little bit more about the history of their ancestors, because Portugal, indeed, was a country that has changed the world, as the title of the video says.

Therefore, I will try to tell a summed up history of Portugal in this blog, not through a deep approach, but listing all relevant events, every 15 days (I do similar thing at Olhar Direito blog, in which I write about the History of Brazil, but in Portuguese and in a more detailed way).

Larissa Bona

Why should someone obtain the Portuguese Citizenship? - Part I: The Portuguese Heritage

Due to technical problems, it was not possible to publish yesterday's post. We apologise for that and inform that such post will be published next Sunday.

Larissa Bona 

Migration

Source: criterionglobal.wordpress.com

Today, I will talk about migration because citizenship and migration are subjects that walk together holding hands, since migration laws always observe the citizenship aspect of the nations, therefore, it is almost impossible to think of them separately.

Besides a lawyer, I am also an International Law scholar and these subjects, along with Human Rights, are my study speciality.

I have already published some articles and two monographies approaching these themes and for this reason I will also use this space to talk about migration, every Saturday, continuing to use easy and simple language with the purpose of not only spreading information, but also to make myself understood for anyone.

Taking this into account, I will begin talking about Portuguese and Brazilian Migration, which are those I have more experience, yet I will try to explain a little bit of the migration rules from other countries as the USA, Canada, the UK and others.

But before analysing the migration laws of each of the above mentioned countries, I will speak a little bit about the concept and history of migration. Below, I provide you some extracts of my work “Laws against illegal migration and Human Rights violation. The case of the Directive Return and Arizona SB 1070”:

Migration is the movement of entrance (immigration) or exit (emigration) of a person or group of persons, usually seeking better life conditions.

I must highlight that migration is not something new, but something as ancient as humankind, once before achieving the “status” of “homo sapiens”, the human beings were already migrating from one side to the other of the globe seeking places which were more favourable to their survival.

Today it is estimated that there are around 214 million migrants in the world. The continent that hosts the biggest amount of migrants is Europe, with around 69.8 million, and the country that individually hosts more migrants is the USA (around 42.8 millions).

According to the International Organization for Migration, this is a phenomenon that reaches not only Europe and the USA, but all countries of the world. This organization also mentions that around 10% to 15% of the migrants are illegal aliens.

Larissa Bona

Tomorrow: Brazil

Portugal & the European Union

Source: Unknown

After the World War II, Europe found itself completely destroyed by the bloody conflict that took place in its territory.

It was obvious that the European countries needed to be reconstructed, but there was also the trauma of the war and the fear for further conflicts.

Despite of the fact the USA was helping with the Marshall Plan, the European nations knew that they could only avoid further conflicts and not being so vulnerable to the American control if they united themselves.

Therefore, Germany, Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg and Netherlands, signed the Treaty of Paris creating the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) in 1951. This was the first step for integration of Europe and the beginning of the European Union.

In 1957, the Treaty of Rome created the European Economic Community (EEC), that is, the Common Market was established, besides creating the European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM) and extending the cooperation period of the ECSC.

In 1965, the Treaty of Brussels, also known as the Merger Treaty, transformed these three communities into one, called the European Community. This treaty also established the European Parliamentary Assembly and the European Council.

In the 70’s, Denmark, Ireland and the UK joined the European Community and, for the first time, direct democratic elections were held to choose the members of the European Parliament.

In 1986, along with Spain, Portugal joined the European Community and, in 1993, due to the Maastricht Treaty, also known as Treaty on European Union, signed in the previous year, the European Union was created, converting the economic union of the European countries into political union.

The biggest accomplishment of this treaty was the creation of something bigger than just an international organisation, because the European Union is the first and only supranational organisation in the world, whose rules legally bind all citizens of the Member States. And why this happens?

The Article 8.1 of the above mentioned treaty establishes the citizenship of the European Union and also determines that “Every person holding the nationality of a Member State shall be a citizen of the Union”.

Besides this, the Article 8a.1 says that “Every citizen of the Union shall have right to move and reside freely within the territory of the Member States...”.

Thus, considering that Portugal is a Member State since 1986, we can come to the conclusion that all Portuguese Citizens are also European Citizens, which means they all have right to move and settle in any country of the EU.

Summing up, holding the Portuguese Citizenship besides an honour, it is also a very good deal.

Larissa Bona

Tomorrow: Migration

The Portuguese Communities

Source: stormfront.org 

As I have spoken previously, Portugal is well known for being the pioneer in the Age of Discovery and for having created the first global empire of history by colonising several territories, which most of people do not even have a clue that were Portuguese territories in the past, and I include myself in this bundle.

When I was researching to write this post, I found out places that were Portuguese territories that I have never imagined they were once occupied by Portugal as Bahrain, enclaves in Indonesia, Mombasa in Kenya, and Nagasaki in Japan!

I have even found out that the Japanese vocabulary has been influenced by the Portuguese idiom! This is really surprising.

Indeed, seven of the territories that once were Portuguese colonies have become countries (Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea Bissau, Mozambique, Sao Tome and Principe and East Timor) and have created, along with Portugal, the Community of the Portuguese Speaking Countries (Comunidade dos Países de Língua Portuguesa – CPLP), which is an international organisation that aims to promote economic and cultural interchange among these countries.

Besides these countries, I would like to highlight the Portuguese communities in India (Goa, Daman and Diu) and in China (Macau), which still have a very expressive number of members who are entitled to the Portuguese citizenship.

The Portuguese people are innate sailors and their adventure spirit have made them travel around the globe and not only populate their own colonies, but also to settle down in several countries like the USA, France, South Africa, Canada, Switzerland, Germany, Spain, Australia, Luxemburg, Belgium, Hong Kong, Netherlands, Andorra, Italy, Bermudas, Zimbabwe, Sweden, Uruguay, Morocco and others.

Personally, I think this is the quality of the Portuguese people that I admire the most because, despite of the fact they come from a very small country, they were able to spread and build their own history in almost every country of the world, without forgetting their roots. You should all be very proud of it.

And I think it is important to talk about the Portuguese communities because they are those who carry the Portuguese blood and, consequently, those who are interested the most in the content of this blog.

Actually, every Thursday will talk about the Portuguese communities around the world. And I take the chance to invite all readers to contribute to this blog by sending texts, about the Portuguese community they are part of, to be published here.

So, if you want to participate, please, send an e-mail to larissa.bona@lawrei.com (put Portuguese Community on the subject) and it will be my pleasure publish your text, because I believe that no one rather than community members themselves have the authority to talk about and promote their own communities.

Larissa Bona

Tomorrow: Portugal & the European Union