Jus sanguinis grandchild — neto attribution (Art 1(1)(d), Art 1(3)) [TIGHTENED W7]

PT-DSC-02 is the route by which a person born abroad acquires Portuguese nationality as an original national (português originário) on the strength of a grandparent (avô / avó) — that is, a second-degree direct-line ascendant (ascendente do 2.º grau na linha reta) — who is or was a Portuguese national of origin and who has not lost that nationality. In Portuguese practice the beneficiary is the neto (grandchild).

Two features make this route distinctive and load-bearing for the whole descent architecture:

1. It is atribuição, not concessão. Since LO 9/2015 the grandchild route sits in Art 1.º (attribution of original nationality), not in Art 6.º (naturalisation by Government grant). The legal consequence is decisive: the neto who succeeds is a Portuguese national of origin, with effects ex tunc (from birth, Art 11.º). This is what allows the neto's own children to claim as filhos de português originário under Art 1.º n.º 1 alínea c), and it is the structural fact that the great-grandchild (bisneto) route — PT-DSC-03, Art 6.º n.º 8 naturalisation — deliberately does not replicate.

2. LO 1/2026 substantially tightened it. The route survived the 2026 reform (it was not revoked, unlike the Sephardic route), but a new Art 1.º n.º 3 now subjects the grandchild attribution to the full integration battery of Art 6.º n.º 1 alíneas c) to h) — Portuguese language and culture/history/national symbols; knowledge of fundamental rights/duties and the political organisation of the State; a solemn declaration of adherence to democratic rule-of-law principles; no conviction to effective imprisonment exceeding three years for the enumerated crimes; no security threat; and no UN/EU restrictive measures. The prior standard (LO 1/2024 era, W6) was narrower — essentially language plus the absence of a serious conviction. The route remains originária in nature, but the bar to qualify is now markedly higher.

The route is therefore best understood as a descent route that the 2026 reform retained but re-gated: the family-link gateway (a grandparent who is a Portuguese national of origin) is unchanged, but the applicant must now clear the same substantive integration thresholds that ordinary naturalisation applicants face under the c)-h) alíneas — without, however, any residence requirement (residence is alínea b), which Art 1.º n.º 3 does not import).

---

A person qualifies for PT-DSC-02 (originária attribution as neto) where all of the following are satisfied (new-application standard under W7 / LO 1/2026):

1. Birth abroad. The applicant was born outside Portuguese territory (a child born in Portugal of a Portuguese parent falls under PT-DSC-01 / Art 1.º n.º 1 a)-c), not this route).

2. A qualifying grandparent. At least one second-degree direct-line ascendant (grandparent — avô or avó) holds Portuguese nationality and has not lost it. The grandparent must be a português whose nationality is originária (Portuguese national of origin); per the Evidence Table (PT-ASSERT-DSC-004) and the LO 9/2015 text, the ascendant must not have lost the nationality. (Where the intervening parent is themselves a Portuguese national of origin, the applicant is a filho and uses PT-DSC-01 — the neto route is for the case where the link runs through the grandparent.)

3. Declaration of will. The applicant declares the wish to be Portuguese (declararem que querem ser portugueses) — the route is not automatic; it requires a positive declaração lodged with the IRN/CRC.

4. Effective ties to the national community. The applicant possesses laços de efetiva ligação à comunidade nacional (effective connection to the Portuguese national community). This is a substantive, evidenced requirement, distinct from the integration battery and assessed on the facts.

5. The Art 6.º n.º 1 c)-h) integration battery (NEW, W7). Per Art 1.º n.º 3, the applicant must additionally satisfy:

• c) Portuguese language (≥A2 CIPLE) and culture/national history/national symbols;
• d) knowledge of fundamental rights/duties and the State's political organisation;
• e) the solemn democratic-rule-of-law declaration;
• f) no final conviction to effective imprisonment exceeding 3 years for the enumerated crimes (rebuttable presumption, Art 6.º n.º 14);
• g) no grounded threat to national security/defence;
• h) not subject to UN/EU restrictive measures (Lei 97/2017).

Not required: majority (alínea a), residence (alínea b — 7/10y), or subsistence capacity (alínea i). The route imports only c)-h).

Temporal note (transitional). Applications pending with the IRN before 2026-05-19 (electronic submission date as the operative anchor, per the IRN note and LO 1/2026 Art 7.º transitional rule) continue under the prior redação — i.e. the narrower LO 1/2024 standard (language + absence of a serious conviction), without the full c)-h) battery. New declarações lodged from 2026-05-19 face the full Art 1.º n.º 3 battery.

---

• Proof of the grandparent's Portuguese nationality of origin and that it has not been lost: Portuguese birth/baptism record, assento de nascimento, or Portuguese civil-registry certificate establishing the grandparent as português originário.
• The two intervening lineal links: the applicant's birth record and the parent's birth record establishing the direct line neto → progenitor → avô/avó português (2.º grau na linha reta). Where a parent's nationality status is itself contested, the STA 01831/14.0BELSB analysis on retroactive originário reclassification (LO 9/2015 Art 2.º) may be decisive.

Effective-ties evidence (laços de efetiva ligação)

Integration battery (Art 6.º n.º 1 c)-h), via Art 1.º n.º 3) — NEW

• Language (c): CIPLE certificate at A2 CEFR (CAPLE / Universidade de Lisboa) or a recognised equivalent (e.g. Portuguese school-leaving certificate). The mechanism (CIPLE) is unchanged by LO 1/2026.

• Criminal record (f): Portuguese and home-country criminal-record certificates; the bar is a final conviction to effective imprisonment >3 years for the enumerated crimes, operating as a rebuttable presumption assessed by the MP (Art 6.º n.º 14). Threshold per Declaração de Retificação 17/2026.

• Security (g) / restrictive measures (h): screened by the competent authorities; no separate applicant document beyond the standard declarations.

Authorities and procedure (summary — full process in §Process and Authorities)

• File the declaração with the IRN / Conservatória dos Registos Centrais (CRC).

---

1. Assemble the family-link dossier. Obtain the grandparent's Portuguese civil-registry record establishing nationality of origin not lost; the parent's and the applicant's birth records establishing the 2.º-grau direct line; foreign documents legalised/apostilled and translated.
2. Assemble the integration evidence (W7). CIPLE A2 certificate (or equivalent); criminal-record certificates (PT + home country); culture/history/symbols and civics proof per the forthcoming Regulamento; prepare to make the solemn declaration. Compile evidence of laços de efetiva ligação à comunidade nacional.
3. Lodge the declaração with the IRN / Conservatória dos Registos Centrais (CRC) — the single national nationality registry. The operative date for which legal regime applies is the IRN electronic submission date (≤ 18-05-2026 → prior W6 standard; from 19-05-2026 → full c)-h) battery).
4. Assessment. The CRC/IRN verifies the family link, the declaração, the effective-ties requirement, and the Art 6.º n.º 1 c)-h) conditions. The criminal bar (f) is assessed by the Ministério Público as a rebuttable presumption weighing the nature/circumstances of the crime, time elapsed, rehabilitation and genuine integration (Art 6.º n.º 14).
5. Registration with ex tunc effect. Because the route is originária (Art 1.º), a successful attribution takes effect from birth (Art 11.º) — load-bearing for onward transmission to the neto's own children as filhos de português originário (Art 1.º n.º 1 c)).
6. Appeals. Refusals are challenged before the administrative courts, ultimately the Supremo Tribunal Administrativo (STA) — not the civil courts/STJ (post-LO 2/2006). The STA reserva-de-lei line (Proc. 0219/10) bars the administration from importing unlegislated conditions.

Authorities: Assembleia da República (legislator, reserva absoluta) · Ministério da Justiça · IRN / Conservatória dos Registos Centrais (CRC) · Ministério Público (oposição / Art 6.º n.º 14 assessment) · Tribunal Constitucional (preventive review of the reform) · Supremo Tribunal Administrativo (appeals). AIMA handles residence titles generally but is not the deciding authority for this attribution (the neto route imports no residence requirement).

---

Pillar 1 — the family-link gateway (Art 1.º n.º 1 alínea d), introduced by LO 9/2015). The LO 9/2015 enacting text of alínea d) reads (per src-B1-13, pgdlisboa T1):

"Os indivíduos nascidos no estrangeiro com, pelo menos, um ascendente de nacionalidade portuguesa do 2.º grau na linha reta que não tenha perdido essa nacionalidade, se declararem que querem ser portugueses, possuírem laços de efetiva ligação à comunidade nacional e [verificados os demais requisitos]."

In plain terms, the neto qualifies where: (i) born abroad; (ii) at least one second-degree direct-line ascendant (grandparent) holds Portuguese nationality and has not lost it; (iii) the applicant declares the wish to be Portuguese; and (iv) the applicant possesses laços de efetiva ligação à comunidade nacional (effective ties to the national community).

Pillar 2 — the 2026 tightening (Art 1.º n.º 3, new under LO 1/2026). The new número 3 cross-references the integration parameters of Art 6.º. The verbatim legislative text (per src-B1-01, the LO 1/2026 reproduction) is:

"A atribuição da nacionalidade portuguesa ao abrigo da alínea d) do n.º 1 pressupõe o preenchimento dos requisitos constantes das alíneas c) a h) do n.º 1 do artigo 6.º."

That is: grandchild attribution under alínea d) presupposes fulfilment of the requirements set out in alíneas c) to h) of Art 6.º n.º 1. This is the single most important change to the route in 2026 and the basis of PT-VC-007.

The Art 6.º n.º 1 c)-h) battery imported into Art 1.º n.º 3

Under LO 1/2026 (republished Lei 37/81), the imported alíneas are (per S-EXA-PGDL-ART6 T1 / src-B1-10 T2):

Why originária matters — the channeling architecture

LO 9/2015 did two things at once (per src-B1-13, src-B1-08):

1. It upgraded the grandchild route from the former Art 6.º n.º 4 naturalisation (concessão) to Art 1.º n.º 1 d) attribution (originária).
2. By Art 2.º (retroactivity) it reclassified persons who had previously naturalised under the old Art 6.º n.º 4 neto grant as originários, retroactively.

The downstream consequence (the channeling structure, per src-B1-11 Valadas Coriel, and PT-ASSERT-DSC-009): once the grandparent is an originário, the parent becomes a filho de português originário who can transmit under Art 1.º n.º 1 c) — so the next generation does not need the neto route at all; they are simply children of a Portuguese national. The neto route is the gateway that, once entered, converts the whole downward line into ordinary jus-sanguinis transmission. The bisneto route (Art 6.º n.º 8) exists precisely as the fallback for great-grandchildren who cannot use that intervening chain and must instead naturalise with 5 years' residence.

Apex jurisprudence

STA Proc. 0219/10 (0219/10.6BEPRT, 1.ª Secção, 14-02-2019) is the reserva-de-lei backstop: the administration cannot read unlegislated conditions (e.g. a "portugueses de origem"-only restriction) into the nationality law, because acquisition conditions are reserved to the Assembleia da República under CRP Art 164.º f). This confines the IRN/CRC to implementing — not supplementing — Art 1.º n.º 1 d) and Art 1.º n.º 3 (per S-A2-20/S-E1-25).

Constitutional/competence anchor. Nationality is the exclusive, non-delegable competence of the Assembleia da República (CRP Art 164.º f), exercisable only by organic law (Art 166.º n.º 2). The Azores and Madeira confer no separate nationality and apply no different rules (Art 225.º n.º 3). There is one national registry — the Conservatória dos Registos Centrais (CRC) via the IRN. Appeals lie to the administrative courts / STA (since LO 2/2006), not the civil courts/STJ (per PT-ASSERT-XCT-010, S-A2-01/02/03, S-E1-22).

---