In 2015, the Portuguese parliament legislated an amendment to the Citizenship Law, which guarantees the acquisition of Portuguese citizenship for all those that are descendants of Jews deported from the Iberian-Peninsula region during the amount of the Inquisition- Sephardic Jews.
It was during this era, within the 15th century, when the King of Spain signed a decree that forced all Jews to go away the country as quickly as possible, otherwise, they might be killed. Many Jews fled and settled within the neighboring country, Portugal. As a consequence, the Jewish population became about 10% of the Portuguese population at the time.
Four years later, the heir of Spain- Isabel de Aragão, married the king of Portugal, Manuel I. With the union of the royal families, there was pressure on the king of Portugal to expel the Jews who lived within the country. during this way, Manuel I forced all Jews to convert to Christianity, otherwise, they might be exiled and even killed.
Jews who were expelled or fled on their own ended up settling in several countries, like Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Greece, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, and lots of others. At an equivalent time, there are many other countries which will be linked to the deportation from Spain, like Iraq, Bulgaria, countries in South America, Netherlands, Romania, Germany, and Hungary.
the fact that you simply don't appear on the list of nations recognized as destinations for Jews deported from Spain, that doesn't mean that you simply aren't a descendant of those people. In these cases, however, checking eligibility for a Portuguese passport is often a touch more complex. If you're Jewish and have family origins within the countries mentioned above, we are prepared to start your process of obtaining Portuguese citizenship!
