The children who are born abroad, if one of the parents is Portuguese, are entitled to Portuguese nationality by origin.
This means that, after obtaining nationality, they will be able to pass the Portuguese nationality to their family, namely their spouses and their own children.
Previous procedures?
- Locate the birth certificate of the Portuguese father / mother in Portugal.
- If the marriage of the Portuguese father / mother was celebrated abroad it is necessary to transcribe that marriage to Portugal to establish the affiliation (there are some exceptions to this rule).
What are the conditions?
- Verify the establishment of affiliation during the applicant’s minority under the Portuguese law in force on the date of birth.
- Declare that you want to be Portuguese.
Necessary documents:
(this is a purely informative and indicative list, subject to change in specific cases, including depending on the date of the applicant’s birth)
- Birth certificate of the Portuguese ancestor;
- Applicant’s birth certificate (this certificate must be a copy of the book) – legalized at the Portuguese Consulate or with the Hague Apostille;
- Certified copy of the applicant’s identification document proving nationality – legalized at the Portuguese Consulate or with the Hague Handout.
In theory it is a simple process as it only requires the Declaration of will of the Applicant and documents of the applicant and his / her parent, but in practice it is necessary to prove the establishment of affiliation during the applicant’s minority under the Portuguese law in force on the date of birth, bearing in mind that in the last decades many changes were made to the civil registry law and therefore each case must be analyzed carefully.
In addition to the question of affiliation, it is necessary to carefully determine where to start the process. Depending on the place of birth of the parent, the Civil Registry Offices with the jurisdiction to proceed may be different, although it is true that, in general, consulates / embassies are also able to prepare these processes, they are becoming less and less a viable option due to the extreme delay the increased bureaucracy / requirements in relation to what the law asks and what is practiced in Portugal.
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