Portuguese Citizenship by Marriage

Overview

You must submit the following documents to apply for citizenship in Portugal through marriage:

• Duly completed and signed citizenship application form. For citizenship by marriage, you must fill in form ‘Model 3’
• Your birth certificate
• Your Portuguese spouse’s/civil partner’s birth certificate (can be waived if you provide the registry office’s name, year and registration number of their birth certificate in Portugal)
• Your marriage certificate to a Portuguese national (can be waived if you provide the registry office’s name, year and registration number of the certificate in Portugal)
• Copy of your spouse’s or partner’s Portuguese passport and Identification card
• In case of a civil partnership, please submit:
  • The certificate of the court sentence recognising that you and your Portuguese citizen civil partner have lived in conditions similar to married couples for more than three years
  • A declaration made by your Portuguese citizen civil partner, confirming that you continue to live in a civil partnership, made within three months prior to the date of your citizenship application
• Proof of your current nationality
• Your criminal record, if any, issued by your country of residence and/or any other foreign countries where you have lived from the age of 16
• Documents proving the type of non-technical public functions you perform in another country (if applicable)
• Documents proving the non-compulsory military service you have performed in another country (if applicable)
• Documents proving your Portuguese language knowledge, such as:
  • Diploma issued by a Portuguese public or private school
  • Certificate of approval in examination conducted by an approved institution
  • Certificate of approval in examination issued by the relevant Portuguese embassy or consulate if the applicant was living abroad at the time of their application
  • Certificate of proficiency in Portuguese as foreign language issued by an accredited Portuguese language evaluation centre
  • Diploma issued by a public or private school in any of the Portuguese-speaking countries if the applicant has studied there
• Proofs of your connection with the Portuguese community, such as
  • A declaration from your employers or Social Security
  • Your salary receipts
  • Your IRS declaration
  • Details of your children born or registered in Portugal
  • Your utility bills in Portugal
  • Your house rent agreements or receipts in Portugal
• A declaration for the acquisition of Portuguese nationality, signed either in the presence of one of the Registry employees at the time of submitting the application, or before someone with powers to recognise the signature if you are sending your application by post
• A request addressed to the Minister of Justice, written in Portuguese, stating:
• • Why do you ask for Portuguese nationality (and any other circumstances that you consider will support your case)
  • Your full name, date of birth, marital status, nationality, profession, address, parents’ names, country(ies) where you lived before Portugal, full name and address of your legal representatives (if applicable), and the number, date and entity that issued your title or residence permit, passport or equivalent identification document(s)
  • This application must be signed either in the presence of one of the Registry employees at the time of submitting the application, or before someone with powers to recognise the signature if you are sending your application by post

Note that the above list is by no means exhaustive in nature. IRN may ask you for additional documents based on your personal circumstances. Plus, if your original documents are not in either Portuguese or English, you will have to get them translated by an approved translator at your own cost. All documents will also have to be legalised if your country of nationality is not a member of the Hague Apostille Convention (1961).

Scenarios When Your Effective Connection to the Portuguese Community Is Recognised Automatically

Your connection with the Portuguese community will be automatically recognised if, on the date of your application for acquiring Portugal citizenship by marriage, you:

• Have been married or in a civil partnership for at least six years, or
• Are married/in a civil partnership for at least five years AND can prove knowledge of the Portuguese language at the A2 level or higher, or
• Are married/in a civil partnership for at least five years AND were born in and is a citizen of a Portuguese-speaking country, or
• Have children with your Portuguese citizen/civil partner, who are Portuguese nationals, or
• Have resided in Portugal lawfully for at least five years, or
• Have resided in Portugal lawfully for at least three years AND are studying in Portugal or have knowledge of the Portuguese language at A2 level or higher

How to Register Your Marriage or Civil Partnership in Portugal

If you have been married outside Portugal but are now living in the country, you will need to apply to the Conservatória dos Registos Centrais or the Central Registry Office in person.

If you are residing abroad at the time of your application, you may apply at your nearest Portuguese embassy or consulate. The Portuguese embassy/consulate will send you a certification of registration within 2-3 months of your registration. However, at least one of the spouses must be present in Portugal for this process which is officially known as “transcription of marriage celebrated abroad”.

If you are in a civil partnership with a Portuguese citizen, you must have juridical recognition of your de facto union in Portugal. If your relationship was initiated aboard, a Portuguese court of competent jurisdiction will have to investigate. Based on the findings of their investigation, the court may approve the deed or sentence recognising your de facto union.

If you have got married in Portugal or formed your civil partnership there, you can disregard this step, and straightway start applying for your Portuguese citizenship.

Portuguese Citizenship Application Process: Online, In-Person, or by Post

You can apply for Portuguese citizenship in person, by post, or online. To apply online, you must have an eligible legal representative who will be applying on your behalf. Your lawyer or solicitor must:

• Be registered with their respective professional bodies in Portugal
• Authenticate themselves on the IRN website with their digital certificate
• Have an active digital signature

Otherwise, you can submit your completed citizenship application form, fee receipt and supporting documents in person at any of the offices mentioned below:

• Institute of Registration and Notary Affairs at the National Support Centre for the Integration of Migrants (CNAIM) in Lisbon or Porto
• Registry Spaces in Lisbon, on Avenida Fontes Pereira de Melo, on the Campus da Justiça and in Benfica
• Central Registry Office in Lisbon
• A Nationality Desk
• Odivelas Citizens’ Shop
• Any Civil Registry offices
• Portuguese consulate in your home country if you are living abroad at the time of your application

Alternatively, you can send your citizenship application by post. You will first have to download the relevant form from the IRN website, and fill up the same according to the instructions provided thereof.

After completing the application form, please sign the same and send it along with all supporting documents and the fee payment receipt/bank cheque to the Central Registry Office in Portugal, located at the following address:

Conservatória dos Registos Centrais

Rua Rodrigo da Fonseca, 202

1099-033 Lisbon, Portugal

Take a Portuguese Culture and Language Test

Portugal does not require you to pass a formal citizenship test. However, you may need to take a Portuguese culture and language test depending on your circumstances to prove your proficiency in Portuguese. This test is called the Certificado Inicial de Português Língua Estrangeira (CIPLE) exam.

You can take the CIPLE exam for a fee of €85 at any Portuguese-approved testing centre. You will be tested for your reading and writing (40%), listening (30-35%), and speaking (25-30%) skills in Portuguese at a basic A2 level. To pass, you need to score at least 55% overall.

However, if you have been married to your Portuguese spouse for five years or longer, you do not need to prove your language skills to obtain citizenship in Portugal.

Plus, you will be exempt from taking the CIPLE exam if you meet any of the following:

• You have attended free language and culture classes offered by the Portuguese government
• You can show certificates or diplomas from Portuguese classes you passed
• You went to school in Portugal
• Your college degree is in Portuguese (and you can provide college transcripts to prove that)
• You have letters from your employers saying you use Portuguese at work
• You are from a Portuguese-speaking country
• You have a certificate stating that you have a higher level of knowledge in Portuguese than A2 (B1, B2, C1 or C2)
• You are aged over 60, have a mental handicap, or are illiterate
• You have a serious ailment or handicap preventing you from taking the test even in an adapted version