Portuguese citizenship is a prestigious status of a European Union citizen, which opens access to a wide range of opportunities such as freedom of movement, residence, work and study in the 27 EU countries. Foreigners usually acquire citizenship through ordinary naturalization, that is, after long residence in the state as a resident and compliance with integration rules. Citizenship is also granted through marriage, in special cases such as Sephardic descent or participation in Portuguese communities abroad.

Portugal's passport ranks third in the world's power rankings, and allows free travel almost anywhere in the world, from the United States to China. The Portuguese Republic provides citizens with various social guarantees and preferences like status transfer by inheritance and consular protection abroad.

What gives a passport of Portugal?

Obtaining citizenship in Portugal is leading to benefits such as:

• visa-free travel to more than 160 countries around the world, including all of North and South America, Europe, Australia and most of Asia;
• living in a favorite European Union country with your family without additional requirements or time limits;
• conducting business activities on a global level due to the country's membership in organizations such as the WTO, EU and OECD;
• access to quality medicine by private policy or at the expense of the state (by paying contributions to the Social Insurance Fund);
• access to services at popular European banks, from international transfers to low-interest loans;
• official work in the Republic and other EU countries, including those where the average salary is 3000-4000 EUR per month;
• passport issuance also for children, and for spouse - opening of a residence permit and accelerated naturalization in the future;
• free education in prestigious universities, whose diplomas are recognized all over the world;
• general civil guarantees such as social support and financial benefits according to status.

In a simplified procedure it is possible to obtain the rights of a Portuguese citizen with a passport of another EU country, issued under an accelerated procedure. A second citizenship is available to you in just 4-12 months with the support of Immigrantinlaw's international law specialists.

Conditions for obtaining Portuguese citizenship

In order to apply for Portuguese citizenship and obtain a passport, you must have a connection with the country, according to one of the articles of the law “Lei da Nacionalidade”. For example, you can have at least one ancestor from Portugal, belong to the Sephardim (descendants of Jews forcibly expelled from the Republic in the XV-XVII centuries), demonstrate special services to the state or have lived in the country with integration into society (naturalization).

Requirements for the applicant for citizenship

On any of the grounds other than the unconditional right of birth, those wishing to acquire Portuguese citizenship need to be:

• capable of legal capacity (or have a legal representative);
• of legal age (children are represented by their parents or guardians);
• law-abiding (no criminal record and no threat to the country).

Additional requirements depend on the reason for obtaining a passport in Portugal. The most conditions are stipulated for naturalization, and the least for birth/nativity. A request for citizenship is rejected if it is against the national interest. Example - the applicant is serving in the armed forces of another state, is found to have links with terrorists or provides untruthful information about him/herself.

Documents

The widest list of documents for Portuguese citizenship you have to provide in the case of naturalization. The dossier includes:

• Identity card (usually a passport is used for traveling abroad);
• civil status certificates (birth, marriage or divorce if applicable);
• a personally completed citizenship application in Portuguese addressed to the Minister of Justice;
• proof of your language level, such as a certificate of completion of an appropriate test;
• receipt of the administrative fee for the processing of the request (250 EUR in 2024);
• criminal record certificates issued in the countries of your birth and/or citizenship and permanent residence (from the age of 16).

Documents obtained abroad must be translated into Portuguese and notarized.

Ways of obtaining Portuguese citizenship

Citizenship can be obtained by birth, ethnicity, marriage to a Portuguese or many years of residence in Portugal. The most common way for foreigners without local roots is naturalization, which is suitable for all those who plan to move to the republic for permanent residence.

It is impossible to buy Portuguese citizenship in any way. A passport is not granted even for large investments in the economy of the republic or when buying real estate (residential or commercial). When investing funds, you can only count on the opening of a residence permit and the usual procedure of naturalization.

Naturalization

A Portuguese passport by naturalization is granted to those who:

• have reached the age of 18;
• have been legally residing in the Republic for at least 5 years;
• have A2 level of Portuguese;
• does not have a criminal record of 3 years or more;
• does not pose a threat to the state.

First you open a national visa and a Portuguese residence permit on one of the legal grounds for relocation. For the next five years, you need to maintain a reason to live in the country and regularly renew your residency card. Once the period of sedentism (residency) has been met, you request citizenship if you meet the other conditions.

To start the naturalization process, you can obtain a Portuguese residence permit for the purposes of:

• Work.
  You sign an employment contract with a Portuguese employer, come to the local branch of an international company as a seconded specialist or as part of an intra-corporate transfer.
• Study.
  You enroll in a Portuguese university, participate in an intra-EU student mobility program or international student exchange offers.
• Business.
  You start a new company (you can buy the shares of an existing company) or implement a start-up idea with the approval of the authorities and the support of licensed incubators.
• Self-employment.
  You provide services as a self-employed person if you can prove your specialization with documentation and, if necessary, nostrification of your diploma.
• Investment.
  You invest in the economy of the country from 250 to 500 thousand EUR, depending on the field, e.g., purchase of securities, expansion of existing companies or donations to a research organization.
• Living at your own expense.
  You declare a desire to live in the country and support yourself through remote (e.g., online work for a foreign company) or passive (as a landlord or pensioner) income.
• Specific activities.
  You can relocate as a digital nomad, a researcher, a religious worker, a highly skilled professional, provided you meet the appropriate requirements for each basis.
• Family reunification.
  You move to Portugal as a spouse, child or parent of a local citizen or resident (holder of a permanent residence permit or an immigration-type residence permit), provided that you have a place to live in the country and financially secured.

Birthright

The status of citizen is automatically granted to a child born in the Republic, at least one of whose parents is Portuguese. In the case of children born abroad, it is necessary for the parents to obtain a certificate through the Portuguese Registry Office. Also, the child may later declare his/her desire to acquire citizenship if his/her mother or father has not done so.

A child born in Portugal to a foreign family is granted the nationality of his or her parents. The exception is children whose mother or father were also born in the Republic, regardless of their current documents. Also, a passport is granted without additional conditions to a child from a family of stateless persons (stateless persons).

Origin

If you have at least one Portuguese ancestor in your family up to and including the second degree of consanguinity in the ascending line (i.e., grandparents), you are eligible to obtain a passport in the Republic. You need to prove that you have ties to the Portuguese community, including knowledge of the national language at a level from A2. You also provide civil status certificates that prove your connection to a relevant relative. There are no additional requirements.

Through marriage

If you have been legally married to a Portuguese citizen for at least 3 years, you can obtain a local passport by declaration (application). You will not have to pass a language test or demonstrate income. The acquired citizenship is retained even in case of divorce, unless it is proven that the marriage was a sham.

Special cases

Portuguese citizenship is also available to:

• members of overseas recognized Portuguese communities who practice and disseminate the values and traditions of the national culture;
• those who have rendered significant service to the state or national community (to be determined on a case-by-case basis);
• descendants of Sephardic Jews who have been legally residing in the country for a cumulative period of 3 years or more (permanently or intermittently).

It is possible to live in Portugal with the same rights as citizens of the country if you have a European Union passport. In some EU states citizenship is granted without taking an integration exam, providing proof of income, mandatory residence before or after obtaining the status. You can find out more information from an Immigrantinlaw lawyer during a free consultation.

How to obtain Portuguese citizenship: stages of obtaining a passport

1. Determining a legitimate reason to move and preparing a dossier.
   You choose how you can move to Portugal, e.g., by getting a job in a local company or by marrying a Portuguese citizen/resident. It is worth comparing the conditions of different immigration programs, making sure that you meet all the requirements of the procedure, and then collect the necessary documents.
2. Obtaining an entry permit with the D symbol.
   You make an appointment at the Portuguese consular office in your home country, visit it and submit a visa request together with a package of documents. If approved, you will have an entry permit pasted in your passport for travel abroad, which is valid for 4 months.
3. Issuance of a temporary resident card.
   You come to Portugal, collect the documents for a residence permit, make an appointment at the Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum (AIMA, Agência para a Integração, Migrações e Asilo). On the appointed day, come and request a residence permit on the basis used to open the visa.
4. Residence with a residence permit and its renewal.
   You retain the reason to reside legally in Portugal for five years, and periodically renew your temporary residence card by re-applying to AIMA, including through the electronic office. Renewal of the residence card must be requested on average every 12-36 months (depending on the type of document).
5. Passing the language test.
   You take the special Portuguese language test PAN (Prova do Conhecimento da Língua Portuguesa para Aquisição da Nacionalidade) by appointment through the website of the Institute for Educational Evaluation. You do not need to take the exam if you have citizenship in a Portuguese-speaking country or have completed an education cycle in the Republic.
6. Submitting a request for citizenship.
   You go to the National Center for Supporting the Integration of Migrants or the nearest civil registry office in your place of residence in Portugal to apply for citizenship status (an appointment may be required). You will need to pay the state fee and provide documents proving the grounds for citizenship.
7. Obtaining citizenship status.
   You can track the progress of your request online on the website of the General Secretariat of the Ministry of Justice. After the request is approved, the authorities issue a decree granting you citizenship and entering the information in the civil registers.

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Dual citizenship with other countries

There are no dual citizenship treaties between Portugal and other countries. With Brazil, the Republic has concluded a status of mutual recognition of rights and obligations, which in fact entitles citizens of both countries to enjoy the privileges due to each of them, for example, to work or study without having to obtain another passport.

At the same time, Portugal recognizes multiple citizenship and does not require those who obtain a local passport to renounce a similar document in their home country and in other countries. The main thing is that this situation does not contradict the laws of your home country. For each of the countries, you will be considered only a local citizen in the relevant legal field.

To learn more about how to obtain citizenship of Portugal or other European Union countries, it is worth signing up for a free consultation with migration specialists. Specialized lawyers will check your request and recommend the best programs for obtaining the desired status. Step-by-step support of specialists is a guarantee of a successful result and your minimal involvement in the procedure.

Immigrantinlaw lawyers are thoroughly versed in the peculiarities of international law, which allows you to quickly, easily and simply obtain a second passport in the European Union and get many new life prospects for work, business, study and travel.

About the author

Diana Weber

Lawyer of international law

Diane Weber is an international law specialist with 10 years of legal practice experience. Her portfolio includes successful stories of citizenship in different European Union countries under simplified procedures. Diana provides detailed advice and helps many people to achieve their immigration goals in a short period of time, including resolving visa issues, assisting in obtaining residence permits and citizenship in the EU countries. In her blog, Diana Weber enjoys providing readers with detailed information about the features of most popular programs for obtaining a second passport.