herc182

This is the general experience everyone receives at the consultate. I tried to call today. Was on hold for 30mins and gave up. It is the first day back after hols but imagine this is a typical experience. Shame they are a window into the Portuguese yet couldnt be further from the people that reside there (in attitude). In general, Portuguese system is terrible - this is based on years of my parents complaining about it then, after my dad dying, my mothers experience with banks to transfer her name onto the acocunts and remove my dads. "yes, you will need your birth certificate translated from Portuguese into English, then back to Portuguese. This needs to be witnessed by a cloned sheep - its hoof must be present on the birth certificate. After that, mail it to the pope - it MUST be blessed but only on a Tuesday between 1-2pm. This is step 1 of 48. Once complete, come back and we will explain the other 47 steps using mime"

herc182

This is good! I will try my luck in Portugal - we have asked a family friend to make some enquiries locally.

herc182

I may have to take the win as just getting citzenship this time round then travel out again sometime for the ID/ passport (or do it remotely if at all posible...

Ukkram

As with some European countries your parents would have needed to register your birth in Portugal as well as the UK and you would have to have applied for a passport before you turn 20 years old. I was lucky with my kids as the eldest was nearly 20 when we applied. The Finnish consul said that if she had turned 20 then it would have been impossible for citizenship.

Red Eric

I'd be very surprised if you could provide any solid evidence for the omission of any of that that being a bar to a later claim to nationality by descent insofar as Portugal's concerned.

herc182

Hi. I asked for a record of my criminal record from ACRO to help with my cartao cidadão application. It's come back saying they have no data held on their records but also that "this does not constitute a certificate of good character". Is this enough for me to go about translating and (I guess) legalising? Or do I need something else?

Red Eric

That would appear to me to be just the ticket if you're actually required to produce a criminal record check - the Min of Justice website says you are if you're a grandchild of a PT national but it's not on the list of required docs for a child of one.

A criminal record check is different from a certificate of good character - it's the CRC that would be required here if anything. And if it is required, you'd want one from each of the countries in which you've resided since age 16.

herc182

The process is so unclear its frustrating. I just purchased a criminal record certificate (£45). Think THIS is what they need.

herc182

of course with "enhanced delivery" that was actually £54. Then to get that translated. I dont think i need to get that legalised though right?!

mayrig

Hi
Quick question on your quote :

" Conservatória do Registo Civil à escolha (Civil Registry Office of your choice) -- I take it these would be located in Portugal and not in your country of residence?

and

" Extensão da Conservatória dos Registos Centrais localizada no CNAI (Extension of the Central Registry Office located at CNAI) -- Where is this one located? In Lisbon or are there regional offices around Portugal?


How would one go about finding locations of the above and get details of full list of actual documents they require, so that when you approach them you have all documentation that is needed?

Thanks and kind regards

Red Eric

Correct

There's one of them in Porto as well, apparently.

There's a list here of the locations and addresses of the Conservatórias do Registo Civil with this service

Alternatively, use the links on this page Onde Pedir which also includes the other locations where you can do this.

I think the best / only information I can suggest on that score is probably contained in the link already posted at the beginning of the thread.

If that's not specific enough, it'd be a case of doing a bit of delving online or entering into contact with one of the offices or, alternatively, with an immigration and nationality lawyers' office.

liveaboard

My experience is that if you go into an office and ask, they will give you a written list of required documents.
It can take a while to obtain them...
If you're serious about obtaining nationality, I advise you to get professional advise [immigration lawyer] to avoid pitfalls.

mayrig

Thanks very much Red Eric. I was wondering whether there is a hierarchy in these offices.. and whether it would be best to go directly to the highest level... or does it not matter?
I know it would probably best to go through an immigration consultant however I do not know any personally in Portugal, and for the moment financing that service is a little difficult. Hope that situation will be resolved soon.

t the moment I am trying to get information and collect documentation for my grandparents and parents. I would apply in my country of current residence, however their Embassy is inundated with applications and I believe it is quicker to make the application directly in Portugal.

mayrig

Thanks liveaboard. I know it would probably best to go through an immigration consultant as they know the pitfalls and how to get around them, however I do not know any personally in Portugal, and for the moment financing that service is a little difficult. Hoping that situation will be resolved soon.

At the moment I am trying to get information and collect documentation for my grandparents and parents. I would apply in my country of current residence, however their Embassy is inundated with requests and I believe it is quicker to make the application directly in Portugal.

Red Eric

Returning to this now that I've some actual first hand info and because it relates to the enlisting of legal help vs approaching the authorities directly.

So, as I posted above :
..although what I didn't reveal there is that there is a big fly in the ointment in the form of an informal change of surname in childhood due to divorce and remarriage of her mother. This has never seemed to present her with major difficulties in the past with regard to getting eg her driving licence or passport issued in the name she uses but of course it does leave her with a mismatch between the name on the birth certificate and the name on all her other documents and id and no single document to explain that, as the change wasn't done via adoption or deed poll or any other legal process.

Anyhow, as she's living outside the EU at the mo' and getting a bit antsy about the implications of Brexit on her future movements, she charged ahead with kicking off the process of acquiring PT citizenship through parentage by making enquiries of a Lisbon law firm (not sure why she thought that was the best place to start but I guess she probably just wanted to put the whole thing in somebody else's hands to deal with and didn't want to bother us). There followed a lengthy list of requirements for documents because according to their prescribed route, the mother's civil registry entries, which currently stop long ago at the first marriage, have to be brought up to date in order to facilitate the daughter's citizenship request because of the names issue. I won't bore you with the full details but what would appear on the surface to be a fairly simple matter of lodging a couple of divorce and marriage certificates, duly translated and apostilled because those events took place outside the EU, actually turn out on further examination to be much more arduous, on account of the other supporting documents required. And on top of that, in order for the divorces to be recognised here, they need to be processed via a court. I'm not easily put off by a bit of document-gathering and paperwork but this all looked more than a bit daunting and could have been a blind alley anyway in terms of either getting the right docs or getting the citizenship approved in the end (which, according to the lawyers, was no certainty).

So, having got some of the most essential evidence together we asked the daughter to call a temporary halt on the lawyer activities and visited the local registry office to ask for a 2nd opinion. They couldn't have been more helpful, even though they don't have a specialist nationality section there. Nevertheless, the officer dealing with us asked all the right questions, quickly got the salient details, furrowed the brow at the right point over the name change etc but made it clear that the mother's incomplete registry record and the daughter's citizenship are 2 entirely separate matters and that the one is not dependent on the other. She offered to contact the experts in another office for a pre-assessment on our behalf and duly came back with a response a day or two later which is essentially that the daughter simply needs to complete a delegation of authority for her mother to act on her behalf through the embassy in her country of residence, and with a translation and originals of one or two of the documents we already have, we're good to go. Name change acepted without further ado on the basis of what's there.

So, assuming that turns out to be the case (and I'll update this thread when I know), we've saved a load of hassle, a possible wild goose chase in terms of actually being able to get together all the required papers, and a not inconsiderable amount of money in lawyers' fees and court and other administrative costs by approaching the very people I would have gone to in the first instance.

One up for making the direct approach. Apologies for the slightly long-winded post - I thought I'd share the experience on account of discussions here and elsewhere which suggest professional help is always the best option or that the authorities are unapproachable, unhelpful or lacking in proficiency. It remains to be seen, of course, whether things progress to a successful conclusion along the lines of what we've been told so far.