Please feel free to view our Forum, but you must either LOGIN or REGISTER to join in the conversation.
In case it's of use to others, I thought I'd log my process (and update on progress) regarding my citizenship application here. It should not be viewed as advice, so much as an account of my process and experience...
I'm using the "resident for more than 5 years" route - my paper trail said I'd been legally resident since 15 January 2018, so I lined up the application and submitted it on 26 January 2023.
Pre-planning
I began my planning around 3 months prior, primarily relying on the attached document provided by British in Portugal. (It is not British-specific in most regards - and I cannot vouch for its accuracy beyond using it myself.)
I also sought rapid legal advice, to check for any common errors to avoid, etc - essentially, this confirmed that provided I had all the right documents, timescales, etc, there was no specific need to use a lawyer. (If your Portuguese is limited, or if you have special circumstances, this may differ for you, of course.)
Prior to starting any of this...
... was the language work. I am not an expert in the various routes to these - I sat an exam in Lisbon, following one to one tuition over the previous 3 years, and thus had that certificate for this process.
Documents needing extra-Portugal work
Two of the required documents required contact outside of Portugal, so I began this 2 months out, so they'd have time to get done, but be in date for use in the process. These were:
- Apostilled Birth Certificate (as the UK documents are, essentially, always copies)
- Police Check (in the UK, from ACRO)
Both, in the case of the UK at least, have online processes. For the Birth Certificate, this involved posting my "original" to the relevant government office for them to create and affix the apostille and return it. For the Police Check, the process was entirely online. Both elements had fees - I believe they were £30 for the Apostilled Birth Certificate and £55 for the Police Check, perhaps plus small postage charges. These took longer than the relevant services estimated, but were back within a month, approximately.
Translation of documents
Two documents required certified translations. These are the same two as above - the Birth Certificate and the Police Check. I sought advice from our local notary about translators, and they gave me a local contact. Within three working days, she had done her work, and we met at the notary for her to sign the certifications. The fee to the translator was €25 per document, including her visit to the notary; and the notary fee was €20.24 + IVA per document.
Certification of documents
All documents submitted, unless originals (not a good idea for anything you might need again - so in my case, I only submitted the Police Check original) need to be certified copies. I did this in the same visit to the notary as the certification of the translations, in part because I need the translation of the Birth Certificte to be (technically speaking - the notary document has to specify) of the certified copy.
So, I was certifying:
- Residency Card
- Language Test Certificate
- Birth Certificate
- UK Passport
This was €16.81 + IVA per document.
Total for the Notary for both sets of certifications was around €133 incl IVA, therefore.
Completing the Form
The Form I needed was Modelo 6.1 (for those basing application on residence over 5 years). The form was quite straightforward. I completed the obvious bits, and took the same black pen to the Registos to check the other bits.
For Naturalidade, in addition to country, I was asked to add the specific place of birth as per the birth certificate.
My "Considera relevantes as seguintes circunstâncias" was "Residente em Portugal há mais de 5 anos"
My "outros documentos" was blank
Note, you must sign in the Registos in front of the clerk, to match your residency card (or as near as possible - it's tiny on the card!!)
At the Registos
Firstly, you need to find which Registos office will take these documents in. Typically, this is not small local ones, but slightly hidden ones (perhaps without the usual Registos branding) in district capitals, not the normal main office for residency.
At the Santarém office, there is no senha machine, nor is it subject to booking (for this purpose). I was fortunate to find the place empty (but it filled up a bit after me). The ladies were helpful in confirming the gaps mentioned in the last section. They checked my form, checked my certified documents, and took payment (€250) by Multibanco, giving me a receipt. I was in and out in under 15 minutes.
I asked how long it might take - noting that each of the desks behind the counter is hidden by stacks of paperwork... Adding gestures at the piles, the lady advised 6-12 months.
(This timeline is shorter than typically advised - 2 to 3 years is what one hears quoted. I will not hold my breath!)
I left with a receipt for payment, and now the waiting begins. Updates if and when...
Incredible post Thomas! Thank you. Only four years and eight months to go before we refer to this post. Hoping 6 to 12 months is in the cards for you.
Hi Thomas.
This is a fabulous thread and very informative. I am also preparing to go through this process - though I still have a couple of years to be eligible.
I have a question about the need for criminal record checks. I am both British and Irish, but I never lived in Ireland. I have also lived overseas a lot. I spent a lot of time in Italy when i was younger, as well as a year in Canada as an exchange student before working in London. I have also lived in Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam for about 2 years each. Do I need to get criminal record checks from all of these places? It would be a total nightmare.
When you fill out the forms do you need to be very precise in terms of outlining where you have previously lived and do they ask for old passports to check visas / residence permits etc? I do not have a criminal record and obviously i do not want to spend what would be thousands of Euros proving that I don't. If I could get away with just submitting the UK (and / or the Irish) record check, I could accept that more easily.
I'm already EU and while I would love a Portuguese passport, It depends how much it is going to cost me. Getting a criminal record check from Cambodia is no easy achievement - especially when you are not there and last lived there 8 years ago. Almost certainly, I would need to bribe to make it happen, because you need to bribe to make a lot of things happen there. It is the way. Sometimes when I read document requirements in Portugal, I get the impression that it is imagined that all countries have systems of public records like the UK does, with easy online access and procedures at low cost. This is very far from the case. Try getting something like a criminal record check in Vietnam. You will be treated with profound suspicion and the information is guarded as though it is a state secret.
@ack thank you!
I can be of limited use re the question of multiple previous residencies - my last proper residency in another country (other than my country of origin) was 10+ years ago. You may want to seek advice on how far back they want to know.
What I can tell you is that the form is one you self-print and complete by hand, so it doesn't make it easy to list lots of stuff. They did not, so far, ask for anything other than the form and the notarised documents - they then (step 3) refer the application/documents to the other relevant services for their input, and when that's done, you reach step 4. I believe they can still come back for more, because steps 4 and 5 are done by the case officer for your application.
If I am asked for more, etc, I'll update this thread.
Update at nearly-4-month stage - I was not asked for or to do anything else since my submission in late January.
@thomasribatejo totally impressive on all accounts (the information in the post, the processing timeline, and your attainment of citizenship). Congratulations and thanks for this post.
