Citizenship Lawyers in Portugal

Official information

Read this first

Portuguese nationality law has been changed recently, and some official guide pages have not caught up. The Ministry of Justice guide is dated 3 July 2025 and is marked as being updated. Requirements such as the length of legal residence may differ from what older pages say. Check the current law and a qualified lawyer before you apply.

Routes the official guide lists

• Married to, or in a de facto union with, a Portuguese citizen.
• Adopted by Portuguese citizens.
• Born in Portugal.
• Child or grandchild of a Portuguese citizen.
• Living in Portugal (naturalisation by residence).
• Formerly Portuguese and lost the nationality.
• Other cases the guide lists, for example citizens of Timor-Leste.

Each route has its own conditions and its own official page. We do not describe routes that we could not confirm on an official page.

Example: the residence route

The official guide page for this route, as read on 22 October 2026, states:

• You must be over 18 or legally emancipated and live legally in Portugal for the period it states (the page said 10 years). The law has been amended recently, so check the current period.
• You make a written request in Portuguese to the Minister of Justice.
• You must show enough knowledge of the Portuguese language, with a school certificate or a language test certificate. Citizens of Portuguese-speaking countries are exempt.
• You need a full, legalised birth certificate with a certified translation.
• You need criminal record certificates from the countries of birth, nationality and the countries where you lived after age 16, with certified translations.
• The guide page states that the application costs 250 euros.

Where to apply

The guide pages explain how to submit a request at a registry counter or by post. There is also an online service. The official pages say it is for lawyers and solicitors, so check who may use it. Processing time is not published on the pages we read.

Official pages

• Ministry of Justice: how to get Portuguese nationality (Portuguese)
• Guide: the residence route (Portuguese)
• Online nationality request service (Portuguese)
• The Nationality Law, Law 37/81 (Diario da Republica)

Checked against the official pages on 22 October 2026. Immigration rules change often, so always confirm on the official pages listed above before you act. This is general information, not legal advice.