After Citizenship

In the online status check, the citizenship application goes through the stages submitted (submetido), under review (em análise), for decision (para decisão) and completed (concluído). When the application is granted, the completed stage means that citizenship has been granted and the new citizen has been registered in the Portuguese civil registry (IRN, status of the citizenship application).

Birth record or annotation

• The registration of the act that confers attribution or acquisition of citizenship is made by a record (assento) or by an annotation (averbamento) and has constitutive effect (Article 19 of the Nationality Act (Lei da Nacionalidade), as republished by Organic Law 1/2026 (Lei Orgânica)).
• Children and grandchildren of Portuguese citizens (citizenship by origin): citizenship is proven by the birth record drawn up by entry in the Portuguese civil registry or by registration of the declaration (Article 21(4)). Attribution takes effect from birth (Article 11).
• Marriage, de facto union and residence (acquisition): citizenship is proven by the registration of the acquisition or by the annotation in the margin of the birth record (Article 22), and its effects run from the date of registration (Article 12).

In applications by Brazilians, registration is generally made by the Central Registry Office (Conservatória dos Registos Centrais) in Lisbon. From then on, the birth record is the basis for all Portuguese documents: the Citizen Card and the passport reproduce the name, parentage, date and place of birth shown on it.

How to obtain the certificate

• The Portuguese birth certificate can be requested online by anyone, with payment by bank reference or credit card. After the request, an access code valid for six months is sent, allowing the certificate to be viewed (IRN, birth certificate).
• Official costs: online certificate, €10; paper certificate, €20; viewing the certificate with the code, free of charge (checked in September 2026).
• The code can be used to provide the certificate to banks, schools, employers and public offices in Portugal, without paper.

Before applying for any document, check the certificate line by line: spelling of the given names and surnames, parentage, date and place of birth and marital status. An error in the birth record carries over to the Citizen Card and the passport.

The Citizen Card (Cartão de Cidadão) is the identity document of Portuguese citizens and is mandatory for all citizens, whether they live in Portugal or abroad (Justiça.gov.pt, Citizen Card). It can only be requested by those who already have a Portuguese birth record (Consulate General of Portugal in São Paulo).

In Brazil: Portuguese consulates

• The first application is always made in person, at the consular post for your area of residence, with an appointment booked on the online platform of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Consulate General of Portugal in Rio de Janeiro).
• Bring the completed application form and a valid Brazilian identity document. In Rio de Janeiro, only an identity card (RG) issued by a State Department of Public Security or a passport is accepted; the digital RG is not accepted. In São Paulo, the driver's license (CNH) and professional ID cards are not accepted. A copy of the Portuguese certificate and proof of address are recommended.
• Payment is made on the day of the appointment, by debit card, at the consulates in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.
• The card and the PIN letter, with the activation codes, can be collected at the consulate or sent to your address, depending on the consular post.

In Portugal: IRN service desks

• The application is made at civil registry offices and Citizen Shops (Lojas do Cidadão), without a prior appointment, or with an appointment booked on the SIGA portal (Justiça.gov.pt).
• Citizen Spaces (Espaços Cidadão) only handle card renewals, from age 25. The first card must be requested at an IRN service desk.

Digital Mobile Key

With the Citizen Card, you can activate the Digital Mobile Key (Chave Móvel Digital), which gives access to Portuguese online public services. The Consulate General in São Paulo states that it is required to book most consular services and activates it free of charge during the appointment (table of consular fees).

Biometrics and attendance

• At the appointment, a photograph, height, fingerprints and signature are collected (Consulate General in Rio de Janeiro). The rules on fingerprint collection are set out in Law 7/2007, with specific rules for children.
• Anyone under 12, or an adult under a support measure (maior acompanhado), must attend with their legal representative.

Validity

• Under 25: five years.
• From age 25: ten years (Justiça.gov.pt).
• From age 25, if no details have changed, the card can be renewed online, including by those living abroad: the PIN letter is sent to the address and the card to the consular post.

Official costs

Amounts published by the IRN, with information updated on August 27, 2026 (Justiça.gov.pt):

• Application abroad: standard, €20 (under 25) or €23 (from age 25); urgent, €45 or €48.
• Application in mainland Portugal: standard in person, €15 or €18; urgent (3 business days), €30 or €33; extremely urgent, €50 or €53.
• First card for a child up to 1 year old: free of charge.

At the consulates in Brazil, the fee is charged in reais, according to each consular post's monthly table of consular fees. Check that month's table before your appointment.

Requirements

• The passport can only be requested by those who hold a valid Citizen Card or Identity Card (Bilhete de Identidade). If the document has expired, it must be renewed first (Justiça.gov.pt, electronic passport).
• In practice, the first passport comes after the first Citizen Card. The Consulate General in Rio de Janeiro asks that the appointment be booked only once the valid card is in hand (passport).
• For minors under 18, the valid identity document of the person holding parental responsibilities is required, and that person must attend with the child (gov.pt, passport abroad).

Where to apply

In Brazil, at the Portuguese consulates, with collection at the consular post or delivery to your address (Consulate General in São Paulo). In Portugal, at civil registry services, Citizen Shops, the passport offices at Lisbon and Porto airports (by appointment) and through the regional governments of the Azores and Madeira.

Official costs

• Mainland Portugal: standard (5 business days), €65; express (2 business days), €85; urgent (1 business day), €95; delivery to your address, an additional €10 (Justiça.gov.pt, information updated on May 28, 2026).
• Applications abroad (“rest of the world” table): standard, €75; express, €110; urgent, €120; delivery to your address, an additional €30.
• Consulates in Brazil: amounts in reais, according to each consular post's monthly table of consular fees.

Validity

The Consulate General in Rio de Janeiro states a validity of five years, with replacement possible from six months before expiry (passport). The Portuguese Government announced that the validity of new passports would be extended to ten years from 2026 (Embassy of Portugal in Brussels). Confirm at the time of application the validity of the passport that will be issued.

Citizenship does not automatically extend to your children. Each child needs their own registration, and the route depends on how the father or mother became Portuguese.

Father or mother with citizenship by origin

• Children of a Portuguese mother or father born abroad are Portuguese by origin if their birth is entered in the Portuguese civil registry or if they declare that they wish to be Portuguese (Article 1(1)(c) of the Nationality Act). This rule was not changed by Organic Law 1/2026.
• For children born less than a year ago, the birth can be registered online by Portuguese citizens residing in several countries, including Brazil, and the Citizen Card can be requested in the same application (gov.pt, registering a birth abroad); the first card for a child up to 1 year old is free of charge.
• Only parentage established while the child is a minor has effect on citizenship, except for parentage recognized by a court, for which the time limit is three years after the judgment becomes final and unappealable (Article 14).

Father or mother who acquired citizenship

Those who became Portuguese through marriage, de facto union or residence do not pass citizenship by origin on to children already born. Minor or legally incapacitated children may acquire it by declaration (Article 2). Adult children need a route of their own. The fees are listed in each consulate's monthly table of consular fees.

Physical presence at consulates

Since Organic Law 1/2026, citizenship declarations before consulates must be made in person by the applicant; attendance may only be waived in the event of a proven physical impossibility (Article 17). For minors, the declaration is made by their legal representatives.

See the details on citizenship for children of Portuguese citizens.

You remain Brazilian

• Since Constitutional Amendment 131/2023 (Emenda Constitucional), a Brazilian only loses Brazilian citizenship by making an express request before the competent Brazilian authority (Article 12, § 4, II, of the Constitution). Holding Portuguese citizenship does not affect Brazilian citizenship.
• There is no need to notify Brazil of your Portuguese citizenship or to have it annotated in the Brazilian civil registry. Your CPF, RG identity card, voter registration card and Brazilian passport remain valid and continue to be the documents to use before Brazilian authorities.

Name consistency

• The Citizen Card is issued with the name recorded in the Portuguese civil registry database (Consulate General in Rio de Janeiro). If your name changed in Brazil after birth (through marriage, divorce or correction), the change only reaches the Portuguese document after the corresponding transcription or annotation.
• The Consulate General in São Paulo warns that updates must be made before the application and that, once the card has been issued and delivered, it cannot be corrected (Citizen Card).
• Differences between the name on the Portuguese passport and on the Brazilian one can cause problems with airline tickets, banks, inheritances and real estate registrations. Compare the two before traveling and always use the passport whose name matches the booking.

NIF, Social Security and health

• With the first Citizen Card, in addition to the civil identification number, the NIF (Portuguese tax identification number), the Social Security number (NISS) and the National Health Service (Serviço Nacional de Saúde) user number are assigned automatically, without a separate application (gov.pt, applying for the Citizen Card).
• Anyone who already had a NIF as a foreign national should state it at the appointment, so that the existing number is linked to the card. Tax address, tax representation and electronic notifications are explained on the NIF page.
• Having these numbers does not, in itself, entitle you to benefits. Access to health care and to Social Security benefits depends on residence, registration and contributions.

Voter registration and voting from abroad

• Those living abroad are automatically registered to vote when they obtain or renew the Citizen Card, in the consular section corresponding to the address on the card (gov.pt, voting). Changing the address on the card updates the voter registration (Justiça.gov.pt).
• Portuguese citizens residing abroad vote in elections for the President of the Republic, the Assembly of the Republic and the European Parliament, but not in local or regional elections. Depending on the election, voting takes place in person at the consulate or by mail; consular posts announce the voting method before each election.

Military service

• Military service in Portugal is not compulsory: it is voluntary. Military registration is automatic in the year a young person turns 17 (gov.pt, National Defense Day).
• Attendance at National Defense Day (Dia da Defesa Nacional) is mandatory for those turning 18, but people born abroad or who have lived lawfully outside Portugal for more than six months are exempt, upon proof of residence abroad.

Transcription of the marriage

Marriage is subject to mandatory registration in the Portuguese civil registry (Article 1(1)(d) of the Civil Registry Code (Código do Registo Civil)). Those who married in Brazil before obtaining citizenship should apply for transcription of the marriage, so that their marital status and any married name appear on the birth record and on the Citizen Card. The fees are listed in each consulate's monthly table of consular fees. See transcriptions of marriage and death and marriage and property regime.

Divorce granted in Brazil

Decisions of foreign courts on the marital status of Portuguese citizens are only annotated after they have been reviewed and confirmed (Article 7 of the Civil Registry Code). A Brazilian divorce therefore requires recognition of the foreign judgment by the Court of Appeal (Tribunal da Relação) before it can appear in the Portuguese registry.

Error in the Portuguese birth record

• Corrections are made by annotation and, whenever possible, by a simple order of the registrar (Articles 92 and 93 of the Civil Registry Code).
• The registrar's order covers, among other cases, an obvious spelling error, a discrepancy between the record and the document on which it was based, and an omission or inaccuracy proven by a document.
• If the error came from the Brazilian certificate used in the application, the Portuguese birth record is corrected after the document has been corrected by the competent authority (Article 93(1)(c)). First the record is corrected in Brazil, through correction of registry records, and then the correction is requested in Portugal.
• When there is doubt as to the identity of the person to whom the record refers, the correction must be made by a court (Article 94).

With lawyers admitted to the OAB and to the Portuguese Bar Association (Ordem dos Advogados), in São Paulo and Albufeira, Sene & Araújo acts directly in the Portuguese procedures that follow citizenship.

1. Review of the birth record: we obtain the certificate, compare the details with the Brazilian documents and identify discrepancies before the documents are applied for.
2. Marital status and name: we prepare and follow the transcription of the marriage, the recognition of the divorce and corrections in the Portuguese registry and, when necessary, in the Brazilian one.
3. Children: we analyze each child's route and follow the birth registration or the citizenship declaration.
4. Documents: we provide guidance on applying for the Citizen Card and the passport, which require attendance in person, and on linking any existing NIF.
5. Next steps: when you move to Portugal, we assist with the NIF, tax residence and other registrations. See the citizenship step-by-step guide and the guide to Portugal.

Each case begins with a review of the certificate and the documents. Issuing the documents and making registry decisions are matters for the Portuguese authorities; our role is to prepare the applications and follow each step.