A Guide to Getting a Portuguese Passport

Getting a Portuguese passport depends on your situation. Generally speaking, you can either get a passport by marriage, a passport by descent, or a passport by investment. There are certain additional requirements. For example, showing a connection to the Portuguese community in some cases.

If you’re applying for a passport from within Portugal, it costs just €65. If you’re applying abroad, then it can cost €100 or more.

To apply for a Portuguese passport online, also known as the Portuguese electronic passport, you can do so at the passport bureau in Lisbon airport or Porto airport or the Portuguese Consulate or local Portuguese Embassy located in your area. The consulate or embassy close to you is probably the easiest option open to you.

The Portuguese passport renewal fee starts from €100 and costs more if you get a new one because the previous one was stolen.

No, you cannot buy a Portuguese passport. You can obtain a passport in Portugal by making a qualifying investment in the nation, usually in real estate, through the Portugal Golden Visa program. You will need to hold your investment for five years and fulfill all the requirements under Portuguese law.

Increasingly though, people are opting to rehabilitate old buildings at the value of €350,000 or are investing in funds to the value of €500,000, and as such, can get a Portuguese passport after five years.

If you are a resident of Portugal, you will need to have spent five years in the county. Following this, you can apply for a permanent residence permit and go about obtaining Portuguese citizenship.

You will also need to present the following:

• At least A2 level in the Portuguese language
• Clean health record
• Criminal record certified by SEF
• Portuguese residency evidence

In order to obtain Portuguese citizenship, you will need to pass a simple A2 test. The Portuguese government created the CIPLE exam in 2006, which tests the applicant’s ability to understand everyday Portuguese expressions.

According to the Global Citizen Solutions Global Passport Index, the Portuguese passport is ranked at number 31, allowing free travel across 174 countries and visa-free access to all 27 EU countries. With a very high mobility score, it is one of the most attractive passports in the world.

If you get a Portuguese passport, there are many advantages, including the right to enjoy full EU citizenship status in the country and travel, work, and live freely anywhere within the EU. A Portuguese passport means you have free access to excellent health care and public schooling in the country. To top it off, you can enjoy a favorable tax regime.

Portugal also allows for dual citizenship, so you won’t have to relinquish your previous passport from your home country (as long as your home country also allows dual citizenship). When you travel to Portugal, you can show your Portuguese passport when you are entering Portugal, whether it is mainland Portugal or the autonomous islands of Madiera and the Azores, and face no issues with visa requirements.

Passports are issued in Portugal and usually take five business days if all the documents required are correct. If necessary, there is a fast-track option of two business days. Obviously, armed with a Portuguese EU passport, you can enter Portugal whenever you want, and, as EU citizens, you can live, work, and study across the European Union.

The standard Portuguese passport validity is for five years. You can apply for a replacement passport if it is due to expire within six months.

Note that, generally speaking, you will get a Portuguese electronic passport. This comprises all the data that is needed to identify Portuguese citizens who travel out of the European Union and to any Schengen country. Only in exceptional cases of great urgency may a temporary passport that is not electric be issued.

A passport from Portugal is very strong. In Global Citizen Solutions’ pioneering Global Passport Index, Portugal ranks in the 31st position. This takes into account enhanced mobility, investment opportunities, and quality of life indicators.

If you get a Portuguese passport, you have visa free-access to 174 countries, showing that Portuguese citizenship has many mobility benefits. This obviously includes being able to travel to Portugal for however long you want.

More details can be found about Portugal’s performance in Global Citizen Solutions Global Passport Index. Once you obtain Portuguese citizenship and get a Portuguese passport, you have excellent mobility, including free movement across the EU and other Schengen countries. The Portuguese passport benefits extend to Canada, the UK, and the USA, where there is easy mobility to these countries.

You can apply for a Portuguese passport after acquiring Portuguese citizenship and having lived in Portugal for at least five years. With a Portuguese passport, you can enter Portugal whenever you choose, and when you exit Portugal, you will have visa-free access to 174 countries.

There are many ways to secure the golden passport in Portugal, by descent, marriage, or naturalization. Also, the Portuguese Golden Visa program allows individuals and their family members to indirectly obtain a golden passport in Portugal.

You will be granted residency, and as long as you hold your investment for five years and fulfill all the requirements under Portuguese law, you can apply for Portuguese citizenship and obtain a golden Portuguese passport.

Passports are issued in Portugal and usually take five business days if all the documents required are correct. If needed, there is a fast-track option of two business days. Armed with a Portuguese EU passport, you can enter Portugal whenever you want, and, as EU citizens, you can live, work, and study across the European Union.

Obtaining Portuguese citizenship will completely depend on the route that you are opting for. The time taken to secure Portuguese nationality will differ depending on if you are applying through naturalization, if you are marrying a Portuguese citizen, if you are applying through citizenship by descent, or obtaining citizenship after five years from being a Golden Visa applicant. The Golden Visa is an easy way to secure residency. After five years of holding your Golden Visa investment, you can apply for citizenship. 

For example, an individual married to a Portuguese citizen can apply after three years, provided they meet all the criteria, while a person will have to have lived in Portugal for five years to obtain citizenship through naturalization. Golden Visa applicants will also need to have held their investment for five years and fulfilled the stay requirement in the country. Some of the requirements under Portuguese nationality law include providing a clean criminal background check and having an A2 level in the Portuguese language. 

Portugal also has dual citizenship, so you won’t have to give up your home nationality (provided that nationality also allows dual citizenship) if applying for Portuguese nationality. Portuguese nationality comes with an array of benefits, including visa-free access to 174 countries and greater financial and personal freedoms.

What are the Portuguese passport requirements?

If you are a resident of Portugal, you will need to have spent five years in the county. Following this, you can apply for a permanent residence permit and, subsequently, Portuguese citizenship.

You will also need to present the following to gain Portuguese nationality:

• At least A2 level in the Portuguese language
• Clean health record
• Criminal record certified by SEF that also serves as proof of five years of having a legal residence permit in the country
• Portuguese residency evidence

In order to obtain Portuguese citizenship, you will need to pass a simple A2 test. The Portuguese government created the CIPLE exam in 2006, which tests the applicant on their ability to understand everyday Portuguese expressions.

To obtain Portuguese citizenship by descent, you must have a Portuguese parent or Portuguese grandparent. Getting Portuguese citizenship through parents or grandparents is probably the most straightforward route to obtain citizenship. 

You can become a Portuguese citizen by having a Portuguese parent or grandparent, being married or in a non-marital relationship with a Portuguese citizen for more than three years, or having been living in Portugal for five years and gaining citizenship through naturalization. 

Under the Portuguese Golden Visa program, you can acquire residency in the country. After five years, you can then apply for Portuguese citizenship, provided you meet all the requirements under Portuguese nationality law and maintain your investment during this time.

You can become a Portuguese citizen by having a Portuguese parent or grandparent, being married or in a non-marital relationship with a Portuguese citizen for more than three years, or having been living in Portugal for five years and gaining citizenship through naturalization. 

Under the Portuguese Golden Visa program, you can acquire residency in the country. After five years, you can then apply for Portuguese citizenship, provided you meet all the requirements under Portuguese nationality law and maintain your investment during this time.

Portugal is one of the easiest countries in the EU to acquire citizenship. You will need to have Portuguese parents or grandparents, be married or in a de-facto relationship with a Portuguese national for more than three years, or secure citizenship through naturalization. 

Under the Portuguese Golden Visa program, you can acquire residency in the country. After five years, you can apply for Portuguese citizenship, provided you meet all the requirements under Portuguese nationality law and maintain your investment during this period. Note that the Golden Visa is coming to an end, so if you are interested in applying for the program, we strongly recommend that you lodge your application now – time is of the essence. 

Becoming a citizen of Portugal through naturalization will take five years. For foreign citizens who are married to a Portuguese national or are in a non-martial relationship with a Portuguese national, then it will take three years to become a citizen of Portugal. The process to gain citizenship through descent will be significantly faster, provided you have the correct documentation.

Through the Portuguese Golden Visa program, you can acquire residency in the country. After five years, you can then apply for Portuguese citizenship, provided you meet all the requirements under Portuguese nationality law and maintain your investment during this time period. Note that the Golden Visa program is coming to an end. If you are interested in applying for the program, we recommend that you lodge your application now.

If you are looking to gain citizenship without having to make a significant investment in the country, options include the following:

• Having a Portuguese parent or grandparent
• Being married or in a non-marital relationship with a Portuguese citizen for more than three years
• Having been living in Portugal for five years and gaining citizenship through naturalization

You cannot buy Portuguese citizenship. However, through the Portugal Golden Visa residency by investment program, you can secure residency in the country. After a five-year period, provided you maintain your investment and fulfill all the requirements under Portuguese nationality law, you can apply for citizenship. There are a range of investment options, with the minimum investment beginning at €200,000 (cultural Golden Visa if the project is located in a low-density area).

As Portugal and the USA both allow dual nationality, you can have both US and Portuguese citizenship.

To secure Portuguese dual citizenship, you will need to ensure that your country of origin allows dual citizenship.

For example, Portuguese citizens applying for another citizenship will not lose their Portuguese citizenship, as Portugal allows dual nationality.

Dual citizenship provides an array of benefits, including increased mobility, financial freedoms, and the right to live, work, study, and vote in both of the countries that you have citizenship in. Plus, you can take advantage of social services, healthcare, and education opportunities in both countries.

You also have added security in cases of political or economic turmoil and citizenship for your children.

Portugal allows dual citizenship. Portuguese citizens can acquire another citizenship and will not need to relinquish their passport, provided the other country allows dual citizenship. Similarly, someone acquiring Portuguese citizenship can keep their original citizenship.

Theoretically, there is no upper limit to the maximum number of passports you can acquire. It is possible for you to possess three, six nationalities, or even more. However, certain countries have laws that prohibit dual citizenship, which means that you will have to renounce your previous citizenship. For example, in Austria, foreigners will need to relinquish their previous passports. In short, the number of passports that you can acquire will depend on the citizenship laws in each nation that you are a citizen of.