Portugal Golden Visa Background Check: All You Need to Know

If you are applying for Portugal’s Golden Visa, you will need to submit a background check to confirm your criminal record meets the program’s requirements.

For US citizens and residents, this means requesting a report from the FBI rather than a state or county agency, since US criminal history records are consolidated at the federal level.

This article walks through how to request your FBI background check, where to have your fingerprints taken if you are already in Portugal, and how to get the document authenticated and translated for submission with your Golden Visa application.

Portugal Golden Visa Background Check: Key Takeaways

All Golden Visa applicants must pass a criminal background check as part of Portugal’s due diligence requirements.

Applicants must provide police clearance certificates from their home country and any country where they have lived recently.

Background checks verify the absence of serious criminal convictions and ensure funds originate from lawful sources.

Documents must be legalized or apostilled and may require a certified translation into Portuguese.

Failure to meet background-check standards results in application refusal, regardless of investment completion.

Strong due diligence helps maintain program integrity and international compliance.

The Portugal Golden Visa program is a five-year residency by investment initiative for non-EU nationals. With it, qualifying investors and their family members are granted the right to live, work, and study in Portugal.

The Golden Visa has been one of Europe’s most established residency by investment programs, with tens of thousands of investors and their families having used it since its launch in 2012.

In addition to the right to live and work in Portugal, holders of the Golden Visa can apply for permanent residency after five years.

However, regardless of nationality, you must undergo a background check as part of the Golden Visa application process. Portugal’s Golden Visa background check is a rigorous process to ensure the program’s integrity and maintain the country’s security.

You must provide a clean criminal record certificate from your home country and any other country where you have resided for an extended period, typically a year or more. Serious criminal offenses, especially those involving fraud, violence, or money laundering, will lead to rejection.

Portuguese authorities assess the source of the funds used for the qualifying investment during the application process. This ensures the money is obtained legally and is not tied to criminal activity, such as money laundering or tax evasion.

Additionally, all submitted documents, including proof of investment, identification, and residency, undergo scrutiny for authenticity.

Another aspect that the authorities check for is ensuring that you are not on international watchlists, such as those maintained by Interpol or local law enforcement, and do not pose a security risk to the country.

The Portugal Golden Visa program requires applicants to submit criminal record documentation.

For US citizens or residents, the Portuguese authorities request an FBI background check rather than a state or county-level report from each country where they have resided for one year or more.

Sometimes called a “certificate of good conduct” or an Identity History Summary, the report is obtained from fingerprint submissions kept by the FBI and contains information on arrests, naturalization, federal employment, and military service.

Portugal requires a background check specifically from the FBI because it has the most comprehensive and centralized criminal record available in the United States.

It pulls information from all 50 states and federal databases, ensuring there are no gaps in a person’s criminal history, and carries a level of legitimacy that Portuguese immigration authorities look for. Other countries accept criminal record documentation from local police, who provide a Police Clearance Certificate instead.

Additionally, the Golden Visa process entails strict due diligence to prevent money laundering, fraud, and criminal migration. This wider global compliance framework includes a thorough federal clearance for US citizens or residents.

Only you can request a copy of your FBI criminal background check when applying for Portugal’s Golden Visa. Portuguese authorities generally expect the certificate to be recent, typically no older than 90 days when you submit it. Confirm the current requirement with our case team before you apply.

According to the FBI, there are three ways to request a background check: Online, by mail, or through an FBI-approved channeler. Each option has a different total turnaround:

Online

Requesting a check online is the fastest route. Simply visit the Electronic Departmental Order page and enter your email address in the “Obtaining Your Identity History Summary” section to get started.

You’ll also need to submit your fingerprints, which you can do at participating US Post Office locations nationwide. Check the FBI’s EDO page for current sites. The USPO will send the fingerprints electronically directly to the FBI.

Then, you’ll need to make the payment, after which you’ll receive an email to confirm your request. You can use the same email to check on the request’s status.

Requests submitted in this way are typically completed within days of your visit to the USPO.

By mail

Mailing in a request to the FBI for a background check takes substantially longer than the online route, so plan for several weeks if you choose this option.

Step one: Download and complete the application

The initial step in the FBI criminal background check is to complete a one-page application form. The application form is quite simple to fill out.

You will need to provide basic information, such as your name, address, contact information, physical description, citizenship, and reason for the request.

If you need more than one report, for example because you are living in a foreign country or traveling with family, each person must complete and sign their own application form.

Step two: Fingerprints

Securing a copy of your fingerprints will be the most time-consuming part of the process, along with waiting for your report. Despite this, it should be straightforward if you start early.

You will need a fingerprint technician to take your fingerprints. Many printing companies offer this service, or you can go through a private company or a law enforcement agency, where you will pay a small fee.

The FBI accepts fingerprint cards on standard white paper stock. You must include both rolled and flat impressions of all ten fingerprints, either as ink or live scans.

Note that the name on your fingerprint card must match the name on the application form and all your IDs, such as your passport and driver’s license.

Step three: Payment

The FBI Identity History Summary fee is $18 per request. This fee applies whether you request the report by mail or electronically, and additional sealed copies cost $18 each.

There is no option to pay for expedited processing. You can pay by credit card, or by certified check or money order made payable to the Treasury of the United States.

Step four: Submit your application

After completing the steps above, review and submit your request. 

Through an FBI-approved channeler

If you prefer a different option, you can work with an FBI-approved channeler to submit your request on your behalf. A channeler is a private business contracted to the FBI to provide this service, helping speed up the delivery of Identity History Summary Checks.

Go through the list of FBI-approved channelers for Departmental Order Submissions and follow the instructions for the one you choose.

The channeler receives your fingerprint submission and relevant data, collects the associated fees, electronically forwards the submission to the CJIS Division for a national Identity History Summary check, and sends you the result once it is received.

Turnaround varies by channeler, but this route is often just a few days.

US citizens, Portuguese nationals, or other foreign citizens who have resided in the US for more than a year and need an FBI background check can have their fingerprints taken by the US Government Employees’ Cooperative Association (COOP) of Lisbon. The office is located at the US Embassy in Lisbon.

The COOP takes fingerprints by appointment only, so you will need to make an online booking in advance. Check their booking site for current available days and pricing, since these details can change.

The COOP takes your fingerprints on FBI cards and hands them to you immediately afterward. From that point, it is your responsibility as the applicant to mail them to the FBI in the US.

Authorities in Portugal may require the legalization of the original FBI record and its translation. It’s also important to note that, as the US Embassy in Portugal confirms, US embassies and consulates cannot legally authenticate or legalize state-issued public documents, including criminal background checks.

This is why the legalization chain for a federal document like your FBI report runs through Washington rather than through the embassy in Lisbon.

The process follows three steps:

1. FBI authentication. All US Department of Justice Order 556-73 fingerprint search results are authenticated by the FBI, which places the watermark and signature of a division official on the criminal record background check at the time of submission.
2. US Department of State apostille. Once authenticated, the document is submitted to the US Department of State in Washington to be legalized with an apostille seal. Several companies offer this service on your behalf if you are not able to submit it yourself. Any document with an apostille is legally valid in all countries that are party to the Hague Convention of 1961, including Portugal.
3. Certified Portuguese translation. All documents, including the FBI background check, must be translated into Portuguese before submission.

Once these three steps are complete, your FBI background check is ready to be included alongside with your Golden Visa application.