Apart from its scenic beauty and upbeat lifestyle, the Portuguese government takes a lot of time and effort to better policies in order to benefit its residents. They have several other benefits that make you want to apply for Portuguese citizenship right away; however, before you can dive into the process, you need to find out if you qualify or not. Ways to obtain Portuguese citizenship include getting citizenship through marriage, by descent, by investment, and even through Sephardic surnames.
If you qualify for any of these categories, it’s time you take a thorough look into how each of these categories works and their requirements.
Obtaining Portuguese Citizenship
Through Marriage
In Portugal, you can get citizenship through marriage if you have been married to a Portuguese citizen for three or more years. If you’re applying for Portuguese citizenship through marriage, you don’t have to have a record of residing in the country before your union.
There are numerous documents you need to produce to prove your relationship and association with the Portuguese resident. Here’s a list of all the documents that you need:
- A filled-out citizenship application
- An original long-form birth certificate of the applicant and their spouse.
- A copy of the applicant’s valid passport that has been certified
- A copy of the official criminal record, authorized by the FBI.
- A copy of your marriage certificate to prove the connection to the said Portugal resident.
Through Descent
Another means of acquiring Portuguese citizenship includes providing proof of descent with a parent or grandparent born in Portugal. You can even prove descent by acknowledging whether or not your parents or grandparents are serving the state of Portugal. In order to start the application process, here are some of the documents that you will be required to produce:
- A certified copy of the descendant’s long-form birth certificate
- Copy of descendant’s US passport and other validation documents.
- Certified long-form birth certificates of both parents or grandparents
- Valid ID or passport of your parents or grandparents
- In case one parent or grandparent is US-born, then a certified birth certificate for them.
- Certified copy of a marriage certificate for your parents or grandparents.
- Valid address
Through Investment
The Portuguese government has placed great emphasis on foreign investment. In order to keep foreign ventures developing in the country, they have come up with a Portugal golden visa program, where foreigners can invest in different ventures of programs in the economy and acquire citizenship in return. This program has made it possible for individuals with relevant resources to acquire Portuguese citizenship.
Among other ways of applying to Portugal, obtaining aEuropean passport for Sephardic origin is a popular choice. If you want help getting Portuguese citizenship or consult an attorney for citizenship procedures; we, at Cohen & Cohen, can help you find what you need. We have the best experts helping you out with your Portuguese Sephardic citizenship applicationsand other such procedures in absolutely no time!
*Warning: The Portuguese government is expected to change the laws in the future. The best time to apply for Portuguese nationality due to Sephardic Origin is now!!!
