Portuguese Citizenship

Hello,

I was hoping I might be able to get some guidance from an immigration expert in Portugal.

My father is Portuguese and I am interested in obtaining citizenship through him. As I understand this is pretty straightforward even as an adult, but the issue is that my father is not listed on my birth certificate because he wasn't in the country at the time of my birth.

Is there an alternate way of proving paternity? I know in the US they use DNA tests and in other countries it's as simple as getting him to swear an affidavit.

What would be the route forward in order to prove eligibility for Portugal?

Thanks in advance!

Well, you should get a lawyer in Portugal to check the laws pertaining your case. I am also inclined to think that your father will have to sign some kind of sworn affidavit that he is your dad. If you can do genetic test to verify the paternity that will be a huge criterion. However each country has its own procedures to verify such relationships. Sometimes, a court order is needed to clear the issue.

Hi,

Just before I discuss your post, I'd like to say that I am not a lawyer or consultant, but I have registered my daughter's birth at the Portuguese consulate, allowing her to become a citizen.

To obtain Portuguese citizenship from your father requires your US birth certificate, assuming you were born in the US, and parent's marriage certificate, and the details are simply copied from those certificates into a Portuguese birth certificate. So I reckon that means that your original US birth certificate needs to be amended before applying for Portuguese birth registration.

Once you have amended your US birth certificate, depending whether your parents were married at the time or since, you need to get your parents to register their marriage at the Portuguese consulate or embassy in your jurisdiction. Check with them for the exact requirements, for example if the marriage occurred outside of the US or Portugal then the marriage certificate will need to translated and apostilled.

After your parents have completed their marriage registration with the Portuguese consulate or embassy then you register your birth with them.

Please check with the Portuguese embassy or consulate before going ahead, as my post is based on my experience which was a straightforward case.

gmanlondon wrote: ↑

Wed Mar 04, 2020 1:58 am

To obtain Portuguese citizenship from your father requires your US birth certificate, assuming you were born in the US, and parent's marriage certificate, and the details are simply copied from those certificates into a Portuguese birth certificate. So I reckon that means that your original US birth certificate needs to be amended before applying for Portuguese birth registration.

Once you have amended your US birth certificate, depending whether your parents were married at the time or since, you need to get your parents to register their marriage at the Portuguese consulate or embassy in your jurisdiction. Check with them for the exact requirements, for example if the marriage occurred outside of the US or Portugal then the marriage certificate will need to translated and apostilled.

After your parents have completed their marriage registration with the Portuguese consulate or embassy then you register your birth with them.

Hi,

OP's issue is that the father's name is not in the birth certificate. Portuguese citizenship law [in OP's case] stipulates that citizenship by origin can be conferred to "the children of a Portuguese mother or father born abroad if they have their birth registered at the Portuguese civil registry or if they declare that they want to be Portuguese". That is why it is imperative to establish paternity first.