If you're a son of a Portuguese citizen, you have the right to request the Portuguese Citizenship. There's a lot of option, according to the Nationality law, to request the Portuguese Citizenship and the rules are quite different depending on each case. So, we'll talk about the options and all the requirements to grant the Portuguese Citizenship being a Portuguese son.

Who has the right?

The children of a Portuguese citizen are entitled to Portuguese citizenship. If only one of the parents is a Portuguese citizen, the son already has the guaranteed right. .

Children over 18 and minors have the right to request the Portuguese Citizenship. The request is also independent of the place of birth. It means that even if they were born outside Portugal, a son or a daughter of a Portuguese is entitled to the Portuguese Citizenship.

What are the rules?

In the case of children of Portuguese parents who have derived nationality, the transmission of nationality can only take place if they are minors and have proven ties with Portugal (in case of CPLP countries, the knowledge of the Portuguese language is enough as a proof of ties).

The child or the representatives (in case of minors or process conducted by lawyer under a Power of Attorney), needs to take (in general) at the Consulate or at the Conservatoria:

• Birth certificate (with Haia Apostille);
• Father or mother birth certificate;
• Criminal certificates of all the applicants;
• Documents that prove the ties with Portugal;
• Others (it will depend on each case)

All the documents must have less than 6 months of issue.

See below the most common questions regarding the Portuguese Citizenship for sons:

• Naturalized children can ask the Portuguese Citizenship?

Yes, it's possible. The request can be made by parents who have become naturalized Portuguese after the birth of the child and provided that the children are minors.

• Adopted sons can request the Portuguese Citizenship?

Children adopted after October 1981 can apply for the Portuguese Citizenship with the regular documents. Children adopted before, need more documents but can apply as well.

• Can I apply on my country of origin, or I need to go to Portugal to apply?

It's possible to apply in both ways. If you're not in Portugal you can also hire a legal assistance to do this for you being your representatives.

• How long does it take for citizenship to be approved?

Normally it takes 6-12 months.

The foreign residents need to apply for the Portuguese Nationality process at the Portuguese Ministry of Justice by IRN (Instituto de Registos e Notariado). The documents required will depend accordingly on each case. For that, you can count on our expertise.