Marriage in Portugal: the civil process for foreigners and foreign marriages

Marrying in Portugal

A marriage is valid only when registered, and it starts with a preliminary process (processo preliminar de casamento) at a civil registry office (Conservatória do Registo Civil), opened at least one month before the chosen date — online for Portuguese citizens and Brazilians with the equality statute, in person at any registry for others, or through a proxy holding a power of attorney with special powers (a public instrument or a notarised signature, identifying the other spouse and the modality).

The couple declares the wish to marry, the modality — civil, Catholic, or civil under religious form (other recognised faiths) — the place (registry, a municipal venue, or the church), and presents identity documents: for foreigners, the residence permit, the passport or an equivalent. A prenuptial agreement (convenção antenupcial) is presented if made elsewhere.

Foreign spouses add, in practice, their birth certificate (apostilled, certified translation unless the registry accepts the language) and, where their national law requires it, a certificate of capacity to marry or of no impediment from their consulate or home registry — the Portuguese registrar checks that both are free to marry under their own law. Divorced or widowed applicants bring the divorce decree or death certificate, apostilled and translated.

The registrar examines the file; anyone may present impediments meanwhile; when authorised, the couple has six months to marry. Cost: 120 € for the process and the registration, with extras for weekends, holidays or an agreement on the marital regime. Refusals are notified in person or by registered letter and can be appealed.

• 1 month minimum between opening the process and the wedding date
• 120 € process and registration; extras for weekends, holidays, prenuptial deeds
• 6 months to celebrate once the process is authorised
• Same-sex marriage has been lawful in Portugal since 2010

Impediments listed by the registry include an existing marriage, close kinship, notorious dementia, and a conviction for the wilful homicide of the other party’s spouse. Marriage of minors under 18 is possible only from 16 with parental authorisation.

Registering a marriage celebrated abroad (transcription)

A Portuguese citizen — or a foreigner who later needs the record — registers a foreign marriage by transcription (transcrição) into the Portuguese civil register, at a Portuguese consulate or at the Conservatória dos Registos Centrais in Lisbon. Documents: the foreign marriage certificate, apostilled or legalised, with a certified translation; the spouses’ identity and birth records (the Portuguese spouse’s Portuguese birth record); the marital regime, if agreed. The transcription creates the Portuguese marriage record, which is then the basis for:

• the nationality declaration of the foreign spouse after three years of marriage — citizenship by marriage — which cannot be received while the marriage is unknown to the Portuguese register;
• the residence card of a family member of an EU citizen, or family reunification for the spouse of a resident;
• inheritance, a name change on the Cartão de Cidadão, joint tax filing.

Transcription is usually the slow part of a spouse’s nationality file: consulates can take months. Access Portugal files the transcription and the nationality declaration together, at the consulate or the Registos Centrais, with a single set of apostilled and translated documents.

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