Portuguese Citizenship by Marriage: You need to know Portuguese?

The Portuguese passport is one of the most attractive in the world because of the many benefits associated to it, such as the right to travel, live, work and study within the Schengen area and visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 187 destinations worldwide. The acquisition of Portuguese citizenship is regulated by the Nationality Law as amended and regulated, and the application can be submitted in a civil registry office in Portugal.

According to Portuguese law, there are several ways to acquire citizenship: Having Portuguese ancestry, being a resident in Portugal after legally living in the country for 5 years, being a descendant of Portuguese Sephardic Jews, having been born in former Portuguese territories and through marriage or non-marital union, among others.

On this Insight, we will focus on the latter: the possibility of acquiring Portuguese citizenship by being the spouse or life partner of a Portuguese citizen.

Under current Portuguese law, Portuguese citizenship may be acquired by the spouse or life partner of a Portuguese citizen of at least 3 years. However, this is just the first and most basic prerequisite of the process as it is followed by a series of requirements contemplated in the Portuguese Nationality Law and Regulation, making the process more complex.

The acquisition of Portuguese citizenship is regulated by the Nationality Law as amended and regulated. Unlike residency, the application for citizenship is to be submitted to a civil registry office and not to SEF. However, once citizenship is acquired, passport applications are handled by SEF, although the application may be submitted at a Citizen's Shop or a Portuguese Consulate.

 I) Prior recognition of the relationship in Portugal

To obtain the Portuguese citizenship under this route, the first step is to proceed with the recognition of the marriage in the country. If the marriage was celebrated outside of Portugal, the recognition will be done through a procedure called “marriage transcription”.

On the other hand, the nationality request by the partner on a non-marital union, can only occur after recognition of the stable union by a Portuguese Court and therefore, the process will start by filing a lawsuit in order to request nationality.

 II) Proof of connection to Portugal

To ensure a successful application, you must show evidence of an effective connection to the Portuguese national community, which is presumed under the following conditions:

1. You are a native and national of an official Portuguese-speaking country, married or living in a non- marital union for more than 6 years with a Portuguese national.
2. You are a native and national of an official Portuguese-speaking country and have children who already are Portuguese of origin, from the marriage or non-marital union of more than 3 years.
3. You have sufficient knowledge of the Portuguese language and have been married or living in a stable non-marital union with a Portuguese national for at least 6 years.
4. Last but not least, you are an applicant of any nationality, married or living in a stable union (marital or non-marital) for at least 6 years, regardless of whether the nationality of the spouse is originally Portuguese or able to achieve Portuguese citizenship because they meet the criteria above, provided you show evidence of having basic knowledge of the Portuguese language.

Therefore, the big question is: is it necessary to speak Portuguese to obtain Portuguese citizenship by marriage or non-marital union?

In general, the answer is yes. The Government of Portugal expects all citizens to have sufficient knowledge of the Portuguese language. The only case in which you don’t need to prove your proficiency is if you are a native and national of an official Portuguese-speaking country.

According to Portuguese law, the A2 level of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages of the Council of Europe is the minimum level required to obtain Portuguese citizenship for those who are married or live in a non-marital union with a Portuguese national.

This is considered a basic level of the language, but sufficient to interact in common situations in our daily lives. Therefore, you must take a mandatory proficiency exam called CIPLE (Certificado Inicial de Português Língua Estrangeira), which is a simple A2 Portuguese test and ensures that those who wish to become a Portuguese national have a basic understanding of the language.

Alternatively, you can prove your knowledge of the Portuguese language by presenting a certificate issued by a verified education and vocational training institution.

The hypotheses provided by law are:

• Certificate issued by an educational establishment recognized under as such by Portuguese law, provided that the holder has successfully attended the curricular unit of Portuguese or Portuguese as a second language, for at least two academic years.
• Certificate of approval in a Portuguese language test held in public education establishments, carried out in Portuguese territory.
• Certificate in Portuguese as a second language, issued upon completion of a test in a Portuguese assessment centre, as a foreign language, recognized by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education, by means of a protocol.
• Certificate of completion of competence units/training units in Portuguese that form part of the school training component of a qualification from the National Qualifications Catalogue, obtained through double certification training modalities of the National Qualifications System, and which make up a minimum of 100 hours.

If you have further questions regarding this matter, get in touch with us and she will be delighted to assist you.