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Multiple Residences Prior to Portuguese Citizenship

Michael Decker
Michael Decker

This article addresses the topic of multiple residences prior to Portuguese citizenship (for those applying due to the Sephardic Law). Oftentimes clients come to us asking how their application process for Portuguese citizenship will be affected by their previous multiple residences.  This is an important question, and in order to successfully obtain Portuguese or Spanish citizenship, as thousands of others have in the past few years, it is important to follow the proper procedures.

Multiple Residences Prior to Portuguese Citizenship

What You Need to Do to Apply for Portuguese Citizenship

The main thing you need to obtain Portuguese citizenship is a letter from the Portuguese Jewish community.  For more information about how you can get this document, read our article, “Proving Sephardic Jewish Heritage.” After obtaining this letter, you need to submit the application and required documents to the Portuguese authorities responsible for immigration.  

Supplementary Information If You’ve Had Multiple Residences Prior to Portuguese Citizenship

Beyond the required documents in any application, if you have resided in multiple countries prior to applying, you must submit a criminal record certificate from each of the countries in which you have resided. This criminal record certificate should be issued by the authorities in each country. It is also important to ensure that you obtain an apostille for each document. In the event that the applicant’s current or former country of residence cannot provide an apostille, the applicant must then legalize the document in the Portuguese consulate that is closest to their region.  

This Series of Articles

In addition to this article addressing multiple residences prior to Portuguese citizenship, we provide numerous articles on the topic of immigration to Portugal for those with Sephardic Jewish ancestry.  This includes non-Jews and Sephardic citizenship, Jews eligible for Sephardic citizenship, Portuguese citizenship for a spouse and children, how long the process takes, the costs involved, and more

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Our law offices focus on a number of legal areas, including immigration law.  We work closely with the Portuguese Jewish community and applicants with Sephardic citizenship to help our clients obtain citizenship as smoothly and quickly as possible.  Contact us for legal assistance.

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