Skip to content
Contact Us: 03-3724722 | 055-9781688 | [email protected]

How Much Does an EU Passport Cost?

Joshua Pex
Joshua Pex

What is the cost of an EU passport? This article will present the different tracks through which you can acquire a European passport and the stages within the process of obtaining it. Investing in a Portuguese passport is, with no doubt, a worthwhile expense, since it grants better rights and benefits than most other passports. Accordingly, the costs of obtaining the passport varies throughout the different stages, as we will demonstrate below.

Our offices specialize in obtaining Portuguese passports for Israeli citizens and Sefardi-Jew descendants abroad. If you believe that your family has a close or distant family connection to Jews who were expelled from Spain (Sepharadic Jews), we can check how to help you to obtain a Portuguese passport.

What are the Costs of a Portuguese/EU Passport? Fees for obtaining a EU Passport and Representation Costs

How much it costs to issue an EU passportIn order to receive a Portuguese European Union passport, it is not officially obligatory that the applicant would be represented by a lawyer, or any other professional. In fact, applicants may fill the different forms and submit the application on their own. However, most applicants prefer to rely on an experienced attorney in the field, who knows the rules and is familiar with the procedures in Portuguese immigration law. In other words, a professional attorney who knows how to file the application properly and to avoid errors that may harm the process of obtaining a Portuguese citizenship.

In addition, an attorney can save precious time for you; making calls and appointments, searching for and submitting documents and making other inquiries. The average applicant would not always know how to deal with those tasks.

Costs of Document translation 

When a person applies for Portuguese citizenship, she is required to translate documents to Portuguese. The applicant will be required to translate official documents, such as a birth certificate, evidence for a connection to Sepharadic Jews, etc. It is recommended to use a certified translator who is experienced in the field. The cost of translation varies between 50 to 70 ILS (approx. 15-20 USD) per page. However, in some cases the prices might reach 150 ILS (approx. 40 USD) per page. It depends on the documents and their content.

In addition, each translation requires a certificate. It adds similar costs to those of translation for each document. In these cases it is better to file the application via a law office, where the legal representation costs already include the notarized certificates. It is important to note that the amount of documents for translation is usually not large, thus the cost of translation is a relatively minor part of the costs of the entire application.

Payment of Fees

After having all the relevant documents in hand, we can submit them to the Jewish community of Portugal. Then the documents will be transferred to the Portuguese authorities. The submission of the documents includes a payment of fees, similarly to the fees required by the Israeli Ministry of Interior for issuing a new passport.

The cost of the application is several hundred Euros per person. If your application is approved by the Jewish community, you will move to the stage of submitting the application for citizenship before the Portuguese authorities. The waiting time to receive a passport is around a year and a half. After this period you will be asked to add a few dozens of Euros for the issuance of the physical passport.

Language Courses and Additional Costs

Back when Spanish citizenship was available for descendants of Sefardi Jews, applicants were required to take tests that would prove their knowledge in Spanish language and the Spanish culture.

If you didn’t have a background in Spanish language, they had to invest in one or two courses in order to pass the tests. The cost of a single course varies between 2000 to 4500 ILS (approx. 600-1350 USD). (The possibility of acquiring a Spanish passport is no longer valid since October 2019)

Portuguese Citizenship for the applicant’s Family

As you have read, obtaining a Portuguese citizenship (or a foreign citizenship in general) is usually not an inexpensive process. However, when it comes to additional family members, the costs may be reduced dramatically. The reason is that the documents and translations that you are required to submit are the same, since you share the same history with your family members. 

In addition, when represented by an attorney, there is an interest to grant a discount to the client in order to increase the range of services. The amount of discount is determined by the number of family members. It is possible to get a discount of hundreds and even thousands of Shekels for each family member.

Costs of Issuing a Portuguese-EU Passport

Below we will sum the costs for the process of issuing a Portuguese passport:

  • A fee for the Jewish community – 500 EUR (listed as a “donation”)
  • Attorney’s fees – 4000-8000 ILS (approx. 1200-2400 USD)
  • Costs of documents and translations – 600-900 EUR (this process is often included in the fees)

The total of costs for the whole process will be between 12000-16000 ILS (approx. 3600-4800 USD).

If there is more than one family member involved in the process, the costs will be reduced by 1000-2000 ILS (approx. 300-600 USD) for each additional applicant.

More articles regarding Portuguese Passport:

  1. EU Passport for Moroccan Descendants
  2. Spanish Passport or Portuguese Passport?
  3. Portuguese Citizenship for Gentiles (Non-Jews)
  4. Portuguese Citizenship with a Criminal Record
  5. Issuing a Portuguese Passport for Children

We thank Mr. Jonathan Gavrielov who wrote this article.

Contact Us – our Law Offices in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv

Our law offices have 30 years of experience in the field of immigration. We will be happy to assist you with any difficulty or a question regarding immigration to Portugal. Call us in order to schedule a meeting with an attorney in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem.

Contact Us

  • ✓ Valid number ✕ Invalid number
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Scroll To Top