# Wanting to become a Portuguese citizen.



## Reknarok (Oct 21, 2013)

Hi, so as the title states I would like to become a Portuguese citizen to try and fix my family, it's really broken. I have no help from anyone trying to pull information together due to various reasons which will become prevalent later on in this post. Now a bit of history so you know where I'm coming from.

I'm a 24-year-old Australian. My mother was born in Caracas, Venezuala to an Irish father, a Dutch mother and is a naturalised Australian citizen. My father was born in Sydney, Australia to Portuguese parents. I don't know my grandfather's name but my grandmother was named Maria Antonia Graca Da Silva, she died giving birth to my father.

They had me when they were 18 and 17 respectively. When I was very young my father left and I didn't meet him again until I was 12. When I met him at 12 he told me he was moving to England to get married. This kinda screwed me up hard and I've been an incredibly angry person ever since. I met two of my aunts, and my cousin when I was about 20. Not long after I met them I agreed to meet my father again with the intention of decking him and walking away. But when I saw him I decided against it and have tried to mend ties ever since. It's still really awkward and I still get very angry at him for seemingly no reason, I also don't know a large portion of my family including a sister I don't know anything about other than her first name.

I don't know a lot about any of my family other than what I've picked up in general conversation, I do know that my father is a Portuguese citizen though.

So I've taken it upon myself to try to track down members of my scattered family and I don't really feel comfortable bringing it up with my family because while they are family, I barely know them and to be quite honest, I don't trust people I don't know. But I really would love to learn a lot more about my heritage during that time and I've found that the best way is to live among it.

So my question to you guys is. Where do I start in becoming a Portuguese citizen, I really have no idea and just a starting point would be great for me to try and figure the rest out.


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## canoeman (Mar 3, 2011)

You need an authenticated paper trail, your BC, your parents marriage cert., your fathers B/C, and his parents marriage, B/C & death certs., authenticated copies fine, basically you need to prove you're no more than 3rd generation and your G/Parents where Portuguese citizens, you might not like or be comfortable with it but your family will be the ones who can or should be able to help you get that information. 
Good luck


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## Reknarok (Oct 21, 2013)

Thank you very much for that information. It looks like I will have to ask my family for help. :\

But again, thank you. You've just verified something for me. I've been looking around and getting mixed information on it all. Some places are saying that if my father is a citizen then I'm a citizen, some other places are saying that's not the case. It's a headache.

But really, thank you so much.


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## canoeman (Mar 3, 2011)

This is official link Portal SEF and also this one Lei da Nacionalidade where English option doesn't work you'll need to use a translator, stick to official versions rather than some dubiuos information posted on some sites, your Portuguese Consulate should also be a good place for information


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## Maggie2780 (Nov 3, 2013)

I too had similar questions and issues with obtaing Portuguese citizenship. My Portuguese isn't the best, I know nothing about the Portuguese legal system, and I just couldn't deal with the Consulate anymore. I felt like I just kept getting the run around. I had heard numerous stories about files and documents being lost... Since I was living in NJ I contacted a Portuguese law firm which is represented there (all work is done out of their US office and I avoided all of the Consulate's inefficiencies). I was able to get everything taken care of for myself and my family at a very reasonable cost (I was apprehensive about lawyers handling this because of often high fees but it was less than I anticipated). I spoke with Lizete Esteves. 





The contact info is: 


Candeias e Associados 


3 Main Street 


Newark, NJ 07105 


973.344.6557/973.220.7703 


[email protected] 





P.S. They are great with e-mails. Hope this helps. I was tired of dealing with the Consulate so finding them was a huge load off my shoulders. I have referred them to friends in AZ, MA and even Brazil. All feedback has been positive so far from them and it looks like they are doing great work. Good luck


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