# Ancestry Visa



## Jaylee (Dec 28, 2015)

Good day

I live in cape town south africa.

My father was Portuguese (he passed away when i was 3years old - 21 years ago) and obviously his parents (my grandparents) are Portuguese.

I tried before to apply for my ancestral visa but was told i couldn't get one because my father was not born in Portugal and because he is deceased they couldn't give me a visa as i am second generation. (In other words they wouldn't skip a generation) i would have to use my father as my direct link for an ancestral visa.

I was researching yesterday and i see they have since changed that law which will allow me to get one.

How do i go about this ? where do i go ? Who do i contact ?

Thank you so much

Jaylee


----------



## travelling-man (Jun 17, 2011)

Portuguese Consulate in Capetown; https://embassy-finder.com/portugal_in_cape-town_south-africa

I wish you luck but you do need to realise that getting in won't be the end of your problems because there's VERY little work to be found here & even less for new immigrants that don't speak the language & little if any benefits until you've been contributing to the system for a while.


----------



## TonyJ1 (May 20, 2014)

Jaylee said:


> Good day
> 
> I live in cape town south africa.
> 
> ...


The law was changed this year and you can get Portuguese citizenship in certain circumstances. The law expanded the citizenship to grandchildren, but in this case you may need to prove a link to the Portuguese community and some knowledge of the Portuguese language.
If you father was Portuguese (even if not born in Portugal), you may not need to prove a link to the Portuguese community and knowledge of the Portuguese language. However you need to gather original documents before a proper evaluation can be done (a so called certified vault copy of your birth certificate, if you do not have one in your possession).


----------



## TonyJ1 (May 20, 2014)

travelling-man said:


> Portuguese Consulate in Capetown; https://embassy-finder.com/portugal_in_cape-town_south-africa
> 
> I wish you luck but you do need to realise that getting in won't be the end of your problems because there's VERY little work to be found here & even less for new immigrants that don't speak the language & little if any benefits until you've been contributing to the system for a while.


The point in getting Portuguese citizenship is not necessarily wanting to come to Portugal - it opens doors to anywhere in the EU, etc


----------



## Chadstick31 (Aug 19, 2016)

If your dad was Portuguese (had Portuguese citizenship), whether he was born there or not is irrelevant. You are still Portuguese by origin, provided that your dad had his citizenship at the time of your birth. This is Portuguese law. Dont try get citizenship via yoir grandparents because that will be hard. Use your dads citizenship. You need to ask the consulate to get his Portuguese birth certificate to prove that he was Portuguese. Then you need to get your vault birth certificate, both parents unabridged birth certificates, their unabridged marriage certificate, and then you can register their marriage in Portugal and then register yourself as a citizen. This is law and your citizenship cannot be denied. Provided you meet all the mentioned criteria.


----------

