# Need Help with Portuguese•	The certified Birth Certificate of Citizenship Application



## anatsepcram

Hello,

I'm having trouble with my application for Portuguese Citizenship. I've obtained the following documentation:

•	My certified Birth Certificate from the State of California
•	The certified Birth Certificate (Long Form) of my Father from Porto Santo, Portugal
•	The certified Birth Certificate of my Mother from the State of California
•	Copy of my United States passport

The Consulate General of Portugal in San Francisco and Los Angeles tell me I need to register my parent's marriage in Portugal before I can obtain citizenship. Unfortunately, my Mother died in 1998 and my Father suffers from severe dementia and I can't get a marriage date or location from him. Is there any alternative to the marriage registration requirement?

Thank you for your consideration


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## John999

If you can't get a marriage certificate of your parents why not try to get your self registered in porto sant has your fathers daughter and then apply for Portuguese citizenship? Porto Santo is a small island belonging to Madeira, so a visit to sort that out might be the easiest way to do it


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## nelinha

Did they get married in Madeira? If so their marriage should be registered at the registo. Ask your consulate if their is a department of registos de casamento in Madeira, they should be able to give you some info. In Pt there is also a Registos Centrais but they would need a bit of information. Quite often marriages were only conducted in church, I don't know if they then got registered. Your best bet would be to spend some holidays in Madeira and try to get some info directly from them. If your parents got married in the US then the marriage should be registered at the consulate who will then register it at the arquivos centrais. Then you will need certified birth certificates for both parents, marriage certificate from where they got married in the us, sorry can't remember the rest, better if you ask the consulate. I wish you good luck I think you have a big problem ahead. Nelinha


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## John999

Hi again
Marriages are legally registered, in this country, since 1940 without exceptions. If you have a birth certificate where your father name and his nationality are stated, should be a straight forward process


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