# Citizenship acquisition through marriage - recommendation letters



## Doppelgänger

Hello, this is my first post on this forum. I've done some extensive research and I could not find a similar topic.

I'm married to a Portuguese national for more than 10 years. My 2 children have already acquired their Portuguese nationality a while ago and I'm the only one left behind. 

I'm working my way through the required documentation to start my citizenship process. I was able to gather everything except for 2 or 3 letters or recommendation written by Portuguese association or family friends, which was in requested by the Portuguese Consulate officials nearby the area that I live.

In reading through the Portuguese citizenship laws at the SEF site, there is no specific request for such letters. Other than "evidence of effective [Portuguese] community links", which is why I believe such letters are being asked.

Having said that, could anyone who has successfully gone through this process and provide an example [generic] of what those letters should contain?

Thanks in advance,

Der Doppelgänger


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## acorey

Hi Doppelgänger,

I recently got my nationality through descent. As I am second generation, My father agreed to get his first, so that I could get mine. This was recommended to me by the consular officer. He used, as an example, the scenario you describe as the difficulty of gaining nationality through application. He said that the issue of "community links"is a squishy one and is dependent on the reviewers evaluation. In other words, One might say you are connected enough, and another might not. Based on the same evidence.. I think that the fact that you are married to and the parent of Portuguese Nationals would make a difference. But that is just my opinion.. Also, in your case, it may be that they just need to fill a file and the letters won't really be scrutinized too much.

Another of my opinions is that it might be easier if you lived in Portugal.. I believe it is the policy of most European countries to NOT break up families.. So it is relatively easy to get visas for spouses.. Once you have lived in Portugal for a while it should be much easier to obtain Nationality.. The reason I believe this is based solely on the research I did when I was trying to get my Nationality and should be taken with a grain of salt.

Also, I must say that dealing with the Portuguese Consulates in Los Angeles, and Providence RI was a pleasure. They were very kind and helpful. I would not hesitate to call them for advise/clarification. 

All the best and don't give up. You will succeed.

AC


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## karmago

Hi,

I am married to a Portuguese citizen, too, and we have a son, who is Portuguese as well. Since we live in Portugal, I decided to apply for the Portuguese citizenship in October 2012 and just today received my rejection letter. The justification was that my "effective community links" (_ligação efectiva à comunidade nacional_) are insufficient, apparently... They asked for further documentation proving that connection. The interesting part is that the documents they asked for were my tax declaration and a copy of tenancy agreement. To me it makes absolutely no sense. My original application in October included like 50 different documents (from Finanças, Segurança Social, Centro de Saúde, IMTT and many more) proving my connection to Portugal (or so I thought). 

I am planning on asking two or three friends for reference letters and attach them to my reply to the _Conservatória dos Registos Centrais_. They didn't ask for it, but it can't hurt I guess. 

I feel slightly outraged by the situation. Especially when I know that they give the citizenship to people who had a Portuguese grandmother/grandfather, but apart from that have no connection to Portugal whatsoever (I don't mean to insult anyone in particular, I just know cases like that), but I live in Portugal, my son is Portuguese, I speak Portuguese, and apparently my links to the community are doubtful. No comment.

Good luck with your process, Doppelgänger. I hope it goes well (unlike mine).
All the best,
K.


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## Busman

Hello, I am Nigerian married to Portuguese national for more than 3years. I want to apply for Portuguese nationality through marriage, we live in London and I have got all the document to submit in Portugal except a recommendation letter or connections with portuguese community, I can't speak Portuguese and I don't have any connections with Portuguese except my wife and my son. Could anyone please advice me on this? Thanks.


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## acorey

Busman, If you read the post just before yours by karmago you will have your answer I think. I think if you are trying to get Citizenship through marriage you will have to speak the language, and provide evidence of your connection to the Portuguese community. Which, as you can see from karmago's post is very hard to do even if you live in Portugal... 

Karmago, sorry for your situation. You are right to feel outraged. The system is unfair. Consular workers have said as much to me. They think it is unfair too. Not only do you have to prove this "connection", but there is no standard. It is left to the person handling the file to make the determination.. So you could have been approved by a different person, on a different day. Just because they were in a good mood or whatever. It gives them a loophole through which to discriminate.. 

I wish you both the best of luck.

AC


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## canoeman

Yet in the paperwork required by the Conservatoria where application for Citizenship is processed in Portugal these letters are not mentioned


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## absy

karmago said:


> Hi,
> 
> I am married to a Portuguese citizen, too, and we have a son, who is Portuguese as well. Since we live in Portugal, I decided to apply for the Portuguese citizenship in October 2012 and just today received my rejection letter. The justification was that my "effective community links" (_ligação efectiva à comunidade nacional_) are insufficient, apparently... They asked for further documentation proving that connection. The interesting part is that the documents they asked for were my tax declaration and a copy of tenancy agreement. To me it makes absolutely no sense. My original application in October included like 50 different documents (from Finanças, Segurança Social, Centro de Saúde, IMTT and many more) proving my connection to Portugal (or so I thought).
> 
> I am planning on asking two or three friends for reference letters and attach them to my reply to the _Conservatória dos Registos Centrais_. They didn't ask for it, but it can't hurt I guess.
> 
> I feel slightly outraged by the situation. Especially when I know that they give the citizenship to people who had a Portuguese grandmother/grandfather, but apart from that have no connection to Portugal whatsoever (I don't mean to insult anyone in particular, I just know cases like that), but I live in Portugal, my son is Portuguese, I speak Portuguese, and apparently my links to the community are doubtful. No comment.
> 
> Good luck with your process, Doppelgänger. I hope it goes well (unlike mine).
> All the best,
> K.


Hi Karmago

I'm picking up quite an old post, but hopefully this will pop up for you somewhere.

I'm looking to move to Portugal with my Portuguese wife (3 years married this month + we were married in Porto) and our 2 year old daughter (who has all Portuguese documents). We've actually been spending quite a lot of time in Portugal over the last year and would now like to set things up so that we can maybe move there permanently.

I'm curious how you got on with your passport application? Did you manage to acquire Portuguese citizenship through marriage in the end?

For reference I am a British citizen and my level of Portuguese is pretty basic.

Thanks in advance


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