# Acquiring Portuguese citizenship through ancestry



## sethjohn4590

Hello All, 

My name is Seth and I am an American living in the USA. I have a question regarding acquiring a Portuguese citizenship.

I have done some research online, including on this forum, but would greatly appreciate some information tailored to my own, personal situation. 

Both of my parents are from Portugal. They were both born in Portugal but are currently both American citizens. My father immigrated to the US in 1969 and I believe was automatically considered an American citizen. He has his paperwork regarding this. As for my mother, she was a Portuguese citizen up until 2009 when she renounced her Portuguese citizenship and became an American citizen. 

I know that Portuguese law entitles me to a Portuguese citizenship because BOTH my parents are from Portugal, as well as all four grandparents, but I am not sure whether my mother is still considered a Portuguese citizen even though she is an American citizen now and does not have dual citizenship.

My questions are,

-Will I be able to acquire the citizenship still even though both my parents are considered citizens of the USA? (I have all their information, birth certificates, etc.)
-How long does the process typically take? Is it expensive? 
-Must I be fluent in Portuguese? (I am conversational, not too comfortable w/ legal terms)
-Will I be entitled to all the benefits of Portuguese/EU citizens right away? Is there a residency requirement. Example: living in Portugal 6 months before it kicks in?


THANK YOU SO MUCH for reading and I hope to hear back from anyone 

Seth


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## silvers

Hi Seth,
I cannot see any problems for you regarding your citizenship here and as such you will be entitled to the benefits you mention. The welfare state here is quite poor though and you would be expected to pay into it before receiving any unemployment benefit for example. Despite the fact that your parents have renounced their citizenship, your birth should have been registered with the Portuguese consulate, no matter where you were born. You need to contact either your local Portuguese consulate or the one where your parents registered your birth, this will entitle you to gain a passport and then you could move here immediately.


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## UniReb

As long as you was born to a Portuguese citizen (at that time), then you are most certainly entitled to be registered as a Portuguese citizen, at the nearest consulate or embassy, if you are outside of Portugal. Furthermore, Portugal allows former citizens that had renounced their citizenship to re-attain it. So, your parents can become Portuguese citizens again at anytime if they choose to do so.


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## -mia-

sethjohn4590 said:


> Both of my parents are from Portugal. They were both born in Portugal but are currently both American citizens. My father immigrated to the US in 1969 and I believe was automatically considered an American citizen. He has his paperwork regarding this. As for my mother, she was a Portuguese citizen up until 2009 when she renounced her Portuguese citizenship and became an American citizen.


If your parents never renounce their citizenship directly with an official from Portugal, then Portugal still considers them citizens. 




sethjohn4590 said:


> My questions are,
> 
> -Will I be able to acquire the citizenship still even though both my parents are considered citizens of the USA? (I have all their information, birth certificates, etc.)
> Yes. There is a lot of paper work to gather go to the PT consulate and find out what they need.
> 
> -How long does the process typically take? Is it expensive?
> About 2 years once all the correct paper work is in their hands.
> 
> 
> -Must I be fluent in Portuguese? (I am conversational, not too comfortable w/ legal terms)
> No.
> 
> -Will I be entitled to all the benefits of Portuguese/EU citizens right away? Is there a residency requirement. Example: living in Portugal 6 months before it kicks in?
> Yes. There is no residency requirement. But there are things you may not be entitled to as you never paid in. You'll have to check what health care you are entitled to & I don't think you are entitled to any unemployment. Again, you'll have to investigate further.


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