# Portugal here we come.



## Prospero (Nov 10, 2014)

Hi Folks, First time poster long time admirer of these pages.

A little bit about us. I ama Brit, my wife is Nigerian and we were married in Nigeria, our youngsters (6 & 8) are Brits. We are embarking imminently on what _may or may not_ turn out to be the first leg of a "Surinder Singh"journey. If we like Portugal we will stay period. However although I have travelled most of Europe, I have never visited Portugal and I do not have the luxury of a recon job nevertheless we are interested in settling in the West Algarve, probably on the outskirts of Lagos and looking to get the kids into local schools to help with integration, any tips on possible locations would be welcome, we hope to be within reasonable walking or public transport distance to the city centre, schools, health centres, shopping e.t.c

I am concerned about obtaining the relevant residence card for my wife who is a Non-EEA Family member, particularly since we married outside of the EU, I have read some horrendous accounts of applicants having to go back to their home countries for what seems to me frivolous demands of documents, the SEF website does not give full details of what is required, can anybody shed any light on the exact documentary requirements for a residence card application of a third country national ?assuming it would be relatively straight-forward to obtain the registration certificate for me and the kids (as EU citizens) and we fulfil other requirements with respect to income/sufficiency e.t.c, I am more interested in the acceptance or otherwise of a non-EU marriage certificate by the Portuguese authority for residence purposes, thank you.


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## canoeman (Mar 3, 2011)

*All info is on SEF site* as your British then the procedure should be relatively straightforward under EU rules of family re-unification which Portugal fully adheres to

Portal SEF
"If you are a third country citizen and intend to accompany a family member who is an EU/EEA/Switzerland citizen, during his / her stay in Portugal for a period exceeding three months, please apply for your RESIDENCE CARD FOR A THIRD COUNTRY NATIONAL WHO IS A FAMILY MEMBER OF AN EU/EEA/SWITZERLAND CITIZEN "

Scroll down page to
"RESIDENCE CARD 
FOR A THIRD-COUNTRY NATIONAL 
WHO IS A FAMILY MEMBER OF CITIZEN OF UE/EEA/SWITZERLAND 
[Cartão de Residência]"

the information & procedure you want is there, what you should check is whether your Nigerian Marriage Certificate and your wife's Birth Certificate might reguire translating/notarizing equally although you say children are Brits then the same might apply to their Birth Certificates


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## Prospero (Nov 10, 2014)

@ Canoeman. Many thanks for the above. I have seen the information on the SEF portal and it does look fairly straightforward, but as always the devil is in the detail. The core information I am after is basically, what are the exact requirements for presenting a non-EU marriage certificate which the SEF Portal does not state. My marriage certificate has been authenticated at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Nigeria and as you have pointed out I would likely have to do the same for her Birth certificate as well as the kids, and then get translations. I am extremely worried that there is no way of ascertaining the exact requirements, I don't want to roll up to the SEF only to be asked to head back to Africa to dot an "I" or cross a "T" the consulate here is non-responsive therefore i cannot obtain the info beforehand.

In addition to the above, I have read also that any such marriage certificate presented is only acceptable if issued within the last 6 months to presentation. Given that my marriage took place almost 8 years ago this requirement if true does present a problem. Nigerian authorities do not re-issue marriage certificates under any circumstances, I just wonder if anyone here has had direct experience in dealing with similar issues?


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## canoeman (Mar 3, 2011)

If you already have authentication then I would suggest you also reguire "official" translations that are also authenticated or Notarized

Don't confuse different scenario's for different applications as certain things do reguire say a copy of a Birth Certificate within 6 months , follow what the quidelines say, which say that Marriage Certificates are valid, Birth Certicate would support the other necessity which is ID/Passport no mention of issued or copies within a time scale.

Consulates generally respond better to personal calls or phone calls than emails or letters


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## anapedrosa (Mar 21, 2011)

I have dual Canadian - Portuguese citizenship. My husband is Canadian. We had our marriage certificate (1 year old when arrived) translated and notarized. My husband joined me on family reunification. The SEF process for us was one of the easiest. Have photocopies of your passports as well as the originals. Official pictures are easy to get at just about any photo shop here. We had for my husband a criminal record check and health insurance, I just asked him and we don't think they asked for either of these.


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## Prospero (Nov 10, 2014)

@anapedrosa

It seems like your dealings with the SEF was a pretty straightforward matter for you. From what I can glean it sounds like a notarised translation of the relevant documents will suffice. Fingers crossed for me.

@Canoeman, just a quick question if you don't mind. I wanted to know if "family reunification" is the generic application term for EU citizens accompanying their non-EU family members to Portugal. Many thanks.


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## canoeman (Mar 3, 2011)

Yes exactly what anapedrosa did but it's the other way round non-EU family members accompanying/following their EU partners to Portugal and registering under re-unification of fmily.

Procedure requires you to first register first then your wife within 4 months of entering Portugal but it can be as soon as you've registered
Yes your a full Portuguese National but your *not* a Resident until you return and register the fact


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## bisect (Jan 7, 2015)

Our process with SEF was NOT straightforward. My wife is a Portuguese national (with Passport and Citizen's card). And it took more visits than I can count over more than a year's time. 

Documents from outside Portugal must be translated and have an apostille. Additionally, passports are NOT enough for Portugal, they require birth certificates (also translated and having an apostille applied) for non-citizens. 

AND, your experience may vary (greatly) from one SEF office to another. We received conflicting information from different offices (which also contradicted what the Conservatoria would tell us). 

And to top it all off... it seems to be well known throughout most agencies in Portugal that the Portuguese Consulate in London is by far the WORST of the entire collection of Portuguese Consulates. Even the government offices in Portugal end up waiting weeks and months for replies to e-mails.


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## canoeman (Mar 3, 2011)

Think you've had bad luck or not followed procedure, firstly Conservitoria is not the Gov agency that handles Residence it's only SEF, reunification of family is a simple straightforward procedure especially if one partner is a Portuguese National or a EU Citizen, obviously you need the correct paperwork to back up your status


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## anapedrosa (Mar 21, 2011)

Agree about the discrepancies from office to office though. We had been advised to have a birth certificate for my husband, but SEF Lisbon didn't ask for it.

The Ottawa consulate translated and notarized the marriage certificate, so we arrived with that. We showed our original passports and my cartão de cidadão and provided copies of each of these documents (simple photocopies). 

Sorry to hear that you had bad luck with your process.


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## bisect (Jan 7, 2015)

SEF does not have the authority to register/recognize a marriage from outside Portugal in the case of a Portuguese citizen marrying a foreigner; only the Conservatoria do Registos can do so. So while I agree with you that SEF is the agency that would handle reunification, this only applies to non-Portuguese EU/EEA/Switzerland citizens married to Third-Country Nationals. If it involves a Portuguese national, the marriage must first be registered with the Conservatoria do Registos (or via the local consulate, who then forwards the documents to the Conservatoria in Portugal to complete the process), and then the marriage document issued by the Conservatoria can be taken to SEF to apply for Reunification. 

And yes, with the "correct" paperwork translated and with proper apostille applied (since a foreign notary is usually not legally valid outside the country it is applied), and the SEF representative is having a good day, it can be fairly straightforward.


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## anapedrosa (Mar 21, 2011)

Sounds right to me. I registered my marriage at least 6 months before moving, through the Ottawa consulate. The Ottawa consulate were great, the woman who helped me still responds to my e-mail if I have a question.


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