Portugal - Getting married

Advertisement

Procedure

• Individuals wishing to marry must declare it, personally or through an attorney, at civil registry office and request the establishment of the respective process publications.
• Upon declaration, the bride and groom should choose civil, or the Catholic religious way,
• Individuals should indicate the place where they intend to marry and provide relevant documents
• If you receive approval to get married, your wedding must take place within three months.
• The earliest date to organize the wedding process is approximately 6 months prior to the wedding, because of the validity of the paper work.
• Civil Ceremonies are legally recognized in Portugal. The local Registrar performs the ceremony in the Register Office. The ceremony will be conducted in Portuguese. Therefore if neither marrying parties can speak Portuguese you should arrange for an interpreter to be present throughout the ceremony
• You will need to get in touch will the local priest in the region of Portugal you wish to marry in advance of your wedding to make the necessary arrangements

Advertisement

Required Documents

• Birth certificate of both intended spouses issued less than sixth months before the request.
• ID/Passport of each of the intended spouses;
• Ante nuptial agreement when applicable;
• Proof of residence in the country;
• A statement of parental consent is needed in case any of the intended spouses is a minor;
• Intended spouses of foreign nationality should present a birth certificate issued by the registrars office of their country of birth and its translation, valid ID or passport and a certificate of legal capacity to marry.

Office Locations & Contacts

To get details of your local civil registry office Follow link for your nearest civil registry office addresses http://conservatorias.com/

Eligibility

The minimum age to get married in Portugal without parental consent is 18. Persons under the age of 16 may not be married.

Fees

Explain the fees structure which is required for obtaining the certificate/document.

Validity

Explain the time until which the certificate/document is valid.
e.g. Birth Certificate Valid Forever

Documents to Use

Please attach documents that can be used by people. e.g. links

Sample Documents

Please attach sample completed documents that would help other people.

Processing Time

After submitting an application at the union council the processing time is 14days

Related Videos

Videos explaining the procedure or to fill the applications. 
Attach videos using the following tag <&video type="website">video ID|width|height<&/video&> from external websites.
Please remove the "&" inside the tags during implementation.
Website = allocine, blip, dailymotion, facebook, gametrailers, googlevideo, html5, metacafe, myspace, revver, 
sevenload, viddler, vimeo, youku, youtube
width = 560, height = 340, Video ID = Can be obtained from the URL of webpage where the video is displayed.
e.g In the following url "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0US7oR_t3M" Video ID is "Y0US7oR_t3M".
	

Instructions

• First both marrying parties must apply for a Certificate of No Impediment from their local Register Office. This process takes 21 days, during which time banns will be published in the register officer. Provided there are no queries arising from your application you will be given a Certificate of No Impediment
• You will need to get in touch will the local priest in the region of Portugal you wish to marry in advance of your wedding to make the necessary arrangements
• You both need to provide a certified copy of your birth certificates. These certified copies must have been issued within the last six months.
• If your wedding is to take place in the Azores, the certified birth certificate must have been issued within the last three months.
• If you want to be married in a Roman Catholic Church, you will need to provide your Baptismal certificates.
• After you have received approval to get married, your wedding must take place within three months.
• If you've been married before, you will need to provide a divorce decree or death certificate to prove that your previous marriage has been legally terminated. These documents must be certified and issued within the last six months, or if in the Azores, in the last three months.

Required Information

• names of the bride and groom
• marital status of the bride and groom
• if previously married the name or names of the previous spouses
• birthplaces of the bride and groom
• ages of the bride and groom
• names of the parents of the bride and groom
• birthplace of each parent
• names of the witnesses
• name of the priest performing the wedding ceremony

Need for the Document

At least one of the marrying parties must be resident in the local area of the Registry Office in Portugal, for a minimum of 30 days, before they can give notice of their intention to marry.
Both civil and Roman Catholic church marriages are recognized in Portugal. Civil marriages take place at the Civil Registry Office in the area of residence. A marriage (casamento) in Portugal is recognized as valid in most other countries.

Information which might help

Portugal is recognized as a Roman Catholic country and as such church weddings are legally recognized under Portuguese Law; however the following Anglican churches in Lisbon, Oporto Estoril and the Algarve and the Scottish church in Lisbon are NOT licensed for marriages.

Other uses of the Document/Certificate

Please explain what are other uses of obtaining this document/certificate.
e.g. Birth Certificate can be used as proof of identity.

External Links

Place some external links which might help

Others

If you wish to have any other type of religious ceremony you will be required to have a Civil Ceremony first, otherwise the marriage will not be legally binding under Portuguese law.