📑 Still in your country

Preparing the documents from your country

Certificates, criminal records and diplomas issued outside Portugal must be authenticated (with an apostille or legalisation) and, if they are not in Portuguese, translated. Give yourself time for this.

The three steps

1
Get the official document
Issued by the competent authority in your country. Authorities in Portugal ask for originals or certified copies.
2
Authenticate it: apostille or legalisation
It depends on whether the country that issued the document has joined the Hague Apostille Convention — see below.
3
Translate it, if it is not in Portuguese
With a certified translation. Documents already written in Portuguese do not need a translation.

Documents the checklists usually ask for

Criminal record certificate — from your country of nationality or the country where you have lived for more than a year, with an apostille or legalised
Birth and marriage certificates (when you come with your family or for family reunification)
Diplomas and academic certificates (study and some work visas)
Proof of income (D7, D8 and other visas)

The exact list depends on the visa and the consulate — create the checklist for your case.

Apostille or legalisation?

The apostille replaces diplomatic or consular legalisation between the countries that have joined the 1961 Hague Convention: it is added by an authority of the country that issued the document (Public Prosecutor’s Office). If the country has not joined, the document must be legalised through the Portuguese embassy or consulate in that country (MNE).

✅ Apostille (joined the Convention)

For example: Brazil, Cape Verde, São Tomé and Príncipe, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, China, Ukraine, Morocco, Senegal and the United States.

In Brazil, the apostille is issued by the registry offices (cartórios) (CNJ).

🏛️ Legalisation (not joined)

For example: Angola, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Timor-Leste and Nepal.

Ask the Portuguese embassy or consulate in your country how to get the legalisation.

The full, up-to-date list is in the official table of the Hague Conference (HCCH). Status confirmed in October 2026.

Documents from European Union countries: birth, marriage, criminal record and other certificates covered by Regulation (EU) 2016/1191 are exempt from legalisation and apostille. They also do not need a translation if they come with the multilingual standard form, requested from the authority that issues the certificate (IRN).

Certified translation

The translation of a foreign document can be certified by notaries, lawyers, solicitors or recognised chambers of commerce and industry (Tax Authority).
If you plan to have the translation done in your country, first check with the consulate whether that translation is accepted and whether it also needs an apostille or legalisation.
At registry services in Portugal, documents in English, French or Spanish may be accepted without translation if the official knows the language (IRN). For the visa application, always follow the consulate’s checklist.

⏳ Watch the date of the criminal record certificate

Some consulates only accept a criminal record certificate issued in the 3 months before the appointment (for example, Toronto). Check your consulate’s rule before you request it.

💡 So you do not have to do it twice

Make sure your name is spelled the same way on every document and on your passport.
Request more than one copy of the certificates you will use several times.
Keep the originals with apostille and translation after the visa, and a digital copy of everything.

← Plan before you leave Create my checklist →

Official sources (mostly in Portuguese)

Checked in October 2026. Each consulate has its own checklist — that checklist prevails.

Still have a question about apostilles and document translation?

Ask the community — other immigrants have been through the same, and you will get an email when someone replies. Most answers are in Portuguese.

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