Getting Portuguese citizenship and nationality has different ways for anyone who wants to obtain them. Portugal is located in the Southwestern part of Europe. It is located in the Iberian Peninsula which makes it be bounded to the North and East by Spain, and to the South and West by Atlantic Ocean. The official language for this country is Portuguese, and the capital is Lisbon. Any individual who wants to live permanently in this country must look for a way to get a Portuguese Permanent Residency.
This Permanent Residency ensures a safe residence in this country without any problems from immigration officers. A lot of migrants are applying to get Portuguese citizenship, and this comes after one has been in the country for consecutive six years. While Portuguese nationality is completely different, but most times migrants contradict the two of them. In this article, we are going to get a clear meaning, definition, and the processes involved in obtaining them without stress.
What is Portuguese Citizenship?
This is a type of citizenship in which someone becomes a citizen of Portugal in a formal way that is legal. Before someone can have Portuguese citizenship, he or she must have some relationship with the country. Being a citizen of any country comes with some forms of allegiance, loyalty, and obeying the rules and regulations of the country. Portuguese citizenship has numerous benefits that are attached to it such as the ability to visit other European Union countries, and also work there.
Foreign citizens who were colonized by Portugal are applying for Portuguese citizenship. Becoming a citizen of Portugal is not quite easy based on different procedures that have been attached to it. For instance, the simplest easy for any individual who wants to have a European Union is to have a grandparent who is from either Ireland or Italy. In a country like Poland, where an applicant’s parent is not from Ireland or Italy must pay €250,000 or leave in Poland for three consecutive years to get the European Union passport.
Different Ways of Obtaining Portuguese Citizenship
The following are ways one can become a legalized Portuguese citizen through:
- Naturalization
- Marriage
- Descent
- Portuguese colonies
- Investment
1.   Naturalization:
This is a citizenship process in which one has to stay in Portugal for six consecutive years. This is a fast method for anyone who wants to apply for this citizenship. By this, the candidate must have been able to meet up with other requirements and conditions of Portugal.
2.   Marriage:
Any foreigners who get married to a Portuguese man or woman for three years are legible to apply for this citizenship. This one has nothing to do with the individual as long as you are married. This is another way of obtaining this citizenship.
3.   Descent:
People whose parents, grandparents or great grandparents are from Portugal become a citizen automatically. Another way to have this citizenship is through birth, if an individual place of birth is Portugal, and then he or she is a citizen.
4.   Portuguese Colonies:
There are some countries that were colonized by Portugal such as Guinea Bissau, Angola, Cape Verde, Mozambique, Portuguese India, Sao Time and Principe, etc. All these countries have some form of affiliation with Portugal. This has become an agreement between Portugal and these countries to offer them Portuguese citizenship.
5.   Investment:
Citizenship by investment is a process whereby an individual comes into Portugal to invest through the golden visa scheme. These investments come in diverse ways such as providing jobs, investing in scientific research, purchasing a large acre of land for agricultural purposes, etc. This is another way of getting Portuguese citizenship.
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What is Portuguese Nationality?
This shows the place of the birth of an individual or where the person holds citizenship. Some can have Portuguese Nationality through inheritance or naturalized by following the legal law of that country. Everyone has the right to change his or her Nationality due to one reason or the other. For anyone to be able to do this, he or she must meet certain requirements. These are the following ways one can have a Portuguese Nationality:
- Citizenship by descent or
- Inheritance by parents, grandparents, or great grandparents
Required Documents for Portuguese Citizenship and Nationality
The following are the major documents for anyone who wants to have Portuguese citizenship and nationality:
- Certificate of Birth
- Marriage Certificate (if one want to obtain citizenship through marriage)
- Proof of identification (passport)
- Criminal history/records
All these documents should be in the Portuguese language. For anyone who wants to acquire the Portuguese Nationality through naturalization must be able to wait patiently for six months due to the various procedures that are involved.
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Procedures for Portuguese Nationality
This is a step by step process for an individual who wants to obtain this Portuguese Nationality. Therefore, one has to be careful during these procedures to avoid unwanted errors, and here they are:
1.   Compulsory Registries:
Any event of the individual who is applying for this Nationality needs to record his or her life event in the Portuguese registry. Some of these events that should be recorded are marriage, date of birth, divorce, etc.
2.   Court Decision:
Some of these applications need a court to decide before the application is being sent for processing, and this occurs if someone wants to get married to a Portuguese citizen. Therefore, a Portuguese law court has to be aware of the marriage.
3.   Knowledge of the Language:
The Nationality process involves knowing the language to ease communication. Another way of learning the language is to enroll in an online lecture where they will be taught the basics of using the language during an interaction.
4.   Data:
The data which has been provided must match the information on the documents. For instance, if a lady gets marry and changes her name, the way the names are well written on his or her application should be aligned with the one on the documents.
5.   Documents Legalization:
After these documents are being prepared, they need to be authenticated for legalization by the Portuguese consulate in the individual’s country of residence. It is important to note the documents must be written in Portuguese.
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Differences between Portuguese Citizenship and Nationality
The following are the differences between them:
- Portuguese citizenship is a state of being a citizen of the country. While Portuguese nationality happens to be the status of belonging to Portugal.
- An individual can change his or her Portuguese citizenship, while someone with a Portuguese nationality can’t be changed.
- Portuguese Citizenship can be reversed, while Portuguese nationality can’t.
- An individual is liable to have one nationality of a country, while one can have citizenship of different countries.
Portuguese citizenship is being obtained legally, while Portuguese Nationality refers to someone who’s born in Portugal.