Frequently Asked Questions

Portugal Papers is a Portuguese document and civil-registry service with an office and team in Lisbon. We obtain official Portuguese documents, arrange apostille and certified translation, and handle civil-registry procedures. An in-house Portuguese legal team takes the complex and document-adjacent cases.

Anyone who needs official Portuguese documents can use our services, regardless of their location. Our clients include Portuguese citizens living abroad, descendants of Portuguese nationals, property owners in Portugal, businesses with Portuguese operations, and legal professionals handling international cases.

For most document services, no — they are handled remotely and delivered worldwide. Some services do require attendance: a Power of Attorney, for example, is a completed service at our Lisbon office, and certain procedures may require someone to appear in person. Each service page says which applies.

The site and our client support are available in English, Portuguese, Russian, Ukrainian, Spanish, French, German, Chinese and Hebrew.

We can obtain: Civil Registry documents (birth, marriage, death certificates), Criminal Record Certificates, Property Registry Extracts (Certidão Predial), Caderneta Predial, Company Registry Extracts, Tax Residence Certificates, and we also provide Apostille services and Certified Translations.

The required information varies by document type. Generally, you'll need: full name of the person, date of birth, place of birth or registration, and parents' names. For property documents, you'll need the property identification number (Artigo Matricial). We'll guide you through the specific requirements for your order.

Yes, all documents we obtain are official documents issued directly by Portuguese government authorities (Civil Registry, Land Registry, Criminal Record Services, etc.). They are legally valid and can be used for official purposes.

Yes, we can obtain birth, marriage, and death certificates for deceased relatives. You'll need to provide as much information as possible about the person, including approximate dates and places of vital events.

It depends on the service, and the page for that service states its own timing. There is no single turnaround for everything we do: a standard document has a published processing time, while civil-registry and legal procedures follow the authority's or the court's own timelines.

Standard and Express are options on the services that offer them, and the service page shows both prices and both processing times. They are not a sitewide support tier: services without an express option simply do not show one.

You'll receive a digital copy (PDF) via email as soon as the document is ready. If you need the original physical document, we can arrange international courier delivery for an additional fee.

There is no customer dashboard. Our team communicates with you directly about your request by email or WhatsApp. When a tracked physical shipment is used, the courier's tracking number is provided.

Prices are shown on each service page and on the Pricing page — civil registry certificates from €99, apostille from €99, certified translation from €49 per document. For standard document services the ordinary official fees are included in the price shown, unless that service page says otherwise.

The service page states the price before you order. For standard documents the ordinary official fees are inside that price; for legal and special procedures a court, registry or consular fee may be charged separately and is shown on the relevant page. Physical delivery is charged separately unless it is expressly included.

We accept all major credit and debit cards (Visa, Mastercard, American Express) through our secure Stripe payment system. All transactions are encrypted and secure.

Refunds are governed by our Terms of Service, which set out when a refund is available and how official fees already paid on your behalf are treated. If something goes wrong with your request, write to us and we will look at it.

An Apostille is an international certification that authenticates the origin of a public document. It's recognized by all countries that are members of the Hague Apostille Convention, making your Portuguese documents valid for use abroad.

If you're using Portuguese documents in another country that's part of the Hague Convention, you'll likely need an Apostille. Countries outside the Convention may require full legalization through the embassy. We can advise you on what's needed for your specific situation.

Yes. If you already hold a Portuguese document and only need it apostilled, start the Apostille request and tell us which document it is — we will confirm what we need to see and how to get it to us.

Yes, we take data security very seriously. All data is encrypted in transit and at rest. We only collect information necessary to process your order and never share it with third parties. Our payment processing is handled by Stripe, a PCI-compliant payment provider.

We keep what we need for as long as the request and our legal obligations require, and no longer. Documents are sent to you by email when they are ready; we recommend saving your own copy as soon as you receive it. Our Privacy Policy describes how your data is handled.

Only our authorized team members who are directly involved in processing your order will have access to your documents. We maintain strict confidentiality protocols and all staff are bound by non-disclosure agreements.