Certidão de Nascimento: the Portuguese Birth Record Explained

Birth record, certificate and access code

The underlying birth registration is the Civil Registry record. The certificate is the official proof of the facts contained in that record.

A Portuguese birth certificate can be available in electronic or paper form.

Portuguese civil-registry certificates use official forms such as certidão narrativa and cópia integral. A cópia integral reproduces the register entry in fuller form, including the relevant recorded endorsements where legally available. Plain-language descriptions such as "full" or "more detailed copy" can help explain the difference to a foreign recipient, but they are not the official Portuguese category names.

For the online version, the requester receives an access code. Anyone or any entity with that code can consult the certificate during the six-month access period. Under the Portuguese official service, presenting the code has the same effect as presenting the paper birth certificate.

The six-month period is the validity of the access code. It is not a universal rule that every authority will accept any birth certificate for six months. A receiving authority may require a recently issued document.

Who can request the certificate?

The official service states that any person may request their own birth certificate or another person's certificate.

There are restricted-access exceptions involving the record of an adopted person and the record of a person who changed sex and first name.

Online certificate

The online certificate is requested through the official Portuguese online civil-registry service and costs €10 under the official fee schedule.

It is normally the simplest route when the receiving authority accepts electronic access.

Paper certificate

A paper birth certificate for ordinary purposes costs €20 under the official fee schedule.

Paper can be the appropriate route when an authority requires a physical certificate, when a particular format is requested, or when the Portuguese international model is needed.

International model

The Portuguese Justice guidance states that a birth certificate in international model must use the paper route rather than the standard online certificate route.

The international model is not the same as the EU multilingual standard form.

EU multilingual standard form

Under Regulation (EU) 2016/1191, a multilingual standard form may accompany certain public documents, including birth documents, when they are presented in another EU Member State.

The form is a translation aid. It is attached to the public document and has no autonomous legal value.

Do not order or describe it as if it were a substitute birth certificate.

Which details help identify a birth record?

Useful identifying information includes:

• Full name
• Date and place of birth
• Parents' names
• Registry office, parish, year or entry number, if known

If the record cannot be identified reliably from the available details, the correct next step may be a Portuguese civil record search rather than a standard certificate order.

Older civil and parish records

Recent records normally remain within the Civil Registry system. Portuguese archive guidance states that records under 100 years old are generally still held by Civil Registry offices, while older books are normally held by District Archives.

For older ancestry cases, the historical source may be a parish baptism record rather than a modern civil birth record. The Civil Registry Code of 18 February 1911 officially instituted the civil-registry system, and many earlier family-history records are found in parish collections.

The 100-year rule is a general archive rule, not a guarantee that every record has already been transferred on the same date.

Using the certificate outside Portugal

Start with the receiving authority's requirement.

The relevant questions are:

• Will it accept an online certificate or does it require paper?
• Does it require a recently issued certificate?
• Does it require apostille or another legalization step?
• Does it require a certified translation?
• Is the document being presented to an authority in another EU Member State under Regulation (EU) 2016/1191?

For covered public documents within the EU framework, apostille is not required. A multilingual standard form may also help with language requirements in eligible cases.

Choose the correct next step

The record is known and you need the certificate

Use the Portuguese birth certificate service.

You live abroad and want the practical request route

Read the birth certificate from abroad guide.

The record details are incomplete

Use the Portuguese civil record search service. The scope and price of a search are agreed individually, and finding a record cannot be guaranteed.

The certificate will be used outside Portugal

Check the receiving authority's requirements before choosing apostille, translation or document format.

Portugal Papers service

Portugal Papers can obtain a Portuguese birth certificate from €99 and coordinate connected document preparation when required.

Available connected services include:

• Apostille
• Certified translation from €49 per document
• Paper delivery
• Individual record search when the registry details are incomplete