Which Portuguese Documents Can Be Apostilled?

Portugal can apostille far more than civil certificates. The key question is whether the document is a Portuguese public document or has first been properly authenticated into the public-document chain.

Civil registry and criminal records

Birth certificates, marriage certificates, death certificates and Portuguese criminal record certificates are among the most common apostille files.

These documents are core Portugal Papers services, so we obtain a fresh record and move it directly into apostille.

Courts, notaries and public authorities

Portuguese court documents, notarial acts, ministry documents, municipal documents and parish-council documents sit within the public-document categories recognised by the apostille system.

Academic documents

Documents from Portuguese public educational institutions can be apostilled as public documents.

Private pre-school, primary and secondary documents first require DGEstE authentication. Private higher education documents first require authentication through IES, I.P., the successor to DGES.

Lawyer and solicitor certifications

Portuguese law also allows certain recognitions, certifications and authentications performed by lawyers and solicitors to enter the apostille route when the formal requirements are met.

Documents outside the apostille scope

The Hague Convention excludes documents executed by diplomatic or consular agents and administrative documents dealing directly with commercial or customs operations.

A private document also does not become apostillable just because someone wants to use it abroad. It first needs the correct Portuguese authentication path.

Send us the document

If you are looking at a Portuguese document and do not know whether it can be apostilled, send us a scan.

We identify the document and build the route instead of asking you to guess which authority comes first.

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