The Next Passport
Descent Path · Second GenerationPortuguese Citizenship by Descent Through a Grandparent
This page is informational, not legal advice. It describes Portuguese citizenship law in general terms based on publicly available legislation and Portuguese government sources. For guidance on your specific situation, consult a licensed Portuguese immigration attorney. Information reflects Portuguese law as of September 5, 2026, including Lei Orgânica n.º 1/2026 (in force May 19, 2026). The grandparent descent path was changed by that reform: a new Article 1(3) applies the Article 6(1)(c)–(h) requirements to it — language plus culture, history and national symbols, civics, a declaration of adherence to democratic principles, and three bars. The rule that the grandparent must be Portuguese originária (by origin) is older: it has been in the law since Lei Orgânica n.º 2/2020. Article 7(2), Lei Orgânica n.º 1/2026 — procedures pending on 19 May 2026 continue under the previous wording, which spares them the new Article 1(3) requirements but already required a grandparent of Portuguese nationality 'originária'.
Last verified: September 5, 2026 · Maintained by The Next Passport (Warner Creates LLC).
You may qualify for Portuguese citizenship through a grandparent who was Portuguese by origin — even if your parent never claimed it. The grandchild route (Article 1(1)(d)) requires a grandparent of Portuguese nationality originária who did not lose it, proof of Portuguese (usually the CIPLE A2), an effective connection to Portugal and — for applications filed from May 19, 2026 — the Article 1(3) requirements. A loss by naturalization or by marriage before October 1981 is not necessarily final: Articles 30 and 31 reverse it. The IRN fee is ~€175. Portugal's official guidance lists your local consulate among the places to apply, as well as the Conservatória dos Registos Centrais, a Balcão da Nacionalidade and civil registry offices — but at least three US posts, Newark, New Bedford and San Francisco, direct grandchild applications straight to the Conservatória dos Registos Centrais instead of accepting them, so check your post's own page before booking.
What the grandchild route requires (Article 1(1)(d))
The grandchild route is Article 1(1)(d) of the Lei da Nacionalidade (Law 37/81) — a nationality-by-origin (atribuição) path that you open by declaring that you want to be Portuguese. Lei Orgânica n.º 1/2026 added a new Article 1(3) as of May 19, 2026. All of the following must be satisfied:
- 1A grandparent of Portuguese nationality originária who did not lose it — your grandparent must have held Portuguese nationality originária (by origin). This has been the rule since Lei Orgânica n.º 2/2020, not a 2026 change, and applications pending on May 19, 2026are not exempt from it. A grandparent who became Portuguese by naturalisation, marriage or any other later acquisition does not open this route. “By origin” is not the same test as “born in Portugal” — see the next section.
- 2Proof of Portuguese — usually the CIPLE A2 certificate, set and certified by CAPLE — Centro de Avaliação e Certificação de Português Língua Estrangeira, Faculdade de Letras da Universidade de Lisboa. The accepted proofs include: CIPLE A2, or a certificate from a recognised school showing at least two school years of Portuguese as a curricular subject (Regulamento art. 25.º n.º 2).
- 3Effective connection (ligação efetiva) — Regulamento da Nacionalidade (DL 237-A/2006), art. 10.º-A n.º 2 — effective connection (ligação efetiva) is sufficient knowledge of Portuguese proved under art. 25.º n.º 2, plus no qualifying criminal conviction and no national-security bar. The A2 certificate is the usual proof of the language limb; it is one limb of three.
- 4Knowledge requirements (Article 1(3), new) — Article 1(3) applies Article 6(1)(c)–(h) to this route. Alínea (c) requires knowledge of the Portuguese language AND of Portuguese culture, history and national symbols; alínea (d) requires knowledge of fundamental rights and duties and of the political organisation of the State.
- 5Declaration of democratic principles (new) — alínea (e): a solemn declaration of adherence to the principles of the democratic rule of law.
- 6Three bars (Article 1(3)) — alínea (f): no final conviction with an effective prison sentence of more than 3 years for terrorism, violent or organised crime, crimes against State security or aiding illegal immigration; alínea (g): no danger to national security or defence; alínea (h): not subject to UN or EU restrictive measures.
- 7If you are an adult: parentage established while you were under 18 (Article 14) — your legal relationship with your parent must have been established while you were under 18, for example by being named on the birth record at birth, or recognised before turning 18 (Lei n.º 37/81, art. 14.º n.º 1; gov.pt, ‘Pedir a atribuição de nacionalidade portuguesa para cidadão residente no estrangeiro’, updated 27 March 2026). A relationship established in adulthood counts only where it came from a court judgment, and the application must then be made within three years of that judgment becoming final (art. 14.º n.os 2–3, added by Lei Orgânica n.º 1/2024, in force 1 April 2024). For a judgment that became final before 1 April 2024, the three years run from that date (Lei Orgânica n.º 1/2024, art. 5.º). The Tribunal Central Administrativo Sul held that the rule tests only your own relationship with your parent, not your parent's relationship with the grandparent (proc. 375/21.8BELSB, 2 March 2022). The registry had argued that it covers both, so a late recognition between your parent and your grandparent is worth raising with a lawyer. Sources: gov.pt guidance; Lei Orgânica n.º 1/2024; TCA Sul, proc. 375/21.8BELSB.
Two things to know about requirements 4 to 6. Article 7(2), Lei Orgânica n.º 1/2026 — procedures pending on 19 May 2026 continue under the previous wording, which spares them the new Article 1(3) requirements but already required a grandparent of Portuguese nationality 'originária'. And how these requirements will be tested is not yet published — the Regulamento da Nacionalidade has not been updated. That is not the same as the requirements being suspended: the statute has been in force since May 19, 2026.
Where the route comes from: Lei Orgânica n.º 9/2015, de 29 de julho — added Article 1(1)(d), the grandchild route by origin (Lei 43/2013 added the Sephardic naturalisation route in Art. 6(7), not this one). The statute is Lei n.º 37/81 de 3 de outubro de 1981 (Lei da Nacionalidade), as amended twelve times — most recently by Lei Orgânica n.º 1/2026, de 18 de maio.
Was your grandparent Portuguese by origin?
Before asking whether nationality was lost, ask whether it was ever held. Under Lei n.º 2098 (the law in force from 1959 to October 1981), being born in Portugal settled it in almost every case. Base I made a child born in Portuguese territory Portuguese if the father was Portuguese (a); if the mother was Portuguese and the father stateless, of unknown nationality or unknown (b); if both parents were stateless or unknown (c); and even if the father was a foreigner (d). The exception was a foreign father who was in Portugal in the service of his own State — and, under Base I(e), a foreign mother in the same position where the father was stateless or unknown.
A child born outside Portugal to a Portuguese father or mother who was abroad in the service of the Portuguese State was Portuguese with no declaration at all (Base II). Any other child born abroad to a Portuguese father was Portuguese only on a declaration, a registration of the birth in the Portuguese civil registry, or domicile in Portugal plus a declaration (Base IV); a child born abroad to a Portuguese mother qualified only where the father was stateless or unknown, and then on the same conditions (Base V). Lei 37/81 keeps the same shape for a child born abroad: Article 1(1)(c) requires the birth to be inscribed in the Portuguese civil registry or a declaration that the child wants to be Portuguese.
The record that proves it
If your grandparent (or parent) was born outside Portugal, the record that proves Portuguese nationality is the Portuguese birth record made by inscription at the Conservatória dos Registos Centrais, or the registered declaration (Article 21(4)). If no such record exists, get advice before filing.
Chain-breaker analysis: loss before and after October 1981
Since October 3, 1981 (Law 37/81, Article 8) — acquiring a foreign nationality after that date is not a ground for losing Portuguese nationality. The only loss ground in the Act is a declaration by someone who holds another nationality (Article 8). So a grandparent who naturalised as a US citizen after that date did not lose Portuguese nationality by doing so. That settles the naturalisation question, not every question: your grandparent still has to have been Portuguese by origin, and a grandmother's marriage to a foreigner before October 1981 needs its own check.
Before October 1981, Lei n.º 2098 Base XVIII listed these loss grounds: (a) voluntarily acquiring a foreign nationality; (b) accepting foreign public office or military service without the Government's licence; (c) a Portuguese woman marrying a foreigner, if she acquired his nationality and did not declare that she was keeping hers; and (d)–(e) declarations by people who also held another nationality. Separately, Base XX let the Government, after a Council of Ministers deliberation, decree the loss of nationality in two defined cases, and Base XXI allowed a deprivation under Base XX(a) to extend to the person's wife and filhos incapazes.
Two of those losses are reversed by Lei 37/81 itself. Article 30 covers a woman who lost nationality by marrying a foreigner; Article 31 covers voluntary foreign naturalisation. In both, the loss is reversed by default where no registo definitivo da perda (definitive registration of the loss) was drawn up, and by declarationwhere one was. The reversal is retroactive — to the date of the marriage under Article 30, to the date of the foreign naturalisation under Article 31 — and the State's opposition grounds in Articles 9–10 do not apply. A loss on any other ground is outside Articles 30 and 31; get advice on it.
What about a great-grandparent who naturalised?
Under the 1959 law, losing Portuguese nationality by voluntarily taking another nationality did not extend to the person's children.
The CIPLE A2 exam: what to expect
Who runs the exam, and where
The CIPLE is set, marked and certified by CAPLE — Centro de Avaliação e Certificação de Português Língua Estrangeira, Faculdade de Letras da Universidade de Lisboa. You sit it at a CAPLE-authorised exam centre (LAPE). CAPLE runs three worldwide sessions a year (May, July, November), but each US centre offers only some: in 2026 Washington DC had all three, Boston and Berkeley May and November, Newark May only. The US centres are Berkeley (UC Berkeley), Boston, Newark, and Washington DC. Registration and the current calendar are on CAPLE's own site; check it rather than a third-party listing, because each centre publishes its own sessions.
What about the Camões Institute?
Camões — Instituto da Cooperação e da Língua, I.P. is the Foreign Ministry's institute for teaching and promoting Portuguese abroad, and its name is on a lot of Portuguese course material, but it does not set, run or issue the CIPLE. Its roles here are adjacent: the Portuguese state's recognition of CAPLE certification runs through it, and under Regulamento da Nacionalidade art. 25.º n.º 2 al. b) it accredits the venues for a separate public-network language test taken abroad. Its own certificates (Certificação EPE, Camões Júnior) are school-network exams, not the CIPLE. If a guide sent you to camonescert.pt for the CIPLE, that domain no longer resolves; register with CAPLE at the link above.
Fees and registration
The CIPLE A2 exam fee is a flat €95. There is no cheaper paper version — CAPLE and ULisboa publish a single price, and the discounted tier applicants often expect is a misreading of CIPLE-e, the school-age version of the exam. On availability, CAPLE publishes no figure for how quickly places fill, and we are not going to invent one. What CAPLE does state is that each exam centre decides how many places it opens for a session and that only the places still free are shown to you at sign-up, that registration closes 21 days before that session's first exam date, and that a registration left unpaid for 24 hours is cancelled (you then wait 48 hours before you can try again).
Is the CIPLE the only way to prove Portuguese?
No. The Regulamento lists the accepted proofs of Portuguese in art. 25.º n.º 2, and they include: CIPLE A2, or a certificate from a recognised school showing at least two school years of Portuguese as a curricular subject (Regulamento art. 25.º n.º 2). The school-years route means two school years at any level — not a university programme. For people with a serious illness or a disability, and for people aged 60 or over who cannot read or write, the proof of Portuguese must be adapted to their capacity (art. 25.º n.º 6). Note that Article 1(3) also asks for knowledge of Portuguese culture, history and national symbols, and how that will be tested is not yet published.
Effective connection (ligação efetiva): what counts
Regulamento da Nacionalidade (DL 237-A/2006), art. 10.º-A n.º 2 — effective connection (ligação efetiva) is sufficient knowledge of Portuguese proved under art. 25.º n.º 2, plus no qualifying criminal conviction and no national-security bar. It has three limbs, and the definition names no other evidence: a NIF, visits, property or association membership are not among them. Since May 19, 2026, Article 1(3) adds its own requirements on top.
1. Sufficient knowledge of Portuguese
Proved by one of the means in art. 25.º n.º 2. The CIPLE A2 is the usual proof — art. 25.º n.º 2 al. c), the CAPLE route, names no CEFR level at all, so A2 is the customary proof rather than a statutory presumption.
2. No qualifying criminal conviction
Shown through the criminal-record certificates the application is instructed with (art. 10.º-A n.º 3 al. c)).
3. No danger or threat to national security or defence
The third limb of art. 10.º-A n.º 2.
Documents you'll need
Regulamento art. 10.º-A n.º 3 lists what the grandchild declaration is instructed with. US-issued documents need an apostille from the Secretary of State of the issuing state, and a translation only if the conservador asks — documents in English are exempt by default (Regulamento art. 37.º n.º 2). You need not order Portuguese civil-registry certificates yourself if you give details that identify the record — the registry obtains them (art. 37.º n.º 4).
Your documents
- Your birth certificate — long-form, apostilled (art. 10.º-A n.º 3 al. a))
- Proof of Portuguese under art. 25.º — usually the CIPLE A2 certificate issued by CAPLE (Universidade de Lisboa) (art. 10.º-A n.º 3 al. d))
- Criminal-record certificates from Portugal, from your country of birth and of nationality, and from every country where you have lived or live (art. 10.º-A n.º 3 al. c)) — countries, not US states. You do not order the Portuguese one: the registry obtains it (art. 37.º n.º 7 al. a)). The certificate from your country of birth or nationality is dispensed if, after reaching the age of criminal responsibility, you lived in another country (art. 37.º n.º 8)
- Article 1(3) requirements (applications filed from May 19, 2026) — how culture, history, civics and the democratic-principles declaration are to be proved is not yet published; the Regulamento da Nacionalidade has not been updated
Your parent's documents (intermediate link)
- Birth certificate of the parent who descends from your grandparent — apostilled if US-issued (art. 10.º-A n.º 3 al. b))
- Marriage certificate (if applicable) — apostilled if US-issued
Your grandparent's documents (qualifying ancestor)
- Portuguese birth record (assento de nascimento) — the record that proves nationality by origin (art. 10.º-A n.º 3 al. b)). You need not order the certificate yourself if you give details that identify the record (art. 37.º n.º 4). If your grandparent (or parent) was born outside Portugal, the record that proves Portuguese nationality is the Portuguese birth record made by inscription at the Conservatória dos Registos Centrais, or the registered declaration (Article 21(4)). If no such record exists, get advice before filing.
- Death certificate (if deceased) — apostilled if US-issued
- Marriage certificate — apostilled if US-issued; for a grandmother married to a foreigner before October 1981, it dates any loss by marriage (Article 30)
- US naturalization certificate (if they naturalized) — dates the naturalization relative to 3 October 1981 (Article 31)
Processing time
Portugal publishes no processing time for the grandchild route, and the ranges we used to show here — 18–42 months by lawyer, 2–4 years by consulate — were ours, not anyone's data. We have deleted them. The Conservatória dos Registos Centrais has exclusive competence over nationality registration and analyses files by entry date within each legal ground, so how you file does not change your position in the queue.
Priority and urgency are narrow
The IRN's standing priority covers only files for minors born abroad to a Portuguese parent who have no other nationality and remain undocumented — which does not describe a child who holds US citizenship. Any applicant may ask for a file to be treated as urgent, but only on exceptional grounds they can prove — among them statelessness, a serious humanitarian situation, urgent life-threatening treatment available only to EU citizens, or being aged 75 or over.
The language proof can set your filing date
The grandchild declaration is filed with proof of Portuguese (art. 10.º-A n.º 3 al. d)), and for most applicants that proof is the CIPLE A2 — so the exam calendar matters. CAPLE runs three worldwide sessions a year (May, July, November), but each US centre offers only some: in 2026 Washington DC had all three, Boston and Berkeley May and November, Newark May only, and each centre sets its own number of places. Your entry date is what fixes your place in the queue.
Frequently asked questions
Check if you may qualify
The free eligibility check walks through the grandparent chain — whether your grandparent was Portuguese by origin, whether they lost it by naturalization or marriage before October 1981, and the language and effective-connection requirements. Takes about 3 minutes.
Check your eligibility →Related guides for Portuguese citizenship by descent:
Not legal advice. This page describes Portuguese citizenship law in general terms based on publicly available legislation and Portuguese government sources. For guidance on your specific situation, consult a licensed Portuguese immigration attorney.