Apostille in Portugal | Procedure and cost

Apostille in Portugal | Procedure and cost

Apostille in Portugal

We apostille in Portugal and send the apostilled document by post to all countries. The entire procedure is online. The client places the order, makes the payment and informs us of the address where they wish to receive the document by post.

Sending procedure:

1) The client provides the details (or a copy) of the document they want apostilled (e.g. birth certificate, marriage certificate, death certificate, criminal record, etc.);
2) The firm makes an estimate and sends a signed fee proposal to the client;
3) The client signs the proposal and sends it by e-mail (in pdf) and then makes the payment;
4) The firm asks DHL for a quote for sending the document to the client’s address;
5) The firm informs the client of DHL’s quote;
6) The client makes the payment for the document to be sent by DHL.
7) Once payment has been confirmed, the firm sends the document to the address provided by the client.

Apostille of marriage, divorce and death certificates.

In order to request that a marriage, divorce or death certificate be apostilled, we need full details. If the person concerned has a copy of the register, they can send it to us by email or WhatsApp.

Let’s explain how apostille works in Portugal. As an example, for marriage, divorce and death certificates, we need to:

1º) apply for the seat to be issued (2nd copy);
2º) request the certification of the respective seat;
3º) remove the certified seat and send it for apostille.

Ask for an apostille via this link

The procedures are carried out in two stages. The seat is issued and certified at the IRN and the apostille is done at the Court. Both services require prior appointment.

Fees charged by the Portuguese Government

You will need to pay three fees for the public service:

a) fee for issuing the document (e.g. birth certificate);
b) fee for certifying the document;
c) the fee for apostilling the document.

In addition, it is worth remembering that the client will have to pay the post office fee for sending the apostilled document. Our suggestion is that the client opts for DHL.

Postage costs

The firm sends the apostilled document to the address requested by the client. This is sent by DHL.

When the firm has the document in its hands, it requests a quote for shipping and informs the client. There is no way for the firm to know the cost of the shipment before receiving the quote from DHL. If the client wishes, they can make a simulation on the DHL website to get an idea of the approximate cost. The price takes into account the distance and weight of the envelope.

The client must pay for the document to be sent. The office will send the receipt to DHL as soon as payment has been made.

Region of apostille

We apostille any public document issued in Portugal (in any region of Portugal).

How long does apostille take?

The office needs to make:

  • an appointment to issue the birth / marriage or death certificate.
  • another appointment for the respective apostille.

As a rule, the office carries out the apostille within 2 working days from the date of payment confirmation (the date on which the payment becomes available in our bank account).

When the document is apostilled, the office calculates and informs you of the cost of sending the document. The shipping procedure begins as soon as payment has been made.

Document search

There are cases in which the client needs a certain seat apostilled but doesn’t have it. In this case, it is necessary to carry out a search and, once found, carry out the apostille procedure above.

The search service has a cost that can be added to the apostille service.

Adriano Martins Pinheiro is a lawyer based and registered in Portugal and provides online consultancy services on all continents.

tags: apostille, portugal, certificate, documents .