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The children of Portuguese residents abroad, as of this Monday, will be able to register and apply for nationality online, in a new measure of administrative simplification of the Government for Portuguese communities presented in Lisbon.
The online birth registration service abroad will cover, in a first stage, the children of residents in France and the United Kingdom, under one year old and with two parents of Portuguese nationality, as explained by the secretaries during the public presentation of the measure. State of the Portuguese Communities, Berta Nunes, and Justice, Anabela Pedroso.
The measure should cover more than 1.2 million Portuguese with registered residence in these two countries and will have a “direct impact” on seven consulates general in Portugal: London, Manchester, Bordeaux, Strasbourg, Lyon, Marseille and Paris.
At the same time of registration, it will also be possible to apply for nationality, since the descendants of nationals born abroad must express their desire to have Portuguese nationality.
Access is made through the Portal da Justiça (https://justica.gov.pt/Servicos/Registar-nascimento), free of charge and from home, they said.
“Starting today, Portuguese citizens residing in the UK and France and having children under one year of age can register their birth online with a nationality application without having to go to the consulates,” said the secretary. State of the Communities.
Berta Nunes considered that this measure is “particularly important” at this time due to “all the mobility problems” caused by the covid-19 pandemic, but recalled that, under normal circumstances, there are “in the communities, citizens who live many kilometers from the consulates and sometimes they have to travel by plane. “
The online application for birth and nationality registration can only be made by authenticating with a Digital Mobile Code or Citizen Card.
This measure adds to the possibility that Portuguese residents abroad may already renew their Citizen Card online, an alternative that, according to Berta Nunes, “is not yet being used to its full potential.”
“We have to make a great campaign for the Digital Mobile Code and the services that people can access” with it, he said, adding that the delivery of the Citizen Card at home is also being prepared.
The official highlighted the importance of these measures to reduce hours and eliminate pressure from consulates, as well as the gains in comfort for users.
The Secretary of State for Justice, Anabela Pedroso, defended, for her part, that it makes no sense to have measures in Portugal that then cannot be applied to the Portuguese communities.
According to official data, between April 13 and December 13, 2020, a total of 70,090 birth certificates were registered in the registry services, of which 22,196 were submitted online (31.7%).
The official pointed out the simplicity of a process that “in six steps” allows registering a baby and making his application for nationality, which will then be confirmed by email and the birth certificate sent by mail.
In 2019, 77,240 Portuguese children born abroad were registered at consular offices.
Of these, 41,486 in Europe, of which 24,176 in the network in France and the United Kingdom.
The birth registration and online application for nationality are part of the Government’s New Consular Management Model, which analyzes the delivery of a Citizen Card by mail abroad in the short and medium term as the executive estimates to materialize in the first half of 2021.
The launch of the service for registering children of Portuguese citizens abroad is a joint initiative of Foreign Affairs and Justice, and it plans to progressively cover all Portuguese communities residing abroad.
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