Documents required to get a Portuguese Electronic Passport
What do I need to apply for the Portuguese Electronic Passport?
Can I apply for a Passport by presenting the old Identity Card (valid or expired) with the Citizen Card application form?
Such an application cannot be accepted and a valid Identity Card/Citizen Card is required, in accordance with Decree-Law no. 83/2000 of 11 May, article 18, as amended by Decree-Law no. 138/2006 of 26 July.
Is a birth certificate accepted in the Passport application with the first application for the Citizen Card?
Any applicant for a Passport, including for a minor, must hold a valid Identity Card/Citizen Card, in accordance with Decree-Law no. 83/2000 of 11 May, article 18, as amended by Decree-Law no. 138/2006 of 26 July.
What is required to apply for a Passport for a minor when it is the child of a married or civil partnership couple?
In this case it is necessary for the minor to present with his/her valid Identity Card/Citizen Card, together with a parent with a valid identification document, in accordance with art. 16 (2) and Art. 18 of the Legal Regime for the granting of the Portuguese Electronic Passport.
How should two people in a civil partnership prove their relationship when applying for a Passport for a minor child?
In order to prove a civil partnership, a joint sworn declaration must be presented by the two members of the partnership, stating that they have lived in conditions similar to those of a married couple for more than two years - Law no. 7/2001 of 11 May, art. 2, as amended by Law no. 23/2010 of 30 August.
What is required to apply for a Passport for a minor that is the child of parents that are divorced, legally separated in person and property, dissolved civil partnership or never lived in conditions similar to those of a married couple?
In this case, the minor must present with his/her valid Identity Card/Citizen Card, accompanied by the parent who carries out the parental responsibilities with a valid identification document and a document proving parental authority (birth certificate or current judgement certificate or an certified agreement establishing this authority) - art. 16 (2) and Art. 18 of the Legal Regime for the granting of the Portuguese Electronic Passport.
Do I need to take photos to apply for the Passport?
No. Biometric data is collected at the time of the Passport application, so it is not necessary to take photos.
In the case of children under the age of two years, however, it is sometimes impossible to take a photograph of the quality necessary to be included in a Passport. In this case, the parents of the minor must bring a photograph, which will be scanned at the customer service point.
Can an applicant use an old passport, driving license, military identity card or any other identification document with full name, signature and photograph for the purposes of a Passport application?
Number 1 of art. 18 of the LRPEP establishes that “an Applicant for a Regular Passport, regardless of age, must prove his/her identity by presenting a valid national citizen identity card, which is returned immediately after verification.”
Paragraph 2 states that “For the purposes of granting a Passport, the identity card of a national citizen cannot be replaced by any other identity document”.
In addition, in spite of the existence of other documents that have the general value of an identification document, such as a driving license, a previous Passport or Military Identity Cards, in the scope of the Passport concession, the law clearly disallows possible identity documents other than the national citizen identity card.
Firstly, because the letter of the law establishes this, especially art. 18 (2) of the LRPEP.
Secondly, this is a special legal act that includes special measures to safeguard the Passport granting process.
Further, it is necessary to take into account the legislative rationale underlying the LRPEP, based on the objectives of Community harmonisation of the technical specificities of the Electronic Passport, security, the use of modern information technologies, obtaining biographical data with the simple presentation of an identity card of a national citizen or interaction with the Civil Identification database system for confirmation of the identification of an applicant, issued by the National Commission for Data Protection - Entry 17/2006 NCDP.
Lastly, the rationale behind the legal act of 2000, as amended in 2006, remains in place.
As a consequence, the Identity Card or Citizen Card are an unconditional requirement for the granting of a Passport.
PEP Replacement
What do I need to replace my Portuguese Electronic Passport?
In what situations is it possible to replace my Passport?
What to do in the event of loss/destruction/theft of the Passport?
In the event a passport that has been declared as lost or stolen is recovered and has not yet expired, can it be used again to travel?
No. For security reasons, the document shall be included in national and international databases for the purpose of seizure and should not be used. In the event of its use, the document will be seized and sent to the issuing authority. Pursuant to article 45 (1) of the LRPEP, the use of a lost or stolen document subsequent to it being replaced may be punishable by a fine of €250 to €750.
If it is necessary to change my identification details, do I need to apply for a new Passport?
In cases where it is necessary to update or change identification data, you will need to apply for a new Passport, since the integrated chip is not rewritable, as an intrinsic feature of the security of this document.
May I keep my old Passport?
In compliance with the normative document that regulates the granting of the Portuguese Passport - Decree-Law no. 83/2000 of 11 May, with subsequent amendments [see article 24 (5)] - it is not legally possible to permit this request. Article 24 (5) states that “the granting of a new Regular Passport is only permitted upon surrendering the previous passport, except when this contains visas whose duration justifies its retention by the holder.”
It should be added that under point 3 of the same law “the Passport is the property of the Portuguese State, with its violation and improper use being punishable under the terms of the law.”
What care should I take with my Passport?
The holder must maintain his/her passport in a good state of repair, ensuring that it does not come into contact with elements that affect the reading of the data entered in the Passport, such as liquids, chemicals or other substances. No amendments, erasures or marks of any kind are allowed on the Passport (Article 5 (1) of the LRPEP).
Validity, payment and delivery of the PEP
Is the Passport individual or for a family?
The Passport is an individual travel document, following the principle “One person, one document” - art. 1 (1) of the LRPEP.
Is the Portuguese Passport valid for all countries?
Yes. Like the previous model Passport, the Electronic Passport is valid for all countries that recognise it [Decree-Law no. 83/2000 of 11 May, Article 1 (1), as amended by Decree-Law no. 138/2006 of 26 July - Legal Regime of the Portuguese Electronic Passport (LRPEP)], corresponding to internationally recognised requirements.
What is the expiration date of the Portuguese Electronic Passport?
According to Decree-Law nº 83/2000 of 11 May, republished by Decree-Law nº 19/2018 of 14 March, the ordinary passport is valid for five years (adults and underage).
The special passport is valid for the time-limit established by the competent entity for the issuance, according to the nature and probable duration of the mission entrusted or the situation allowing its granting, but never more than four years.
The passport for foreign nationals holds a maximum validity of two years.
The temporary passport holds a maximum period of validity of one year.
How much does the issuing of a Passport cost?
How can I pay for my Passport?
The Passport can be paid for with cash or card.
What are the delivery times for the Portuguese Electronic Passport?
Is it possible for someone other than the holder to pick up the Passport?
In the case of third-party collection, it is necessary to identify that third party and submit the receipt duly signed by the applicant (according to the signature of the Identity Card/Citizen Card), authorising the delivery of the Passport to a third party.
Signing the PEP
The signature on the Passport must take into account the applicant’s manual dexterity at the time of issuing (even if the Identity Card/Citizen Card is signed differently).
In cases where the signature is slightly divergent from that on the Identity Card/Citizen Card, the applicant’s signature is accepted.
When, due to ageing or other reasons of a permanent nature, the applicant is unable to sign, is it necessary to change the Identity Card/Citizen Card?
As the signature is a required element of identification, in cases of permanent incapacity, changing the Identity Card/Citizen Card to mention the inability to sign is required so that this can be reflected in both that document and in the Passport [art. 5 (2) of the LRPEP].
What about when an applicant is temporarily unable to sign due to an accident, such as a broken hand or arm?
In temporary accidental situations such as hand or arm fractures, the phrase “Unable to sign” will be entered together with a justification for the inability in the observations section.
Second Passport Applications
Second Passport
Temporary Passport Applications
What should the applicant do if travelling on the day or the following day in the morning and does not have a Passport?
In proven urgent cases, the legislation provides for the issuance of a Temporary Passport (articles 38-A and following of the LRPEP and DL 54/2015 of 16 April).
A Temporary Passport may be requested from the Portuguese consular authorities declared competent for this purpose by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Decision-Making Centre for the Consular Network of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Regional Governments or the Foreigners and Borders Service (at the air border posts in Lisbon, Porto, Faro, Funchal and Ponta Delgada).
This Passport is of an exceptional nature and any application must be duly justified. To request this type of Passport, the following must be presented:
1. A completed and signed application form;
2. A valid Citizen Card or Identity Card;
3. Two photos;
4. A document justifying the urgency and exceptional nature of the request.
In the case of a Passport for a minor, incapacitated or disabled citizen, the presentation of a document proving the exercise of parental responsibility, guardianship or custody is also required.
This type of Passport is valid for 1 year and its granting attracts a fee of 150 euros.
The Temporary Passport must be replaced by a Regular Passport as soon as possible, even if within the validity period.
Applicants for the Temporary Passport must always ensure that the Temporary Passport is accepted in the destination country.
If the Temporary Passport has to be issued for reasons not attributable to the applicant, the photograph will be taken at an authorised border post and the document will be granted free of charge.
Departure of minors from the national territory
What is required to leave the country with a minor?
Art. 23 (1) of the LRPEP provides that “when minors are not accompanied by those who exercise parental responsibilities, they may leave the national territory only with authorisation to do so.”
This authorisation must be in the form of a legally certified written document, dated and signed by those who carry out the parental responsibilities, granting custodial powers to duly identified third parties.