The Consular section of the British Embassy in Lisbon is able to register the birth of a British national provided the event took place in Portugal. Registration is not compulsory, but it has the advantage of ensuring that a permanent record of the event is kept at the General Register Office in the United Kingdom. Certified copies of consular birth entries may also be obtained at any time. Such certificates are produced in English.

Registration with the local authorities

Registration with the Portuguese authorities is mandatory. The birth may be registered at the Civil Register Office nearest to the place of birth or residence, by one of the child's parents (if the parents are married) or by both (if they are not married and the father’s name is to appear on the certificate). This should be done within 20 days following the child’s birth.  Alternatively, if the child is born at one of the 32 state hospitals and maternities in Portugal, the parents can register the birth at the hospital or maternity immediately after the child’s birth but before the child is discharged from the hospital. The documents to be produced are:

• Parents’ identification documents, ie passports/ID card
• Parents’ residence certificate
• Hospital declaration of birth
• A consular certificate, if the chosen Christian names are foreign to Portugal. A list of acceptable names are available from your local register office.  
  

For more information on registering the birth of your child with the Portuguese authorities, consult the local Civil Registration Authority’s website.

Registration at the Consulate

If you wish to register the birth of your child at the Consulate, please complete the application form for the registration of a birth and send it to the Consular Section of the  British Embassy in Lisbon with the appropriate fees and the following original documents:

a) Child's full birth certificate (certificado de nascimento), showing names of both parents.  If you do not have this document, you can obtain a copy from the local Register Office where you registered the birth of your child.

b) Parents' birth certificates*

• If both parents are British, their full UK birth certificates (this is the one which gives details of their parents).
• If one of the parents is not British, the local birth certificate of this parent or copy of his/her passport/ID card.
• If only one of the parents is British and he/she was born outside the United Kingdom, we need to see his/her consular birth certificate showing that his/her father was in Crown Service at the time of the birth.
• If any of the parents were granted British nationality, we need to see the original Certificate of Registration or Naturalisation.
  

c) Parents' marriage certificate*

d) Photocopies of parents' passports

e) If either parent was previously divorced, the divorce decree absolute
In addition to every original document you send, you should also include a photocopy of each document.  We will return all original documents to you.

*Copies of UK birth and marriage certificates can be obtained on-line from the General Register Office.

Registration at the Consulate where the parents of the child are not married

Children born abroad on or after 1 January 1983 are entitled to British citizenship provided their mother was born in the United Kingdom.  On 1 July 2006, a change was introduced to the nationality law enabling British fathers, who are not married to the mothers of their children, to transmit their nationality. We are therefore now able to register the birth of children born abroad on or after 1 July 2006 to British fathers in these circumstances.  Children born before 1 July 2006 to British fathers and foreign national mothers who are not married to each other, do not benefit from this new legislation.

To effect registration, we will need to see the documents listed above. In addition, if the father’s details are to appear on the registration,  it will also be necessary for the parents to make formal declarations of paternity.  The declarations must be made in person by both parents before a consular officer at one of our Consulates in Portugal. There is no charge for accepting declarations of paternity.

Since March 2000, the facility has existed to register children born abroad to British fathers via the Home Office. These applications must be submitted to the Consular Section of the British Embassy in Lisbon for transmission to the Home Office.  For further details and an application form, please contact us at Lisbon.Consulate@fco.gov.uk.

If you have already returned to the UK and have decided to register your child who was born in Portugal, please apply to the following address:

Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Consular Directorate
Nationality and Consular registration Section
K4.9
King Charles Street
London SW1A 2AH

Tel: +44 (0) 207 008 0186 (Mon-Thurs 10:00-12:00 hours only)

Passport facilities

A passport, valid for 5 years, may be issued to the child if required - see further information on applying for a UK passport.

Renouncing Portuguese Nationality

Renunciation of Portuguese nationality can only be made at the Central Register Office in Lisbon (Rua Rodrigo da Fonseca, nº 198-202, Tel: 21 387 9128).  The documents to be produced are:

• Parents’ passports;
• Child’s Portuguese birth certificate, and
• A consular certificate stating that the child is a British national.