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I have registered my birth in Portugal.

Now I want to know the procedure of applying for Portuguese citizenship card in India, also called Cartao de Cidadao.

I don't know what all documents I will require. Even I mailed the consulate office in New Delhi, but didn't get any replies.

Does anyone know about the procedure to apply for citizenship card in India and what documents are required?

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Finally, I was able to get both my Portuguese citizenship card and passport after a one and a half month long process. I am posting the entire process which I went through at Portugal Consulate - New Delhi India.

I emailed the consulate for an appointment and list of required documents, to which they replied that there is no need for an appointment, you can walk-in at the Consulate and the application slots are provided on a first-come-first-serve basis until 12 PM. If you do not find any appointment slots available or if you are not able to reach the Consulate before 12PM, then you will be asked to come again on next working day.

The Consulate asked me to bring the following documents for citizenship card Cartao de Cidadao application :

  • Portuguese Birth Registration - called Nascimento
  • Indian Citizenship proof - i.e. your current valid Indian Passport
  • Permanent/Current Address proof - should match the one mentioned in Indian passport, I provided my bank account statement and driving license
  • 2 recent passport size photographs - 4.5cm x 3.5cm

They also asked for my Power of Attorney which I had sent to my lawyer in Portugal during my birth registration application. They said it is mandatory, so please ask your lawyer/agent to provide it to you before you visit the consulate

After this, I paid the citizenship card application fee, they took my photograph and finger prints.

They told me it will take 2 weeks for the citizenship card Cartao de Cidado to arrive to the New Delhi Consulate.

After 2 weeks I sent them an email to know the status of my citizenship card. They responded to me after 3 weeks confirming that it has arrived at the Consulate and I can collect it anytime during a Consulate working day - again no appointment is required.

So I went there again, collected my citizenship card Cartao de Cidadao and at the same day applied for my Portuguese Passport, no need for any appointment this time as well.

After 3 weeks I sent them an email again, this time to know the status of my passport. After multiple emails, they replied me back that my Portuguese passport has arrived at the Consulate. So I went again to collect my Portuguese passport - no need for any appointment this time as well.

When collecting the citizenship card and applying for passport, do remember to take all the receipts and any other documents provided by the Consulate during the citizenship card application.

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According to the portal of foreign affairs of Portugal, you can indeed apply for the Cartão de Cidadão at the consular section of the embassy in New Delhi.

The documents you need to take will depend on whether you are older than 12, whether you can present your old card and whether you are mentally sound. The complete requirements in Portuguese are specified under the above link.

If you are over 12 years old, and don't have your previous card or apply for the first time you have the following options:

  • foreign ID, Cartão de Cidadão, driving license, passport or your registration document,
  • two original documents (same as above) from immediate family (parents, siblings, spouse, grandparents, children),
  • be accompanied by two members of immediate family who can identify themselves with ID, Cartão de Cidadão or registration document,
  • be accompanied by two witnesses who can identify themselves with ID, Cartão de Cidadão or registration document.

If you actually speak Portuguese, you might want to check the list for yourself, as I relied on Google translate for this.

Also note that the embassy of Portugal writes on their page:

For any other consular service (renewal of passports and identity cards, power of attorney, or the issuing of various types of certificates), you are requested to appear personally at the Consular Section of the Embassy of Portugal.

So you might have to take an appointment at the embassy to get more information.

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  • I realise this is not a very high quality answer, as I'm not 100% of the translation. I do think however, it should still help the OP. If someone who speaks Portuguese comes along, feel free to edit in any corrections to the translation.
    – drat
    Commented Oct 2, 2015 at 2:58

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