Document Translation Requirements in Portugal
Official bodies in Portugal generally require a notarized translation of foreign-language documents, and many documents also need an apostille or legalization before they are translated. Below: who can translate, when an apostille is needed, and where the official rules are published.
Portugal uses a certified-translation system: the translation's accuracy is certified before a notary, a lawyer, or a chamber of commerce (and recorded at the Instituto dos Registos e do Notariado). For a Portuguese document used in the United States, a certified English translation with a signed Certificate of Accuracy is what USCIS and universities accept. Portugal has been in the Hague Apostille Convention since 1969, so a Portuguese certidão is apostilled by the IRN — not consularized.
Portugal requirements at a glance
| Translation standard | Notarized translation (Notarised) · tradução certificada |
|---|---|
| Who can translate | Any competent translator, provided the signature is officially certified |
| Apostille | Often required for foreign documents, depending on country of origin |
| Apostille authority | The Instituto dos Registos e do Notariado (IRN) / the Procuradoria-Geral da República for certain documents. |
| Accepted languages | Portuguese |
| Responsible authority | Instituto dos Registos e do Notariado (IRN) |
Who can translate documents for use in Portugal?
What makes a translation official in Portugal?
How does Portugal treat documents from abroad?
Legal basis
Apostille & legalization for Portugal
Portugal is part of the Hague Apostille Convention (since 1969), so public documents are authenticated with a single apostille — no consular legalization.
Documents from Portugal
The Instituto dos Registos e do Notariado (IRN) / the Procuradoria-Geral da República for certain documents.Portugal has been a party to the Convention since 1969.
U.S. documents going to Portugal
A U.S. document going to Portugal is apostilled in the United States — the state Secretary of State, or the U.S. Department of State for federal documents — and then translated into Portuguese with the translation certified.
The apostille should be obtained before the translation, so the apostille certificate is translated too. See how apostilles work, or order a translation with e-apostille.
How to get a Portugal document translation accepted
- 1
Request the certidão de cópia integral
Ask the conservatória do registo civil for the full record so all annotations (averbamentos) are present.
- 2
Order a certified English translation of the full document
Cover the registry data, the averbamentos, and any apostille, with a signed Certificate of Accuracy.
- 3
Submit the original plus the certified translation
File them with USCIS, the university, or the credential evaluator.
Ready to translate your Portuguese documents?
Certified for USCIS, universities, and credential evaluators — from $24.95/page.
Which direction are your documents going?
Translating Portuguese documents for the U.S.?
Portuguese birth certificates, diplomas, and transcripts submitted to USCIS, universities, or credential evaluators need a certified English translation — that is exactly what we do — backed by our revise-free-or-refund acceptance guarantee.
Sending U.S. documents to Portugal?
U.S.-issued documents usually need an apostille before they can be used in Portugal — and the apostille should be obtained before the translation, so the certificate itself gets translated too. We offer e-apostille processing as an add-on to any order.
Popular certified translations
The Portuguese documents we translate most often — each with its own pricing and requirements page.
Why Portugal document translations get rejected
The mistakes we see most often on Portuguese documents — and what a correct certified translation does instead.
Averbamentos (margin annotations) dropped
A Portuguese certidão records later events in the margin; skipping them hides changes a U.S. office needs to see.
Brazilian Portuguese conventions applied to a Portuguese document
Portugal uses European Portuguese terms and document structure; treating a Portuguese certidão as Brazilian can misname fields.
The 0–20 grading scale read as a percentage
Portuguese grades run out of 20; reading them as percentages distorts the record a credential evaluator computes.
Real Portuguese translation cases we've handled
Anonymized Portuguese-to-English orders. Each case shows the exact translation problem and how we solved it for the receiving authority.
RecentMay 2026embedded-non-textBrazilA FUNARPEN Digital Seal on a Brazilian (Paraná) Birth Certificate
A Paraná-issued Brazilian birth certificate carried two verifiable digital seals: a state-level FUNARPEN selo digital and a separate cartório 2D barcode. Both are checkable online by the receiving authority. We translated each seal as its own bracketed inline block and kept the verification URLs in English. The certified translation was delivered for a USCIS family-based filing.
Handled by Natalia Vega, Iberian & Latin American Legal TranslatorUSCIS family-based filing (supporting record)Read case →
RecentMay 2026country-specific-quirkBrazilWhen a Brazilian School Transcript Lists Two Grade Numbers per Year
A Brazilian two-page school transcript covered nine years of Elementary Education and three of Secondary, with every grade from 6 to 9 labeled under two parallel numbering systems — the old 'Série' and the post-2008 'Ano.' We preserved both labels on every applicable row, reproduced the dense multi-row table grid cell-by-cell, and flagged one calendar-year gap in the original (the year 2007 is absent). The translation was delivered for a USCIS filing.
Handled by Natalia Vega, Iberian & Latin American Legal TranslatorUSCIS — supporting recordRead case →
RecentMay 2026civil-registry-conventionsBrazilA CRC-Sourced CPF Annotation on a Brazilian Birth Certificate
A Brazilian Inteiro Teor birth certificate carried a modern marginal annotation recording the holder's CPF (taxpayer number) and citing the CRC inter-registry information exchange. The annotation is a separate registry action issued years after the original birth entry. We translated the certificate with the annotation preserved as its own paragraph, identified the two cited Brazilian institutions in English, and kept the redundant date forms typical of Brazilian civil registry copy. The translation was delivered for a USCIS family-based filing.
Handled by Natalia Vega, Iberian & Latin American Legal TranslatorUSCIS family-based filing (supporting record)Read case →
Cost & turnaround
A one-page certidão is priced as a single page; multi-page records are priced by their page count. Standard delivery is 24–48 hours, with notarization and e-apostille available as add-ons. See full pricing.
Portugal translation requirements — FAQ
Do I need a Portuguese-certified translation for a document used in the U.S.?
No. U.S. authorities do not require Portugal's certification chain. A certified English translation with a signed Certificate of Accuracy is what USCIS, WES, and ECE accept.
certified Portuguese translationIs Portugal in the Hague Apostille Convention?
Yes, since 1969. A Portuguese public document used abroad is apostilled by the Instituto dos Registos e do Notariado (IRN), not legalized at a consulate.
how apostilles workShould the translation use European or Brazilian Portuguese?
For a Portuguese-issued document, the translation works from European Portuguese conventions; the English target is the same, but the source terminology and document structure are Portuguese, not Brazilian.
Portuguese translation servicesWhat are averbamentos on a Portuguese certificate?
They are the margin annotations recording later events — marriage, divorce, name change. A complete certified translation renders them, because a U.S. office reads them as part of the record.
Portuguese certidão translationHow are Portuguese grades translated for WES?
Portuguese grades run on a 0–20 scale. A certified transcript translation preserves the scale so WES or ECE can map it, rather than converting to a U.S. GPA.
WES translationHow much does a Portuguese document translation cost?
Pricing is per page. A one-page certidão is a single page; multi-page records are priced by page count.
see live pricingCan I translate my own Portuguese documents?
No. USCIS and universities reject self-translation; an independent translator must complete and certify it.
what a certified translation isRequirements in related countries
Neighbors and countries with a similar translation standard.
Sources
- Instituto dos Registos e do Notariado (IRN)Instituto dos Registos e do Notariado (Portugal)
- Apostille Convention — specialised sectionHague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH)
Information verified against official sources. Last verified June 2026.
Need a certified Portuguese translation?
Signed Certificate of Accuracy with every order, a revise-free-or-refund acceptance guarantee, optional notarization and e-apostille — delivered in 24–48 hours.