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Police Clearance Certificates for Portugal

16181 Views 17 Replies 10 Participants Last post by  canoeman, 
R
Hi,

I need to get a police clearance certificate from Portugal and would like to know if anyone could tell me how to go about doing so. I live in South Africa and have spoken briefly to someone at the local consulate however they say they are not able to assist. I am currently in Europe, so would be able to extend my trip if it is necessary for me to visit Portugal in order to obtain this certificate, however I have no idea how to do this or who to call.

Any help would be appreciated.

Ron
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ron.gre said:
Hi,

I need to get a police clearance certificate from Portugal and would like to know if anyone could tell me how to go about doing so. I live in South Africa and have spoken briefly to someone at the local consulate however they say they are not able to assist. I am currently in Europe, so would be able to extend my trip if it is necessary for me to visit Portugal in order to obtain this certificate, however I have no idea how to do this or who to call.

Any help would be appreciated.

Ron
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You are asking the impossible. How can the Portuguese police produce you a clearance certificate, if you aren’t Portuguese or have any history in Portugal? They don’t know you from anywhere. If you not on the Portuguese system. Just for curiosity, why do you need a police record from a country where you never lived or worked?
:confused:
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R
Hi John,

I hold dual citizenship (SA and Portugal), and I need police clearance certificates for all countries of which I am a citizen. Obtaining the necessary document from within SA seems improbable according to the local representatives in Cape Town :( , however I have received word today that the consulate in Johannesburg may be able to assist.

Failing this, I would guess that my best chance would be to extend my current trip and try to organise this directly with whichever governmental department is responsible for this, however I have no idea how to go about this and my limited Portuguese is more likely to hinder than advance the process.











John999 said:
You are asking the impossible. How can the Portuguese police produce you a clearance certificate, if you aren’t Portuguese or have any history in Portugal? They don’t know you from anywhere. If you not on the Portuguese system. Just for curiosity, why do you need a police record from a country where you never lived or worked?
:confused:
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ron.gre said:
Hi John,

I hold dual citizenship (SA and Portugal), and I need police clearance certificates for all countries of which I am a citizen. Obtaining the necessary document from within SA seems improbable according to the local representatives in Cape Town :( , however I have received word today that the consulate in Johannesburg may be able to assist.

Failing this, I would guess that my best chance would be to extend my current trip and try to organise this directly with whichever governmental department is responsible for this, however I have no idea how to go about this and my limited Portuguese is more likely to hinder than advance the process.
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Hi ron.gre
If you hold dual citizenship then the best place to go is the Portuguese consulate in Johannesburg. If you have a Portuguese ID or passport you can try in Portugal at any citizen shop, loja do cidadão, and request your criminal record. You will have to specify for what propose you want it, and if nothing is on record they will issue a clean one. If you don´t have a Portuguese ID your only hope will be the consulate
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John999 said:
Hi ron.gre
If you hold dual citizenship then the best place to go is the Portuguese consulate in Johannesburg. If you have a Portuguese ID or passport you can try in Portugal at any citizen shop, loja do cidadão, and request your criminal record. You will have to specify for what propose you want it, and if nothing is on record they will issue a clean one. If you don´t have a Portuguese ID your only hope will be the consulate
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either de LOJA DO CIDADAO OR REGISTO CRIMINAL there the only 2 depts in portugal that can issue what your looking ,for outside the country i have no idea
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Police Clearance from Portugal

ron.gre said:
Hi,

I need to get a police clearance certificate from Portugal and would like to know if anyone could tell me how to go about doing so. I live in South Africa and have spoken briefly to someone at the local consulate however they say they are not able to assist. I am currently in Europe, so would be able to extend my trip if it is necessary for me to visit Portugal in order to obtain this certificate, however I have no idea how to do this or who to call.

Any help would be appreciated.

Ron
Click to expand...
Hi Ron,

I'm in exactly the same position as you. We're busy with our residence application in New Zealand and I have been asked to provide a police clearance certificate for Portugal - have dual citizenship but have never lived there!
Could you please let me know how you went about getting it? I won't be able to fly to Portugal to get this however my mother is in South Africa and may well be able to assist me. I'd really appreciate your help on this!!

Cheers!
Susan
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J
We are UK citizens, based in Portugal and are applying for PR in Canada.

Towards the end of this month (April 2010) we will apply for police clearance in Lisbon.
See below on the procedure as per the info supplied by the Canadian Immigration website.

Local Requests
You should complete Form 101 and present a valid identity card or passport with the applicable fees to the Central Registry of the Civil and Criminal Identification Centre - Centro de Identificacao Civil e Criminal, located in major cities (e.g., Lisbon, Coimbra and Porto). In smaller centres (e.g., Azores and Madeira), You should apply to the Judicial Delegation or to the local court.

Non-Resident Requests
You should apply at the nearest Portuguese embassy or consulate.


So far I can't find Form 101 (online) nor any reference as to what the fees may be.

regards
James Mc
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J
Just found some more information:

Police Records

Available. A Certidao de Registo Criminal is issued by the Direccao Geral de Administracao da Justica, Avenida 5 de Outubro 125, 1050, Lisbon, to people 16 years of age or over, regardless of their place of birth or residence.

Requests are processed and available immediately.

Validity is for three months as of the date of issuance.
If the above record reveals conviction, a complete record may be obtained from the Presiding Judge of the Court where the fine or sentence was imposed.

The procedure is the same for resident non-nationals.

Former residents and Portuguese nationals applying from abroad should submit their requests through the nearest Portuguese Embassy or Consulate. Processing time for out of country requests is approximately one month.

regards
James Mc
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Further to my last.

Yesterday, my wife and I drove up to Lisbon from the Algarve to obtain police clearance.

The information supplied above (by myself) is out of date. The address, although correct once upon a time, is now wrong.
In Lisbon the office you need is located at a new looking Campus de Justiça.

Where is Campus de Justiça, Lisbon?
In Lisbon head for Expo 98 (Exhibition centre) at Parque das Nações

To the North of the exhibition centre is a street that runs East west called Alemeda dos Oceanos

To the East end of Alemeda dos Oceanos near the roundabout you will see a sign 'Campus de Justica' walk up the wide set of steps and head for block H.
Do not go into the block.

Look to the left of the entrance to block H and you will see a single storey office.
Go through the glass doors. Take a ticket (if the machine is working), if not, take a seat and memorise the number showing on the wall screen/counter when you entered.

There are no forms to fill out. All you need is a passport. It cost us €Euro 7.00 (for two people).
When called forward. The clerk adds your passport details directly into a work station. Prints a form. You sign it in their presence. Then they carry out the search, print the result and emboss the sheet with an official looking seal.

I was gob-smacked how quick the process was! Being a Friday afternoon I was fully prepared to maybe have to come back Monday or something.

We were in and out within 10 minutes!
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Update

Just a quick reply to thank Jamesmc for the post and confirm it is still current. I carried out the same procedure on 31st December 2014.

I found the instructions easy to follow as I know the area quite well, but here is a bit of extra detail if you don't know east Lisbon.

The road mentioned runs between Oriente station and the large shopping centre, so if you come up from the Metro or down from the train at Oriente, from the ground level you exit the station and the shopping centre entrance is opposite you. Don't cross the road but turn to the left and continue. After about 10 minutes you will see some huge narrow new tower blocks on the right, these are blocks of the Ministry of Justice and there is a sign on the road entering the Campus. Further in, there are good directional signs within the campus to Block H. The office you need is to the left of the main entrance to the Block H tower.

The office has three attendance desks of which two were staffed. Both staff were very sweet when dealing with clients. There were four clients waiting, I was attended within 20 minutes. I spoke to the clerk in bad Portuguese, she scanned my passport, entered details on the VDU and produced an embossed certificate. It cost 5 Euros, paid in cash (I think there was a notice about the multibanco not being accepted) and took 5 minutes at the desk.

I wasn't asked for any other identification but I was asked if I worked in Portugal (which I don't and I have a non-resident NIF) so I don't know where the conversation may have gone had that been a yes (NIF/tax documents etc??).

It was totally painless and fast, it takes around 45 minutes to get there from either the airport or the city (3 stops from the airport), so I would also suggest it might be worthwhile for anyone needing this in a hurry who is coming from the UK or another country with low-cost flights, to fly in and out to do this. Had I come from the UK to do this and booked a week ahead, the round trip would have cost me 49 Euros from London and been do-able in a day.

So I'm just adding a bit more detail to bump it in the hope that the next person who searches finds it in google like I did.

Happy new year all.
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C
Even easier
Portal do Cidadão - Registo criminal - certificado de pessoa singular
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M
I got I got one in the Tribunal in Loulé (top floor at the front) just by filling in a short form and paying the fee (from memory 5 euro). No question why it was being asked for or needed and in three days it was ready to pick up. The only document I had to show was my UK passport and they asked Mother and Fathers full names. Presumably they send the info to Lisbon hence not issuing right away. Canoemans method looks even easier and I will try it next time I need one.
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M
Hello there!

I wonder if someone of UK citizens can help me: I have residence in Portugal, I am a holder of non EU passport and I have lived in UK for little over one year. Now, I am applying for the Portuguese citizenship and I need to provide criminal record check from UK. If I find the right informations, I need ACRO Police certificate, right? I have my doubts only because on the application for for the Police certificate is written that is issued for obtaining visa for certain countries...

Does anyone knows something about this?

Thanks!

Wish you all a happy New Year!
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C
You can't apply for Portuguese Citizenship unless you have lived legally in Portugal for a minimum of 6 years and apart from supplying necessary documentation have also passed language test
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I know all the facts about citizenship process... and I live in Portugal legally and I also lived in UK legally. I was just wondering about UK Police Certificate, if that is the right document to prove that I have never been arrested and sentenced while living in UK...
Do you have any knowledge about that?
Thank you!
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C
You can't live legally in both countries at one time, uk just call at a police station and ask, to the best of my knowledge P ortugal requires 6 years proof of continuous residence
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Mili25 said:
Hello there!

I wonder if someone of UK citizens can help me: I have residence in Portugal, I am a holder of non EU passport and I have lived in UK for little over one year. Now, I am applying for the Portuguese citizenship and I need to provide criminal record check from UK. If I find the right informations, I need ACRO Police certificate, right? I have my doubts only because on the application for for the Police certificate is written that is issued for obtaining visa for certain countries...

Does anyone knows something about this?

Thanks!

Wish you all a happy New Year!
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Hi,
I may be completely wrong but from the ACPO listing you do not need a Police Certificate (UK criminal Record check) for Portugal BUT if you want the certificate anyway or feel it may help your application then you can apply for one via the contact details on their website for which a fee is payable. Since 2012 ACPO/the UK have been part of Europe wide criminal records system so the Portuguese authorities can already access your UK criminal record (if you have one) so a Police Certificate would not give them any information they did not have already
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The police certificate is reguired by other authorises who won't liaise with GNR it's up to applicant to supply especially if non EU
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