Here is a detailed list of what you need for a civil with catholic wedding in Portugal.
Don’t worry 
! Your wedding planner will advise you step by step and guide you through the completion of the paperwork with ease!
To get “legally married by the catholic church” in Portugal, you need to complete both civil and catholic paperwork.
Civil Paperwork:
Portuguese brides or groom need:
- Passport or ID card or cartão de cidadão
Foreign brides or grooms need:
- Passport or ID card
- Certificate of Non – Impediment *
- Birth certificate
All documents need to be translated and accredited or in international format
Additionally you may need divorce certificates, certificates of death of former partners, previous marriage certificates, parental permission if under 18 years of age.
* Certificates of Non-Impediment (CNI) This is a document which states that you are free to marry. The Portuguese registrar service requires that you prove that you are free to marry according to the laws of your country of natonality.
You can obtain this document from your local registry office. You may need to give notice of your marriage and this might be published for a set amount of time before you can receive your CNI.
The Certificates of Non-Impediment can not be issued more than 6 month before your wedding date and needs to be translated into Portuguese.
Catholic Paperwork:
Catholic documents required:
1. A formal letter from your parish priest granting permission for the wedding to be performed in the church of XXXXXX.
This letter is required by the Portuguese Curia to show that you have received permission from your parish priest to have your wedding ceremony performed. It should certify that your priest knows you and allows you to get married at the Portuguese Church of XXXXXX on the date XXXXX. This letter needs to be written on the headed note paper of your Parish.
2. Your priest should also secure a letter from the Bishop of the parish stating the same as in # 1 and this letter should also be written on headed paper from the Bishops office.
The Bishop’s permission to the wedding is one of the most important requirements for the Portuguese Curia. It must certify that you have no impediment to get married at the Portuguese Church of XXXXXX (name of the church) on the date XXXXX (the date you are asking). This letter shows that approval has been given by an authority above your local priest who has written the letter referred to in # 1.
3. The letter from the priest must also state that you have fulfilled all PRE CANA procedures, and should include the certificate (if a certificate was produced) showing that you attended premarital classes.
4. The Original prenuptial inquiry form has to be issued by your parish and be on formal church headed paper of your Parish. The prenuptial inquiry form is not just the certificate but rather a signed questionnaire with church seals/signatures. It is the prenuptial investigation that includes your dates, names and general religious data which your priest completes together with you. Your priest completes the questionnaire stating it has been approved so you can get married, signing the document as final approval. Then this document has to be sealed by your local Bishop, so the Portuguese Curia has the proof that it has been definitely approved by a higher member of the Catholic Church in your country.
5. ALL certificates of baptism, first communion and confirmation must be sent together with the Prenuptial inquiry form and letters mentioned in # 1, # 2 and must also be stamped by the local Bishop’s office.
All these sacraments have to be received in order to have the Catholic wedding performed. Ask the Parish who performed these sacraments to provide these certificates. If you have problems obtaining the originals, ask for copies that have to be sealed by your local bishop.
6. Original of your civil wedding certificate, (in the event that the Portuguese priest is not performing the civil part of your marriage the civil ceremony must have been completed prior to the religious ceremony and that original certificate must be presented to the Portuguese priest)
This would apply if you are not asking to be civily married at the same wedding ceremony in Portugal or in the case that the Portuguese priest is not able to do the civil and religious wedding together).
Please note: Not only the wedding licence (issued in USA) but the original certificate that you are legally married.
7. If one of you is not a Catholic you will be required to obtain another document such as “Permission of mixed religions” to testify that the wedding celebration can be performed by the Portuguese Church.
Generally this document is issued by the local Bishop of your country. Ask your Parish priest for this information, so they can help you to obtain this special permission.
All the documents mentioned (excluding # 6) MUST have been sealed or stamped by the Bishop’s parish office.
NOTE: The Portuguese priest or Curia has final say on granting official permission for the wedding to proceed after seeing the paperwork.
The above rules refers to a couple that has not been previously married. If you have been divorced from a marriage in the Catholic church and your marriage was not officially annulled you cannot marry in the Catholic church. Please advise if you have had your marriage annulled.
Catholic documents should not be dated more than 3 months in advance or they expire. (exception is the baptism, holy communion and confirmation, that are issued when you received these sacraments).
Procedures
3- 6 months before your wedding you will need to go to your parish priest and explain to him your intention to marry in Portugal. Print out the above list of documents and ask your wedding planner for further details such as the name and location of the church, name of the priest, address of diocese etc. Your priest should help you with all of the above paperwork. When completed the paperwork has to be sent to Portugal. Your wedding planner will check if it has arrived and if the Portuguese Bishop will permit your wedding in Portugal to proceed. Your wedding planner will also check that the priest receives the documents from the diocese.
Once you have these documents, you will either need to visit Portugal and organise your wedding at a registry office.
Or we can organize the wedding process for you via a power of attorney document.
You can book a personal assistant and translator if you will go to the registry office yourself. Or ask your wedding planner for details, such as address, location map, contact name, opening hour.
When you organize your wedding process you need to decide date, time and location of ceremony. You also will be asked for the “regime de bens”, this determines the ownership rights to your belongings both personal and communal. The common option is the “comunhão de adquiridos”, meaning sharing of commonly achieved goods after the wedding. Everything that belonged to each of you before your wedding is yours and everything that is a personal gift or of personal heritage will remain yours.
You will be asked to pay for the civil paperwork. The current fee is 120 Euros. Once the registry office grants permission for your wedding the papers will be forwarded to the Parish council/priest.
Once you have organized your wedding process, you may return to your home country and will only need to come back for the wedding day.
Witnesses: You may be asked to have 2 -4 witnesses. You need to inform:
Name and address, marital status, witness of (bride or groom), Passport number, date and location of issue, expire date. You may be asked to send a copy of witness passport prior to the wedding. The witness does not need to go to the registry office when you organize the wedding process. They only need to be present with their identification at the wedding date.
Translators: You may need a translator for the ceremony, depending if the priest speaks English.
Costs: Listed below are some costs to consider if you opt for this type of wedding:
Civil paperwork:
Birth certificates: between 5 € – 25 € (depedning on nationality and entity issuing the document)
you further may need an apostille and/or a translation with a notarization. Costs vary
Certificate of no Impediment: between 15 € – 50 €
you further need either a translation with a notarization or the CNI will be exchanged for a Portuguese version by the embassy. Costs vary (average between 50 € – 80 €)
Catholic paperwork: your priest will inform about any fees in your country. There is sometimes an administration fee in Portugal around € 50 – € 100. Furthermore it is appropriate to give a donation of € 100 to the church and sometimes a further fee/donation for the priest may apply.
.
Deutsch
Catholic and Civil Weddings
Here is a detailed list of what you need for a civil with catholic wedding in Portugal.
Don’t worry
! Your wedding planner will advise you step by step and guide you through the completion of the paperwork with ease!
To get “legally married by the catholic church” in Portugal, you need to complete both civil and catholic paperwork.
Civil Paperwork:
Portuguese brides or groom need:
Foreign brides or grooms need:
All documents need to be translated and accredited or in international format
Additionally you may need divorce certificates, certificates of death of former partners, previous marriage certificates, parental permission if under 18 years of age.
* Certificates of Non-Impediment (CNI) This is a document which states that you are free to marry. The Portuguese registrar service requires that you prove that you are free to marry according to the laws of your country of natonality.
You can obtain this document from your local registry office. You may need to give notice of your marriage and this might be published for a set amount of time before you can receive your CNI.
The Certificates of Non-Impediment can not be issued more than 6 month before your wedding date and needs to be translated into Portuguese.
Catholic Paperwork:
Catholic documents required:
1. A formal letter from your parish priest granting permission for the wedding to be performed in the church of XXXXXX.
This letter is required by the Portuguese Curia to show that you have received permission from your parish priest to have your wedding ceremony performed. It should certify that your priest knows you and allows you to get married at the Portuguese Church of XXXXXX on the date XXXXX. This letter needs to be written on the headed note paper of your Parish.
2. Your priest should also secure a letter from the Bishop of the parish stating the same as in # 1 and this letter should also be written on headed paper from the Bishops office.
The Bishop’s permission to the wedding is one of the most important requirements for the Portuguese Curia. It must certify that you have no impediment to get married at the Portuguese Church of XXXXXX (name of the church) on the date XXXXX (the date you are asking). This letter shows that approval has been given by an authority above your local priest who has written the letter referred to in # 1.
3. The letter from the priest must also state that you have fulfilled all PRE CANA procedures, and should include the certificate (if a certificate was produced) showing that you attended premarital classes.
4. The Original prenuptial inquiry form has to be issued by your parish and be on formal church headed paper of your Parish. The prenuptial inquiry form is not just the certificate but rather a signed questionnaire with church seals/signatures. It is the prenuptial investigation that includes your dates, names and general religious data which your priest completes together with you. Your priest completes the questionnaire stating it has been approved so you can get married, signing the document as final approval. Then this document has to be sealed by your local Bishop, so the Portuguese Curia has the proof that it has been definitely approved by a higher member of the Catholic Church in your country.
5. ALL certificates of baptism, first communion and confirmation must be sent together with the Prenuptial inquiry form and letters mentioned in # 1, # 2 and must also be stamped by the local Bishop’s office.
All these sacraments have to be received in order to have the Catholic wedding performed. Ask the Parish who performed these sacraments to provide these certificates. If you have problems obtaining the originals, ask for copies that have to be sealed by your local bishop.
6. Original of your civil wedding certificate, (in the event that the Portuguese priest is not performing the civil part of your marriage the civil ceremony must have been completed prior to the religious ceremony and that original certificate must be presented to the Portuguese priest)
This would apply if you are not asking to be civily married at the same wedding ceremony in Portugal or in the case that the Portuguese priest is not able to do the civil and religious wedding together).
Please note: Not only the wedding licence (issued in USA) but the original certificate that you are legally married.
7. If one of you is not a Catholic you will be required to obtain another document such as “Permission of mixed religions” to testify that the wedding celebration can be performed by the Portuguese Church.
Generally this document is issued by the local Bishop of your country. Ask your Parish priest for this information, so they can help you to obtain this special permission.
All the documents mentioned (excluding # 6) MUST have been sealed or stamped by the Bishop’s parish office.
NOTE: The Portuguese priest or Curia has final say on granting official permission for the wedding to proceed after seeing the paperwork.
The above rules refers to a couple that has not been previously married. If you have been divorced from a marriage in the Catholic church and your marriage was not officially annulled you cannot marry in the Catholic church. Please advise if you have had your marriage annulled.
Catholic documents should not be dated more than 3 months in advance or they expire. (exception is the baptism, holy communion and confirmation, that are issued when you received these sacraments).
Procedures
3- 6 months before your wedding you will need to go to your parish priest and explain to him your intention to marry in Portugal. Print out the above list of documents and ask your wedding planner for further details such as the name and location of the church, name of the priest, address of diocese etc. Your priest should help you with all of the above paperwork. When completed the paperwork has to be sent to Portugal. Your wedding planner will check if it has arrived and if the Portuguese Bishop will permit your wedding in Portugal to proceed. Your wedding planner will also check that the priest receives the documents from the diocese.
Once you have these documents, you will either need to visit Portugal and organise your wedding at a registry office.
Or we can organize the wedding process for you via a power of attorney document.
You can book a personal assistant and translator if you will go to the registry office yourself. Or ask your wedding planner for details, such as address, location map, contact name, opening hour.
When you organize your wedding process you need to decide date, time and location of ceremony. You also will be asked for the “regime de bens”, this determines the ownership rights to your belongings both personal and communal. The common option is the “comunhão de adquiridos”, meaning sharing of commonly achieved goods after the wedding. Everything that belonged to each of you before your wedding is yours and everything that is a personal gift or of personal heritage will remain yours.
You will be asked to pay for the civil paperwork. The current fee is 120 Euros. Once the registry office grants permission for your wedding the papers will be forwarded to the Parish council/priest.
Once you have organized your wedding process, you may return to your home country and will only need to come back for the wedding day.
Witnesses: You may be asked to have 2 -4 witnesses. You need to inform:
Name and address, marital status, witness of (bride or groom), Passport number, date and location of issue, expire date. You may be asked to send a copy of witness passport prior to the wedding. The witness does not need to go to the registry office when you organize the wedding process. They only need to be present with their identification at the wedding date.
Translators: You may need a translator for the ceremony, depending if the priest speaks English.
Costs: Listed below are some costs to consider if you opt for this type of wedding:
Civil paperwork:
Birth certificates: between 5 € – 25 € (depedning on nationality and entity issuing the document)
you further may need an apostille and/or a translation with a notarization. Costs vary
Certificate of no Impediment: between 15 € – 50 €
you further need either a translation with a notarization or the CNI will be exchanged for a Portuguese version by the embassy. Costs vary (average between 50 € – 80 €)
Catholic paperwork: your priest will inform about any fees in your country. There is sometimes an administration fee in Portugal around € 50 – € 100. Furthermore it is appropriate to give a donation of € 100 to the church and sometimes a further fee/donation for the priest may apply.
.
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