Same-Sex Marriage in Portugal: Requirements and Process

By Rodrigo MaranhãoLawyer in Lisbon · Updated on 18 October 2026

Portuguese Bar Association (Ordem dos Advogados)Registration no. 60554L

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Madrid Bar Association (ICAM) · SpainRegistration no. 144875

Same sex marriage in Portugal involves a civil marriage process for two people, including couples where one or both partners are foreign nationals. You begin by declaring your intention to marry at a Civil Registry Office (Conservatória do Registo Civil), provide the required documents and wait for authorisation before the ceremony. Your nationality, documents and choices about property can affect how you prepare.

If you would rather have support from start to finish, see how I work as a lawyer for foreign couples marrying in Portugal.

Who can marry in Portugal?

The general eligibility rules apply to people who want to marry in Portugal. As a rule, both partners must be over 18, must not be first-degree relatives, and must not have another legal impediment to marriage. These conditions matter before you set a ceremony date because the Civil Registry Office checks the application before authorising the wedding.

First-degree relationships include a parent and child, and siblings. If a potential impediment applies, the registry needs to assess it as part of the process. The information supplied for the marriage application should be accurate, since the registry examines whether the couple can legally marry before the ceremony is arranged.

Where one partner is foreign, that person must prove that they are able to marry. The rules for a Portuguese citizen marrying a foreign national are the same as those for two Portuguese citizens, but the foreign partner must provide the relevant documents. A foreign passport or residence permit is part of the document list for a foreign partner.

The marriage may be civil, Catholic or civil in religious form. The legal requirements apply to these forms, and a marriage is valid only once it is entered in the civil register. A ceremony booking by itself is not the civil registration, so you should wait for the process and authorisation before treating the wedding date as settled.

Documents for a foreign partner

The documents required for a foreign partner include a passport or residence permit, a birth certificate and a certificate of capacity to marry if the person’s country issues one. The registry may also request other documents that it considers necessary to assess the application. This means you should prepare the core documents while leaving room for the registry to request additional information.

A birth certificate written in a language other than Portuguese must be legalised and translated into Portuguese. The document needs to meet both conditions before it can be assessed in the marriage file. If you submit a certificate in another language without the required legalisation and translation, the registry may need further documents before it can continue reviewing the application.

The certificate of capacity to marry must be issued by the competent authority in the foreign partner’s country, and its date must be less than six months before presentation. It is required when that country issues this type of certificate. For this reason, check both whether the document exists for your nationality and when it should be requested.

For example, a British national marrying a Portuguese citizen should prepare the foreign partner’s identity and civil-status documents, including the capacity certificate if the relevant country issues one. The same document categories can help foreign couples identify what to check, but the exact file may differ by nationality and by what the registry needs to assess the application.

Important: Do not book travel around an assumed document checklist. A missing certificate, a capacity document issued too early or a birth certificate without the required legalisation and translation can delay the assessment and put your ceremony plans at risk. Check the documents for both partners before submitting the marriage process.

Starting the marriage process

You start by declaring that you intend to marry. The process can be initiated in person at a Civil Registry Office, and an online route is available only to couples who meet specific eligibility conditions. At the start, the partners provide identifying information and state the ceremony form, property regime, intended location, date and time.

For the online route, both partners must be over 18, be Portuguese citizens or Brazilian citizens with general equal-rights status, and hold a Citizen Card. One partner submits the requested information and the other confirms the request after receiving a notification. If you do not meet these conditions, the online route is not available to you.

In the in-person process, the partners make the initial declaration and present the applicable documents. The application is sent to the chosen registry, which checks for legal impediments. If the registry authorises the marriage, the couple can proceed with arrangements for the ceremony in line with the choices stated in the application.

Start the process at least one month before the date you have in mind. This is the minimum advance period stated for the application; it does not mean that every file will be decided within that time. If documents must be obtained, legalised or translated abroad, you may need to begin preparing them earlier so that the application is ready to submit.

Authorisation and the wedding date

The Civil Registry Office examines whether the partners meet the legal requirements and whether any impediment prevents the marriage. If there is no impediment, the registry authorises the wedding and the ceremony date can be arranged. If the marriage is not authorised, the partners are notified personally or by registered letter.

The wedding must take place within six months of authorisation. This limit affects how you coordinate registry arrangements with travel, accommodation and venue plans. A date discussed before the registry completes its review is not a substitute for authorisation, so avoid treating early arrangements as a confirmed legal ceremony.

The ceremony can take place at the registry office or at another location. If you choose a ceremony away from the registry, you must also provide transport or cover the registrar’s travel costs. A ceremony outside the registry, at a weekend or public holiday, or outside normal opening hours can also change the stated fee.

Until the day of the wedding, anyone who knows of a legal impediment may report it to the Civil Registry Office. This is one reason the application should be complete and accurate: the registry must be able to assess the couple’s eligibility, and an impediment may affect whether the ceremony can proceed as planned.

Marriage costs and property choices

The basic process and marriage registration fee is €120 when the ceremony takes place at the registry office on a working day during normal opening hours. The fee includes the process before the wedding and the registration made when the couple marries. Other arrangements have a different stated fee, and a marriage contract can add a separate cost.

The following table sets out the stated fees for the process, ceremony arrangements and marriage contract. It can help you compare options before you choose a date or venue. It does not include expenses outside the listed registry services, such as travel or the cost of obtaining foreign documents.

The property regime determines how assets are treated during the marriage and when it ends. The listed options include community of acquisitions, separation of property, general community of property and a regime defined by the couple within legal limits. If you do not choose another regime, community of acquisitions applies by default.

A marriage contract is needed to choose a regime that requires one, and it cannot be completed through the online marriage application. It must be arranged at a registry or notary. I pay particular attention to this choice when a couple has assets in more than one country, because the property decision can affect more than the ceremony budget.

Important: Choosing the ceremony date or venue without checking the corresponding fee can leave you with an unexpected cost. Confirm whether the ceremony is at the registry, on a working day and during normal opening hours, and account for a marriage contract or registrar travel where applicable.

When one partner cannot attend

If one partner cannot attend, they may be represented by a proxy. The registry must receive the power of attorney, which needs to identify the other partner, with details such as their name, age, place of birth, usual residence and parentage, and state the property regime and form of marriage.

The power of attorney may be an authenticated document, a public instrument prepared by a notary or a Portuguese consular officer, or a document signed by the represented partner with the signature acknowledged in person. Choosing a form that does not meet these requirements can create a problem when the registry reviews the file.

Consider a British partner who cannot travel to Lisbon while their Portuguese fiancé can attend. The absent partner may be represented through a power of attorney that contains the required information and identifies the intended marriage arrangements. The foreign partner’s applicable identity and capacity documents are still relevant to the marriage application.

I advise against signing a proxy before checking its wording against the couple’s actual plans. If it names a different property regime or ceremony form, the registry may not be able to use it as submitted. Legal review before signature can help identify such inconsistencies before they delay the application or disrupt travel arrangements.

Examples for foreign couples

Suppose a British citizen and a Portuguese citizen plan to marry in Lisbon. The foreign partner should prepare a passport or residence permit, a birth certificate legalised and translated into Portuguese, and a certificate of capacity to marry if their country issues one. The couple then starts the process, declares the intended ceremony form and gives the registry its property and ceremony choices.

If this couple chooses a registry-office ceremony on a working day during normal opening hours, the process and registration fee is €120. A non-urgent ceremony on a weekend, public holiday, outside the registry or outside normal opening hours costs €200 under the stated fee rules. An off-site ceremony also requires transport or payment of the registrar’s travel costs.

Now consider two foreign nationals who are visiting Portugal and want to marry there. Each should identify the documents required for their own nationality and civil status, including a certificate of capacity to marry if their country issues one. Being in Portugal does not remove the need to begin the marriage process and provide documents for the registry’s assessment.

For this couple, the stated process and ceremony fees depend on the arrangements they choose: €120 for the described standard registry ceremony or €200 for the listed non-standard arrangements. They should start at least one month before the intended date and plan the ceremony within six months of authorisation. Preparing foreign certificates early can help prevent document issues from affecting their plans.

Marriage or de facto union?

Marriage and a recognised de facto union are different ways to formalise a relationship in Portugal. Marriage is valid when entered in the civil register and involves a marriage process and ceremony. Recognition of a de facto union is requested from the parish council (junta de freguesia) where the couple lives, so the two routes involve different requirements and authorities.

For recognition as a de facto union, the couple must have lived together as partners for more than two years, meet the age requirement, not be relatives and have no legal impediment. They apply to the parish council and wait for its declaration confirming the union. The cohabitation requirement means this route is not simply another way to hold a wedding.

If you want to marry, you will need to choose the ceremony form and property regime and complete the civil registration process. If you are considering a de facto union, you need to assess whether you meet its cohabitation condition and can apply through the relevant parish council. The right route depends on the legal status you want and the requirements you can meet.

Couples comparing the two options should consider the required steps before making ceremony or travel arrangements. A legal adviser can review the marriage documents, proxy arrangements and property choice before filing. For the marriage process, you can also review the available legal support for couples marrying in Portugal.

Prepare your next steps

Start by listing each partner’s nationality and civil status, then identify the identity and marriage-capacity documents needed for each person. Check whether the relevant country issues a certificate of capacity to marry, and allow time for legalisation and translation of foreign-language birth certificates. Doing this before booking travel gives you a clearer picture of what must be ready for the application.

Next, decide where and how you want to marry, which property regime you intend to choose, and whether either partner needs representation. Those decisions affect the information in the initial declaration, the content of any power of attorney and the expected registry fees. A review before filing can help ensure that the documents reflect the choices you intend to make.

For a same sex marriage in Portugal, the legal team at Vilanova Maranhão Advogados can assess your circumstances, review documents and provide legal support with preparing and following the marriage process. This is particularly useful when foreign certificates, a proxy or a marriage contract are involved. The firm’s support can help you approach the process with a clear and consistent application.

About the author

Rodrigo Maranhão

I am a lawyer admitted to practise in Brazil, Portugal and Spain. At Vilanova Maranhão Advogados, in Lisbon, I help people from abroad who want to live in Portugal or Spain. I also know this reality as an immigrant: I have lived in Europe for almost ten years.

• Portuguese Bar Association (Ordem dos Advogados) · Registration no. 60554L
• Brazilian Bar Association (OAB) · Pernambuco · Registration no. 22.372
• Madrid Bar Association (ICAM) · Spain · Registration no. 144875