Inquiry about Portuguese Nationality about deceased mother

JulieChu · September 2023

Boa Tarde, Sorry that I'm unable to write in Portuguese but I can use google translate for your reply. Sorry for the inconvenience caused.

I would like to enquire some details about Portuguese Nationality under “jus soli” and “jus sanguinis”. Is it valid for everyone who was born in Macau before 1981?

My mother had a home birth assisted by midwife on 3 May 1943. Being born at home, she did not have a Macao birth certificate. She passed away in Hong Kong on 12 July 1991. I tried to retrieve the midwife record in Macao. However, it is not possible to locate it as it was from many years ago.

I checked with Macau Identification Services Bureau and found that my mother had applied an Identity card on 22 May 1956 (when she was 13 years old) which states her place of birth is Macau. And I also contacted the Conservatoria do Registo Civil and they provide me the Certidão Negativa de Registo de Nascimento

With such document only, am I eligible to apply for Portuguese Nationality under “jus soli” and “jus sanguinis” ?

I email to " rcentrais.diversos@irn.mj.pt" and get the reply " Se a sua mãe faleceu , é necessário que V.Exª nos apresente a certidão de nascimento, ou de batismo da sua mãe." however, my mother didnot get baptismal as well.

In this case, can validate my mother's Portuguese Nationality and in order to validate my one also?

Obrigada!

texaslady · September 2023

@JulieChu ,

I wouldn't know. Maybe someone on the forum has some knowledge about this type of case. However, it seems to me impossible to obtain your nationality without a birth or baptism certificate from your mother, as the CRC responded. I think that if it had been possible to validate your mother's nationality they would have given you that option. I suggest you send another email specifically asking if it is possible to validate your mother's nationality. Good luck.

JulieChu · September 2023

@texaslady

Thank you for your reply.

I wonder why they are unable to accept the Identity card information in 1956 issued by Macau Identification Services Bureau.😣

AlanNogueira · September 2023

@JulieChu

The birth certificate (or baptism certificate, in some cases like birth before 1911 etc) are required for the Portuguese nacionality. I don´t know how it works in Macau, but in Brazil and Portugal you can´t get an Identity Card without the birth or mariage certificate...

You should do a more complete research in order to find more documents. E.g.:

a) check with Macau Identification Services Bureau if they have the documents presented when she applied for the identity card (in portuguese "prontuário");

b) if she married, try to get de documents presented for the marriage (in portuguese "processo de habilitação de casamento").

c) check the churchs for a baptism certificate (maybe it won´t be accepted for nacionality, but its a good proof).

In any case, I strongly recommend you to get professional support from a specialist lawer. Unfortunately here in the forum great part of the people is from Brazil and never faced a case like yours.

Sorry for the errors, English is not my first language.

JulieChu · September 2023

@AlanNogueira

Obrigada!

I checked with Macau Identification Services Bureau if they have the documents presented when my mother applied for the identity card in 1956, however, they replied that they only have the information said the place of birth is Macau (as below), did not has any physical document record.

Anyway, thank you so much for your reply. 🙏