Born in Goa, Angola or Macau: are you Portuguese?

Not automatically. Being born in Angola, Mozambique, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau or São Tomé before independence does not make anyone Portuguese today. The question of who stayed Portuguese was settled by a single decree of 24 June 1975, Decree-Law 308-A/75, and the test it chose was not where you were born. It was your link to mainland Portugal: born there or on the Azores or Madeira, child of someone who was, already naturalised, or living in Portugal for more than five years on 25 April 1974. Everyone else born or living in a territory that became independent lost Portuguese nationality.

Goa, Daman and Diu work differently, and so does Macau. If you lost the nationality and want it back, the road today is usually ordinary naturalisation — the timelines are in our guide to Portugal's new citizenship timelines. A special test-free route for people who stayed in Portugal since 1974 existed from 2020 and was rewritten by this year's reform.

I was born in Angola before 1975. Am I Portuguese?

Three questions decide it, and none of them is where you were born. Was either of your parents born in mainland Portugal, the Azores or Madeira? Were you already a naturalised Portuguese citizen? Were you living in Portugal itself for more than five years on 25 April 1974? One "yes" and the 1975 decree kept your nationality. Three "no"s, and you were living in the territory when it became independent, and you lost it.

The decree says openly what it was for: to keep Portuguese nationality where "a special connection with Portugal, or an unequivocal wish to that effect" justified it. A one-line provision then closed the system for everyone else:

In plain English: people born or living in an overseas territory that became independent lose Portuguese nationality unless one of the earlier rules covers them. Two family rules soften it. Descendants up to the third degree — children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren — of someone who kept the nationality through mainland roots, naturalisation or birth in Portuguese India kept it too, unless they declared within two years of independence that they did not want it. And colony-born residents of Portugal who kept it could, within the same two years, opt for the new country's nationality instead. Both declarations had to be registered at the Central Registry Office in Lisbon, which is where you find out today whether anyone in your family made one.

What if I kept it but never had Portuguese papers?

Then you have nothing to apply for. You are Portuguese, and have been all along; what is missing is the entry in the Portuguese civil registry. The 1975 decree anticipated this: a birth registration for someone who kept the nationality is supported with proof of the facts that kept it — your father's Lisbon birth certificate, say, or evidence that you lived in Portugal before 1974.

Civil records drawn up in the former colonies can be transcribed into the Portuguese registry, and the office with power to do that is the Conservatória dos Registos Centrais in Lisbon. Where the original record is lost or cannot be obtained in reasonable time, the Civil Registry Code has procedures to fill the gap. None of this involves the new Portuguese language and culture test. That test belongs to naturalisation, and a transcription is not a naturalisation.

It matters for your children too: if you kept the nationality, they may be Portuguese from birth rather than by naturalisation. The difference is explained in attribution versus acquisition of nationality.

Goa, Daman and Diu: why the rule is different

Portuguese India never became independent. India took it over in December 1961, and Portugal only recognised that after 1974. The 1975 decree therefore gives it a clause of its own: people "born in the former State of India who declare that they wish to keep Portuguese nationality" keep it, and so do their descendants to the third degree.

In practice, Goan cases reach the Central Registry Office as requests to transcribe a birth that happened before 20 December 1961, supported by records from the central archives in Panaji, Daman and Diu. Portugal's Ombudsman found delays affecting "thousands" of these files and, after fraud was detected in those archives, recommended making original documents issued by the Portuguese administration before 1961 mandatory. If you are building a Goan file, plan around that: an old Portuguese-era document carries more weight than any recent certificate.

There is also a cost on the Indian side. India does not allow dual citizenship and ends Indian citizenship for anyone who voluntarily acquires another. Read what your home country says about dual nationality before you go further — it covers the Indian passport specifically.

What about Macau and East Timor?

Neither fits the 1975 calendar. Macau passed to Chinese administration in 1999 and East Timor became independent in 2002, so in 1975 neither was an "overseas territory that became independent", which is what triggered loss under the decree. For Macau, the Nationality Regulation keeps a useful presumption: people born in a territory under Portuguese administration before the current Nationality Act took effect in October 1981 are presumed Portuguese under the earlier law, as long as their birth record says nothing to the contrary. East Timor has a history of its own and is outside this guide.

I lost it in 1975 but have lived in Portugal since before the revolution

Here the date you apply is what counts. In 2020 Parliament added a route for exactly this group: people who lost Portuguese nationality because they had lived in Portugal for less than five years on 25 April 1974, and who stayed. They could naturalise with requirements waived, provided they had not worked for the state of their new nationality after the loss. Their Portugal-born children who had not received Portuguese nationality at birth could use it too.

The 2022 Regulation spelled it out, and what it left out is striking: no counted years of legal residence and no language proof. Just a clean criminal record, no security risk, a consular certificate and proof of living in Portugal since before 25 April 1974. It was a repair for a loss the 1975 decree had imposed on people who were already here.

1. 24 June 1975

   Decree-Law 308-A/75 decides who keeps and who loses Portuguese nationality as the colonies become independent.
2. 10 November 2020

   Organic Law 2/2020 opens naturalisation for people who lost it but stayed in Portugal since before 25 April 1974.
3. 18 March 2022

   Decree-Law 26/2022 writes the route into the Regulation, with no language requirement.
4. 19 May 2026

   Organic Law 1/2026 takes effect and rewrites the paragraph that held the route. Pending applications stay under the old law.

The 2026 reform rewrote paragraph 9 of article 6 of the Nationality Act: where this route used to be, the statute now deals with people who render important services to the state. The Regulation still prints the old route because it has not yet been updated for the reform, but what governs a new application is the statute, and the statute no longer has it. The 2026 law does protect earlier applicants in plain words: procedures pending when it took effect stay under the previous wording. If you filed before 19 May 2026, the old route is still yours.

So what can I apply for today?

For a new application the usual route is ordinary naturalisation: seven years of legal residence for nationals of Portuguese-speaking countries, proof of Portuguese language and culture, and the other general requirements. For someone who has lived here for fifty years, the years are not the problem. The test is the new part.

Check two alternatives first, because they waive the residence period. One covers people who lost Portuguese nationality, keep a genuine link to the country and never acquired another one. That usually rules out anyone who became Angolan or Cape Verdean in 1975. The other covers great-grandchildren of Portuguese citizens by origin with five years of legal residence. The first is explained in losing Portuguese nationality; to match your case to one of IRN's application categories, see which route is yours.

All of these go to IRN, the registry authority under the Ministry of Justice, and are decided by the Central Registry Office. AIMA, the immigration agency, handles residence permits and has no part in nationality applications.

Where to start

Start with the paperwork you already have. A birth certificate of a parent born in mainland Portugal or the islands, or proof that you lived in Portugal before 1974, may mean you are already Portuguese and only need registering. If you were born in Goa before 1961, look for documents issued by the Portuguese administration of that time. And if your road turns out to be ordinary naturalisation, the test is the one part that depends only on you: the free practice test shows you in ten minutes where you stand across the law's five topics.