Dear All, I have received the below email from a very kind unknown person in Portugal. Hence I would like to share here for the benefit of all concerned.
Regards, Shashi Dear Shashi, If you hve not yet received a satisfactory reply to your query, here goes one: (a) The CR Centrais no longer handles "Transcrissao de Casamentos". (b) There are "n" number of Conservatorias Civil all over Portugal, where the TCs can be submitted (c) The Identification in the "Procurassao" of the holder of the "Portuguese Assento" must be done by ID. Bearing the fact that all Portuguese citizens or nationals must at all times hold a valid BI. (d) There is no such thing as "Territorial Limit" so one can submit/apply for Portuguese documentation at any Consulate and other relevant Portuguese Offices. (e) The "Procurassao" must expressly mention the "Conservatoria" or other post where the TC is being submitted. This implies that the "Conservadora" will first want to have a look at photocopies of the documents and then fix the date to accept the originals. (f) Applications submitted at the Consulates are not forwarded to the CR Centrais but to some Department of the Minister for Law which then sends "distributes" them to any of the Conservatorias of Registo Civil which don't have their hands full. (With the "Informatizassao" Big Brother does have control). (e) Once these Conservatorias register the marriage, they inform the Centrais, for endorsement in the birth registry of the interested party. The Consulate also is notified or receives a marriage certificate which is then sent to the Applicant. I know the measure above is time consuming but it definitely avoids CORRUPTION as nobody knows which Conservatoria is doing the work. Besides this, the measure avoids work load on one Conservatoria while other Conservatorias in some places don't have much work. In one building alone in Lisbon, at Rua Fontes Pereira de Melo there are 15 Conservatorias de Registo Civil. The validity of the ID is now only one year. EU has introduced "Cartao de Cidadao" or "Cartao Unico" which will be in full force as from 2011. Presently these cards are only issued in Portugal (a lot of delay because ID's are no longer renewed under normal circumstances) and any person who applies for it has one year to "pick" it up and only the person himself can pick it up. No "procurassoes". I don't think the Consulates are able to do this yet, because the "Cartao de Cidadao" will hold all the data such as, Health Card Number, Fiscal Number, Elector Number, in short, this will avoid a person carrying a number of cards. (Mr. Chip will do the work). I hope the above information will be useful but you can visit the Government Site and collect all the info required. As additional information I can inform you that with these new measures even the "Atribuissao" has become very easy, and one can handle it by himself/herself if major and the parents, specially the one with Portuguese "Assento" if dealing with minors. You may down load Mod 1C and get access to the Forms and instructions. The only obstacle will be the approach with the Portuguese Consulate in Goa to have the application certified, etc., but being a Portuguese National one should make their rights work.(Once it enters the Lisbon Office, it takes less than 3 months.) Those living in the European Union or other countries where the Hague Apostille is in force need not even approch the Portuguese Consulates as long as the Lawyer declares "signed in the presence" and mentions the Hague Apostille. Regards
