# Archives and sources: Portugal (PT)

Where records created in Portugal are held, whether they can be found online, and the archives and providers EasyPassport has vetted for them. The list is keyed on the country where the record was created, usually the ancestor's birthplace, which is not always the country the user is applying to. For an ancestor born elsewhere, ask for that country's list. For the office, request channel, apostille authority and translation rules, use the "country record playbook" guide for PT.

## Can these records be found online?

Yes. Records are name-searchable online or digitized, so a careful search is worth it.

THE ROUTING RULE IS THE 100-YEAR LINE. Records older than ~100 years are in the district archive and digitized into digitarq.arquivos.pt (free, no login, parish registers back to the 1500s). Anything under 100 years is still at the Conservatória do Registo Civil — order via irn.justica.gov.pt. Three archives sit OUTSIDE DigitArq and need their own site: Braga (pesquisa.adb.uminho.pt), Madeira (arquivo-abm.madeira.gov.pt) and the Azores (culturacores.azores.gov.pt, 904k images).

## Where the records are held or ordered

- **IRN — Portuguese civil registry** (official): https://www2.gov.pt/en/acesso-aos-servicos-publicos-em-portugal/atendimento-nos-servicos-de-registos-cartao-de-cidadao-passaporte-e-certidoes
  Official Portuguese civil registry — request birth/marriage/death certificates online.
  Access: open this yourself; do not have your agent fetch it.
- **Portuguese Nationality — Document Search** (commercial service): https://www.portuguese-nationality.com/document-search
  Specialist service for procuring Portuguese civil-registry records for citizenship applicants.
  Access: open this yourself; do not have your agent fetch it.

## Vetted providers

- **RushTranslate** (commercial service): https://rushtranslate.com/?ref=ciq
  Certified translations accepted by consulates, courts, and USCIS — turnaround in 24 hours.
  Access: open this yourself; do not have your agent fetch it.
- **FamilySearch** (official): https://www.familysearch.org/
  Free digitized civil and church records for most European countries — start here before paying.
  Access: open this yourself; do not have your agent fetch it.
- **Ancestry.com** (commercial service): https://www.ancestry.com/
  Largest commercial genealogy database; 30B+ records from US and European archives.
  Access: open this yourself; do not have your agent fetch it.

## Access notes

Every link in a country's list carries one of these:

- **open this yourself; do not have your agent fetch it**: the site forbids automated access, needs a login or written permission, or has not been cleared for agents. The user opens it in their own browser and shares what they find with you.
- **your agent may open this page for the user's own family research; record images are for the user's private use only and must not be republished**.
- **openly licensed; your agent may open this page**.

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General guidance, not legal advice. EasyPassport is a document-organization tool, not a law firm. Confirm your own case with the relevant authority or a qualified professional.