Certified Portuguese-to-French translation by a translator listed with a French Court of Appeal. Documents from Portugal, Brazil, Angola, Mozambique, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau or East Timor.
Portuguese has around 265 million speakers worldwide, split between two main variants: European Portuguese (Portugal, Portuguese-speaking African countries, East Timor, Macau) and Brazilian Portuguese. The differences are significant — much more pronounced than between Spanish from Spain and Latin American Spanish.
The Acordo Ortográfico da Língua Portuguesa de 1990 (AO90) was signed to unify the spelling of Portuguese-speaking countries. Its rollout was long and gradual: mandatory in Portugal since 2015, in Brazil since 2016. It standardises the removal of certain silent consonants (acção → ação, facto → fato, óptimo → ótimo) and accentuation rules. Older official documents (pre-2015) still follow the pre-agreement spelling.
The terminology differences are significant:
Portuguese is the official language of 8 countries grouped in the Comunidade dos Países de Língua Portuguesa (CPLP):
In addition, there is Macau (a Chinese special administrative region where Portuguese remains co-official) and Equatorial Guinea (Portuguese co-official since 2010).
We also translate: procuração (power of attorney), escritura pública (notarial deed), sentença de divórcio (divorce judgment), certidão de união estável (Brazilian civil partnership certificate), declaração de pobreza, commercial contracts, company bylaws.
| Country | Hague Convention | Procedure required |
|---|---|---|
| Portugal | Signatory (1969) | Civil status records: exempt (EU Regulation 2016/1191). Other documents: apostille from the Procuradoria-Geral da República |
| Brazil | Signatory since August 2016 | Apostille from authorised cartórios or designated courts. e-Apostila available online since 2020 |
| Cape Verde | Signatory (2010) | Apostille from the Ministério dos Negócios Estrangeiros |
| São Tomé and Príncipe | Signatory (2008) | Apostille from the Ministério dos Negócios Estrangeiros |
| Angola | NOT a signatory | Double legalisation: Ministério das Relações Exteriores (Luanda) + French Consulate |
| Mozambique | NOT a signatory | Double legalisation: Ministério dos Negócios Estrangeiros (Maputo) + French Consulate |
| Guinea-Bissau | NOT a signatory | Double legalisation |
| East Timor | NOT a signatory | Double legalisation |
As Portugal is an EU member, its civil status records benefit from two mechanisms:
Note: for high-stakes procedures (naturalisation, PACS, civil marriage, notarised inheritance), most authorities prefer a full certified translation that also includes the marginal notes (marriage, divorce, death, acknowledgment) — fields that are not always shown on the multilingual form.
Reconhecimento de firma is a Brazilian specificity: the official certification of a signature by a cartório de notas. This formality, mandatory for many official Brazilian documents (powers of attorney, contracts, declarations), is roughly equivalent to certification of a signature by a notaire in France. In the translation, we keep the Portuguese term with an explanatory note.
In Brazil, civil status records are issued by authorised private cartórios (around 8,000 across the country). The segunda via is a second copy, requested when the original is lost or simply to obtain a recent copy (less than 90 days old) for French procedures. Since 2019, the Central Nacional de Informações do Registro Civil (CRC Nacional) has allowed requesting segundas vias online for any record registered in Brazil.
The Brazilian notarial system operates through a public concession granted to private officers (tabeliães). Notarial cartórios (cartórios de notas) draw up escrituras públicas (authentic instruments) and procurações (powers of attorney). This mixed public-private system is distinctive and explains the density of Brazil's notarial network.
The Portuguese community is historically one of the largest in France. More than 600,000 Portuguese nationals reside legally in France, and an estimated 1 to 1.5 million people are of Portuguese descent (Franco-Portuguese). The mass emigration of the 1960s-1970s, linked to the Salazar dictatorship and the African colonial wars, created a well-established diaspora, particularly in the Paris region, the Centre-Val de Loire and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regions.
The most common procedures:
Portuguese is classed as a standard language (×1 multiplier), at the same rate as Spanish, Italian or English.
| Document | Turnaround | Price (all-inclusive) | Includes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Certidão de nascimento | 48 working hours | €59 | PDF + paper original |
| Certidão de casamento | 48 working hours | €59 | PDF + paper original |
| Atestado de antecedentes criminais | 48 working hours | €59 | Brazilian Polícia Federal or Portuguese Registo Criminal |
| Diploma + histórico escolar | 72 working hours | from €59 | Diploma + transcript Popular |
| Sentença de divórcio | 72 working hours | from €59 | Depending on page count |
| Campus France pack | 72 working hours | €129 | Certidão + diploma + histórico |
Not for the legal validity of the translation. Our sworn Portuguese-French translators are fluent in both main variants · European Portuguese (Portugal, Angola, Mozambique, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau) and Brazilian Portuguese · as well as the spelling nuances tied to the 1990 Agreement.
They also know the administrative vocabulary specific to each country: Cartão de Cidadão (PT) vs RG (BR), assento (PT) vs certidão (BR), and render the terminology precisely in the certified French translation.
No for civil status records (birth, marriage, death, matrimonial capacity). As Portugal is an EU member, EU Regulation 2016/1191 of 16 February 2019 exempts these records from an apostille for use in France.
For other documents (diplomas, criminal records, notarial deeds, judgments), the apostille remains required and is obtained from the Procuradoria-Geral da República, the Direção-Geral da Administração da Justiça (DGAJ) or the Tribunais, depending on the type of document.
Yes. Brazil has been a signatory to the Hague Convention since 14 August 2016. The apostille is issued by authorised cartórios (cartórios de notas and cartórios de registro) or designated courts.
Since 2020, the Brazilian e-Apostila has been available online for many documents: faster (24-48h vs 15 days at the counter), it carries a verification QR code and is fully recognised in France. The apostille must be affixed before translation.
No. Neither Angola nor Mozambique is a signatory to the Hague Convention. Documents issued in these countries must therefore undergo double legalisation before translation:
Angola: legalisation by the Ministério das Relações Exteriores in Luanda, then by the French Consulate General.
Mozambique: legalisation by the Ministério dos Negócios Estrangeiros e Cooperação in Maputo, then by the French Consulate General.
The same procedure applies to Guinea-Bissau and East Timor.
The Portuguese community is one of the oldest and largest in France. More than 600,000 Portuguese nationals reside legally in the country, and estimates put the number of people of Portuguese descent (Franco-Portuguese) at 1 to 1.5 million.
This presence stems from the mass emigration of the 1960s-1970s, linked to the Salazar dictatorship and the African colonial wars. The diaspora has become well established, particularly in the Paris region (Val-d'Oise, Seine-Saint-Denis, Val-de-Marne), Centre-Val de Loire and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. Naturalisations by marriage and equivalence requests therefore remain very common.
The segunda via is the second copy (reissue) of a document issued by a Brazilian cartório: certidão de nascimento, certidão de casamento, certidão de óbito. It is requested when the original is lost or damaged, or simply to obtain a recent copy (less than 90 days old) for French procedures.
Since 2019, the Central Nacional de Informações do Registro Civil (CRC Nacional) has allowed requesting segundas vias online for any record registered in Brazil, even while you are in France. Cartórios send the document by post or email (a signed digital version). It is this recent version that must be apostilled and then translated.
Reconhecimento de firma is the official certification of a signature by a Brazilian cartório de notas. This formality, specific to the Brazilian system, is mandatory on many official documents: powers of attorney, contracts, declarations, school documents.
It is roughly equivalent to certification of a signature by a French notaire. In the sworn French translation, we keep the Portuguese term reconhecimento de firma and add an explanatory note on its French equivalence, to avoid any confusion with the apostille or with broader legal recognition.
Yes, it's one of our most requested Portuguese-language documents. We translate:
· Bacharel (equivalent to a bachelor's/licence, 4-5 years depending on the field)
· Licenciatura (teacher training, 4 years)
· Especialização (postgraduate certificate, lato sensu)
· Mestrado (academic master's, 2 years)
· Doutorado (doctorate, 4 years)
As Brazil is a CEF country, the Études en France procedure via Campus France systematically requires certified translation of the diploma + histórico escolar (transcript) + birth certificate. Price for the 3-document pack: €129.
Sworn translators listed with the French Courts of Appeal, experts in documents from Portugal, Brazil and Portuguese-speaking countries. 48h, from €39.