Tax Implications of Portuguese American Dual Citizenship

Based on my Internet based research into this idea and some questions I asked to the people working at the Portuguese Consulate in Boston, I have found that as long as I live in the America, I will never have to pay taxes to the Portuguese government.

If I were to start working for a Portuguese company here in the states, there might be a chance that I would have to pay taxes to the Portuguese government. This will require further research or consultation with someone with more knowledge.

If I were to one day to pick up and move over to Portugal to live a new life, I would most definitely have to start paying Portuguese taxes.

2012 Portuguese Tax System Brochure

An interesting twist is that if I were to live in Portugal as a dual American citizen, I would still have to file income tax paper work and pay some taxes to the American government. It looks like there is a possibility that the numbers could zero out and no taxes will have to be paid out to the American government. This is something that almost no other country in the world requires of their expatriated citizens. My parents have never paid a dime or filed any paper work to the Portuguese government on the income they have made in America.

Another thing to be aware of is with having a Portuguese bank account. Foreign banks are now required to report to the American government any American citizens that hold accounts with them. The law is called FBAR and it effects Americans who have an aggregate amount of $10,000 or more.

Another interesting thing to think about are the taxes implications if I was to use my Portuguese citizenship to live elsewhere in the European Union. Some quick research reveals that I would definitely have to pay taxes in the country I would choose to live in and most likely there is a treaty between Portugal and my new home country that eliminates any chance of double taxation. A lot of this depends if I get classified as a resident of the home country or a posted worker.

Full disclaimer: I am not a tax accountant or lawyer and this information is based solely on my on-line research. Please, please, please, if you have any questions about tax implications, you should talk to a certified tax accountant familiar with international tax affairs!

The Number of Portuguese American Dual Citizenship

Based on my crack Internet research, it seems like that the data is just not there for dual citizenship in general let alone for dual Portuguese citizenship in the United States. There is no central registry or study that has been conducted. Basically the Unites States operates on the infamously familiar, "don't ask, don't tell" method.

Some estimates by experts claim that the number is between one and seven million Americans with a dual citizenship of some kind. My gut tells me that this number might be low. There are other estimates claiming that over 40 million Americans are eligible for dual citizenship. This number seems reasonable.

Going back to the number of Portuguese dual citizens, I will make an attempt to guesstimate. There are about 1.5 million people of Portuguese decent in the United States. Many are already Portuguese citizens who have emigrated recently. Another portion that were born in the United States are not eligible for dual citizenship via Jus sanguinis, or by blood, since that can only be traced back to grandparents and they might be too far removed to be recognized.

By just totally guessing and throwing caution to the wind, the total number of ethnic Portuguese eligible for Portuguese Citizenship could be about a quarter of the 1.5 million or 375,000.

Comment below to let me know what you think about this wild guess.

Best Reasons Why to Get Dual Portuguese Citizenship

Here is a rough list of reasons that I put together in response to the very common question, "Why do you want to get your Portuguese Citizenship?"

1. It is kind of cool. Really.

2. It can be used in casual conversation as a fun topic.

3. Could be used to make an impression on friends, family and acquaintances that are Portuguese and to help make a connection.

4. It keeps a door open to live and work in another part of the world. More freedom.

5. Dual citizenship is hard for most, but easy for me because I can get it as a child of Portuguese citizens. Very few people in the US are dual citizens. This can be seen as something to make yourself more unique.

6. American citizens are limited to 90 days within an 180 day period when traveling within the EU Schengen area. Having Portuguese citizenship will allow for an unrestricted amount of time to travel within the EU.

7. A big motivation for me is to keep a door open for my children in case they want to venture out to live, work and study in Portugal or the rest of the EU.

8. If a draft for war starts up in the US and my children do not want to participate, we have the option to move to Portugal to avoid the draft.

9. It is easier to live and work in Brazil. After living in Brazil for a year, a Portuguese citizen could apply to become a Brazilian citizen as well. This would give a person triple citizenship covering three continents and access to about 15% of the world's land mass.

10. And of course, cultural pride, if you are into that.

Obtaining Your American Birth Certificate

If you decide to pursue Portuguese citizenship through your Portuguese heritage  you will need to obtain and turn over a certified copy of your American birth certificate.

For most American born children of Portuguese citizens, you should be able to order an official certified birth certificate from the town of city in the United States you were born in. All that is needed is a call to the town or city hall to request one (from the crabby lady who has lost all sense of how to interact politely with other humans) or Google search to find an appropriate online order form to fill out. If you are lucky, you can just visit the town or city hall during work hours and pick one up in person (directly from the crabby lady).

There will be some cost to obtain the birth certificate copy. Maybe in the $10 to $20 range. Check to make sure if the payment is to be in cash, check or other.

When ordering a copy of your birth certificate, make sure that the it is a long form and not the short form. The long form should contain information like the time, date and place of birth, parent's names, and a signature and stamp from the appropriate authority in the town or city.

I ran into a situation where the long form birth certificate from my birth city did not have the time of birth noted on the certificate. Unfortunately for me I only discovered this problem after I turned my birth certificate in at the Portuguese Consulate. I had to order the appropriate one not through the City, but through the State of Massachusetts Registry of Vital Records and Statistics.

What is interesting is that the Registry of Vital Records does not handle online orders, but rather it is this company called VitalCheck. You can hand over $45 to them and they will process the order with the Registry of Vital Records which will take a couple of weeks. During the checkout process, you can have your birth certificate copy snail mailed over for free, or if you are crunched for time you can get expedited handling and shipping for a large happy fee.

Ethnicity Map of Massachusetts

Below is a color coded map of the towns in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The colors denote the ethnic majority of each town as denoted in the legend. It is a brilliant map that helps to understand migration patterns of various peoples.

As one can see, the Portuguese mostly settled in the coastal areas such as Provincetown and in many of the towns and cities of Bristol County like Fall River and New Bedford.

There are some oddities within Massachusetts where the Portuguese became the most populous ethnic group like in Hudson located in the middle of the state and in Ludlow located in Western Massachusetts.

It is also interesting to see the scattering of the other ethnic groups throughout the state. The English base population spattered with blotches from all over the place is mesmerizing. I could probably lose a lot of time staring at that thing.

Ethnicity Map of Massachusetts (Click to Enlarge)