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.

Portuguese Embassy Submission Documents Explained

The Portuguese Embassy in the United States lists several documents for the adult children of Portuguese parents to bring to a Portuguese consulate to claim their citizenship (or nationality as it is also called).

The page on the embassy's website is called the Acquisition of Portuguese Nationality by Children of Portuguese Citizens which is under the Consular Affairs section.

The page lists the documentation needed for children under 14 years of age and then for adults who are 18 years and older. The page is not clear in regards to teenagers that fall between 15 and 17.

During my appointment at the consulate I discovered that some of the information on embassy's page for the Acquisition of Portuguese Nationality by Children of Portuguese Citizens is inaccurate (as of the date of this post)!

Based on the 18 years and older criteria found on the consulate's website, it looked like I required the following:

1. Certified copy of the long form of my American birth certificate, legalized by “Apostille.”
2. Passport and driver's license.
3. Marriage certificate, the most recent employer pay stub, and most recent mortgage invoice.
4. A money order for US$359.91, payable to the Portuguese Consulate.
5. Certified copy of both of my Portuguese parents' birth certificates issued within the last six months by the Registrar’s Office ("Conservatória do Registo Civil") of their place of birth with their marriage endorsed on the birth certificate.
6. Copies of my parents’ passports and Portuguese Citizen Cards.

Breakdown of Each Requirement

Requirement #1: The long form of the birth certificate contains various important information about a person's birth. The most notable piece of information on the long form birth certificate is to have the time of birth. Some long form birth certificates issued by various towns and cities do not list the time of birth! Be sure to ask before requesting new copy to give to the Portuguese Consulate. I had to obtain my birth certification from the state I was born in as opposed to the city which did not have my time of birth.

The requirement to have the birth certification legalized by an "Apostille" is an attempt to certify a document before it leaves a country for another country. This can be done at an office of the Secretary of the State you were born in. According to my contact at the consulate, the requirement for legalization by "Apostille" was not necessary.

Requirement  #2:  for personal identification, I provided a brand new US Passport that I had just renewed. I did not provide my driver's license, but it was good insurance to have just in case.

Requirement  #3: A marriage certificate is not needed at this time. Registering the marriage is another procedure that can be done via mail after receiving a certified Portuguese Birth Certificate. I also did not need my pay stub or mortgage invoice.

Requirement #4: as for the money order, the amount listed on the embassy's page is incorrect. In fact, at the time of the writing of this post, the amount listed on the Embassy's website is still incorrect. The correct amount can be obtained from the consulate that is to be visited. It seems that the amount can fluctuate due to the US dollar exchange rate with the Euro and whatever else goes on to comprise that number. When turned over the money, I was told that the money order was not necessary and that I could have handed a personal check or cash. 



Screen Capture from Portugese Embassy's Website Document Requirements with Edits (Click to Enlargen)

Requirement #5: certified Portuguese birth certificates of parents can be obtained from the website, "Instituto dos Registos e Notariado" which the embassy page links to. I will attempt to write about this process in a future post. The marriage between the parents has to be endorsed on the birth certifcates.

I was lucky in that my parents paid a visit to Portugal to attend my cousin's wedding and were able to swing by the Registrar's Office in Alcobaça within the six month requirement.  I am not completely sure if the the six month requirement for the parent's Portuguese birth certificate is necessary at all.

Requirement #6: for parental identification, turn in paper copies of the parent's Portuguese passports and Portuguese Citizenship Cards.



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)