Criminal record in Portugal

Portuguese criminal record doesn't contain any signatures and stamps.

Regarding the criminal record, we inform you that the Criminal Record is issued electronically, that is, an access code is issued which, when inserted into the Online Criminal Record Certificates portal allows updated access to the criminal record to access. This makes fraud on the information contained therein impossible and allows access to the most up-to-date information.

Please note that criminal record is valid for 3 months.

As provided in the CRIMINAL IDENTIFICATION LAW (Law No. 37/2015, of May 5):

Article 9. Way of accessing information

1 - Knowledge of the information contained in the criminal record, or its absence, is achieved with the issuance of a criminal record certificate.

2 - The criminal record certificate is issued electronically by criminal identification services.

Apostille for Portuguese criminal record is a separate page consisting the seal and signature.

Regarding the form of presentation of the Apostille carried out at the Public Prosecutor's Office of the Portuguese Republic, it is also in accordance with the provisions of the APOSTILLA REGULATION (Order no. 18897/2009, of 14 August), which tells us that the apostille is drawn up on a sheet blank, sealed and stapled to the act to be apostilled, after confirming the validity and veracity of the act.

Chapter II. Article 9. Form, affixing and additional mentions

1 - The model of the apostille certificate issued by the Portuguese authorities is that set out in Annex 1 to this regulation.

2 - The apostille is reproduced on a sheet of plain white paper, stapled and sealed to the document containing the public act to be apostille.

3 - In the case of a single-page document with front and back, the apostille is linked to the page where the signature of the public act appears.

4 - In the case of a document with several pages, the apostille is linked to the page where the signature of the public act to be apostille appears.

In this way, we hope to be able to clarify the information for foreign services of other countries and avoid any confusions based on comparisons of rules of non-portuguese states.

Example of criminal record