Portuguese-French Translation in Belgium: Guide for the Portuguese Community

With nearly 250,000 Portuguese nationals living in Belgium, Portuguese is one of the most requested languages for official translations. Whether you need to translate a civil status document, a police record or a university degree, this guide explains everything you need to know to get a Portuguese-French (or Portuguese-Dutch) translation recognised by Belgian authorities.

The Portuguese community in Belgium and its translation needs

The Portuguese community is one of the largest and oldest foreign communities in Belgium. It began settling in the 1960s through labour recruitment programmes and grew further through family reunification and intra-EU mobility.

The majority of Belgian Portuguese live in three main areas: the Brussels-Capital Region (particularly Molenbeek, Anderlecht and Saint-Josse), the Province of Liège (especially the Seraing and Herstal area, rooted in the steel industry), and the Belgian Province of Luxembourg (Arlon and surroundings). Significant communities also exist in Antwerp and Limburg.

These residents regularly need to translate Portuguese documents for dealings with Belgian municipalities, the Immigration Office, the CPAS, universities and notaries. Second and third generations increasingly need translations for matters related to Portugal — inheritances, property, embassy procedures and returns to Portugal.

The most commonly translated Portuguese documents in Belgium

Here are the Portuguese documents our Belgian clients most often ask us to translate, along with their most common use cases:

Certidão de nascimento — Birth certificate

Required for registration in a Belgian population register, nationality procedures, civil marriage in Belgium, or establishing a family relationship in an inheritance file. The translation must be sworn (by a translator officially recognised by a Belgian Court of Appeal) to be accepted by municipalities.

Certidão de casamento — Marriage certificate

Needed for family reunification, name changes, civil registry updates or inheritance proceedings. If you were married in Portugal and wish to have your union recognised in Belgium, a sworn translation of your marriage certificate is mandatory.

Registo criminal — Criminal record extract

Often required for residence permit applications, single work permit requests, Belgian naturalisations, and certain jobs in the public sector or regulated professions. It is obtained from the Directorate-General for Reinsertion and Prison Services (DGRSP) in Portugal.

Diploma universitário — University degree

To have a Portuguese degree recognised in Belgium through NARIC, to apply for a job, or to practise a regulated profession, a sworn translation of both the degree and the transcript (Certificado de habilitações / Histórico escolar) is generally required.

Procuração — Power of attorney

Portuguese powers of attorney are frequently used to authorise someone in Portugal to act on your behalf (property sale, inheritance management, notarial proceedings). The translation generally needs to be sworn and sometimes apostilled.

Indicative turnaround times

Sworn translation vs standard translation for Portuguese documents

Not all translations are equal in the eyes of Belgian authorities. Here is the essential distinction to understand before placing an order:

Sworn (certified) translation

Produced by a translator who has taken an oath before a Belgian Court of Appeal, a sworn translation carries the translator's official signature and stamp. It is the only type accepted for official procedures: municipalities, Immigration Office, courts, notaries, embassies, and NARIC. If an authority asks for an "official translation" or a "certified translation", this almost always means a sworn translation.

Standard translation

Suitable for internal company use, visa applications in certain countries, or for personal understanding of a document. It has no legal standing in Belgium for official administrative procedures.

The Hague Apostille on Portuguese documents

Portugal is a signatory to the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961. Official Portuguese documents (civil status certificates, police records, degrees) can therefore be accompanied by an apostille — an official authentication stamp issued by the competent Portuguese authorities.

In Belgium, the question often arises: do I need to apostille a Portuguese document before getting it translated? The answer depends on the receiving authority:

• Belgian municipalities generally do not require an apostille on Portuguese civil status documents in the context of intra-EU family reunification, as both Portugal and Belgium are EU members and signatories to the CIEC Convention.
• Notaries and courts may require an apostille for documents used in proceedings involving assets or rights in Portugal.
• Some embassies and non-EU authorities systematically require an apostille even on EU documents.

When in doubt, it is safer to have your document apostilled before getting it translated. Apostilles are obtained in Portugal from the competent Tribunal de Comarca (for judicial documents) or from the Portuguese Consulate in Belgium (for some civil status records).

Frequently asked questions (FAQ)

Can the Portuguese Consulate in Brussels do the translation?

No. The Portuguese Consulate General in Brussels does not translate documents. It can certify certain Portuguese documents (legalise signatures, issue apostilles in some cases) but the actual translation must be entrusted to a sworn translator recognised by a Belgian Court of Appeal.

Can I use a translation certified by a Portuguese notary (Notário)?

A translation produced or certified by a Portuguese notary is not recognised in Belgium as a sworn translation. The Belgian system requires that the translator has taken an oath before a Belgian Court of Appeal. A Portuguese notarised translation may be useful as a supplementary document in cross-border legal proceedings, but it is not sufficient for Belgian administrative procedures.

How long is a sworn translation valid?

The sworn translation itself has no legal expiry date. However, some authorities may require that the source document (e.g. the Portuguese police record) was issued recently (often within the last 3 months). It is the original document that is subject to a validity limit, not the translation.

Do I need to send the original by post or is a scan sufficient?

For the translation, a high-resolution scan (JPEG or PDF format) is generally sufficient. You do not need to post your original to place a translation order. However, certain authorities may ask you to present the original source document in person when submitting your file — this is independent of the translation.