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Criminal Record Certificate (Registo Criminal)

criminal record certificate · onde pedir, custo e validade

The registo criminal (criminal record certificate) takes minutes to request online, costs €5 and is valid for 90 days. I walk through the request step by step, the counter route for people without the Chave Móvel Digital, and the case that confuses everyone: what AIMA actually wants when the renewal asks for a “Request for Criminal Record Check”.

By Elijah·UPDATED AUGUST 2026·6 MIN·OFFICIAL SOURCES
KEY FACTS
Where to request
registocriminal.justica.gov.pt, with the Chave Móvel Digital
Cost
€5, online or at a counter
Validity
90 days from issue
At an AIMA renewal
You upload no certificate: you authorise the lookup (art. 42-D)
PARA QUE PRECISA DELE?
Renovação da autorização de residência
O que precisaNenhum certificado: só o consentimento no portal
OndeNo próprio Portal de Renovações, no passo dos documentos
Custo0 €
Base legalArts. 42.º-D, 63.º e 65.º do DR 84/2007

O passo "Request for Criminal Record Check" é um requerimento a autorizar a AIMA a consultar o registo criminal português diretamente. Não compre o certificado de 5 €: não é isso que o portal está a pedir. O certificado do seu país de origem também não é exigido na renovação.

OS ERROS QUE CUSTAM DINHEIRO
Comprar o certificado para a AIMA

A renovação pede um consentimento gratuito, não o certificado de 5 €. É o erro mais comum desta página inteira.

Pedir cedo demais

Os 90 dias de validade voam quando o processo derrapa. Peça o certificado na semana em que o vai entregar, não no mês anterior.

Escolher a finalidade errada

Emprego, trabalho com menores e uso no estrangeiro geram certificados diferentes. A finalidade errada obriga a um pedido novo, com novos 5 €.

Esquecer a apostila e a tradução

A apostila põe-se no país que emitiu o certificado, não em Portugal. Chegar cá com um certificado estrangeiro sem apostila é voltar à estaca zero; trate dela antes de viajar.

Confundir os dois certificados

O certificado português só mostra o que aconteceu em Portugal. Quando um processo pede o do país de origem, um não substitui o outro.

O QUE O CERTIFICADO PORTUGUÊS NÃO MOSTRA
  • Não mostra coimas de trânsito nem contraordenações: não são crimes e vivem noutros registos.
  • Não mostra condenações canceladas: decorridos os prazos legais, saem automaticamente do certificado.
  • Não mostra o que aconteceu noutros países: para isso existe o certificado de cada país em causa.

How this works

The registo criminal shows up in three different lives: job hunting, immigration paperwork, and proving abroad that you owe Portuguese justice nothing. The request itself is one of Portugal's fastest public services; the confusion is knowing which variant you need and when you need none at all. The selector above answers that; the steps below show the request in detail.

  1. 1
    What the criminal record certificate is
    It is the official document, issued by the justice services (DGAJ), stating whether you have convictions registered in Portugal. When there is nothing, the certificate comes out with the phrase everyone wants to read: "nada consta" (nothing on record). It is always requested for a specific purpose (employment, immigration, use abroad), and the purpose determines what the certificate shows, so pick it carefully when applying.
  2. 2
    Requesting it online, step by step
    Go to registocriminal.justica.gov.pt and sign in with the Chave Móvel Digital or the Cartão de Cidadão and a reader, via autenticacao.gov. Choose "Pedir certificado" (request certificate), confirm your details, select the purpose and pay the €5 (Multibanco reference or MB Way). The certificate appears in your reserved area as a PDF, with an access code any entity can use to confirm its authenticity online. If you need it on paper posted to an address abroad, add €3.25.
  3. 3
    No Chave Móvel Digital? Go to a counter
    If you cannot authenticate online, request the certificate in person: at the criminal-record counters attached to courts, at registry offices (conservatórias) and in Lojas do Cidadão. Bring your ID document (passport or residence permit) and the same €5. It is also the route for requests made through a legal representative or attorney.
  4. 4
    AIMA’s "Request for Criminal Record Check"
    AIMA’s renewal portal shows a step called "Request for Criminal Record Check", and many people rush to buy the €5 certificate. There is no need. Since the 2024 reform (Decreto Regulamentar 1/2024), criminal antecedents in Portugal are proved "by consulting the Portuguese criminal record information system" (art. 42-D of DR 84/2007): what you sign is a request authorising that lookup, and AIMA fetches the information directly. On a permanent-permit renewal the rule is even more explicit, in art. 65.
  5. 5
    Foreign certificates: apostille and translation
    The origin-country certificate only enters the picture at the first residence permit (art. 62 of DR 84/2007): it is the one from your country of nationality or the country where you lived in the last year. If the country joined the Hague Convention, an apostille is enough; if not, you need legalisation at the Portuguese consulate. A certified translation is mandatory, except when the document is in English, French or Spanish. Foreign electronic certificates need extra confirmation, with two exceptions AIMA has published: Cabo Verde’s electronic ones and those issued by the Ukrainian Embassy in Portugal. EU public documents are exempt from legalisation under Regulation 2016/1191.

Frequently asked

Do I need my home-country criminal record to renew my residence permit?
No. The legal renewal checklists (art. 63 for the temporary permit, art. 65 for the permanent one, both in DR 84/2007) only include criminal antecedents in Portugal, verified by AIMA’s direct lookup with your authorisation. The apostilled and translated certificate from your country of nationality belongs to the first grant, not the renewal. If AIMA has concrete doubts in a specific case it can ask for extra documents, but that is the exception, not the checklist.
How much does it cost and how long does it take?
It costs €5, whether online or at a counter. Online, the request takes minutes and the certificate appears in your reserved area on the portal; an e-mail tells you when it is ready. At a counter, it is normally issued on the spot. €3.25 is added only if you ask for a paper copy posted to an address outside Portugal.
How long is the certificate valid?
Ninety days from the date of issue. Mind the practical detail: because many processes take a while to file, the classic mistake is requesting the certificate too early and letting it lapse before it is handed in. Request it close to the date you will actually use it. The receiving entity can also impose a shorter window, so confirm with whoever is asking for it.
What does "requerimento para consulta do registo criminal" mean?
It is the form in which you authorise a public entity to consult your Portuguese criminal record directly, instead of handing it a paper certificate. It is exactly what AIMA uses in renewals: art. 65(1) of DR 84/2007 says the permanent-permit renewal request "is accompanied by a request for AIMA to consult criminal antecedents information in Portugal". On the portal, this step appears as a consent declaration to sign, not a document to upload.
Does my country’s electronic certificate work for AIMA?
With care. The rule AIMA publishes says electronically issued certificates need, at minimum, consular authentication of their genuineness, and that for criminal records AIMA confirms the absence of antecedents at the counter through the verification address printed on the certificate itself. The published exceptions, which need no extra authentication: Cabo Verde’s electronic certificates and those issued by the Ukrainian Embassy in Portugal. If your country offers an electronic apostille (e-Apostille), use it.
Who can certify the translation of a foreign certificate?
In Portugal: a notary, a registrar or registry official, a lawyer or solicitador, a recognised chamber of commerce, or a certified translator whose translation is then certified by one of those. Outside Portugal: the Portuguese consulate in the origin country, or that country’s consulate in Portugal. And remember the exemption: documents in English, French or Spanish need no translation for AIMA.
Can an employer demand my criminal record?
Only when the role justifies it under the law, which is why the online request forces you to state a purpose. The most common case is work with minors: there the law does require a specific certificate covering sexual self-determination crimes, and that is the purpose to pick. For jobs in general, an employer has no legal basis to demand the certificate; if asked and in doubt, the CNPD and ACT are where to complain.
Do I need the Portuguese certificate to apply for citizenship?
You do not need to buy it: on the citizenship application you authorise the IRN to consult the Portuguese criminal record, just as you do with AIMA at renewal. What you must present are the certificates from the countries of your nationality and where you have lived, those requested by you, apostilled and translated. The nationality rules changed in 2026; see our page on the new law for current deadlines and requirements.
Do traffic fines show up on the criminal record?
No. Traffic fines, parking fines and administrative offences in general are not crimes: they live in their own registries and never enter the criminal record certificate. The same goes for debts to Finanças or Segurança Social, which show up in a different document, the non-debt certificates. The criminal record only shows criminal convictions handed down by courts, and even those drop off the certificate once the legal cancellation periods run out.
I have an old conviction in Portugal. Does it block my permit renewal?
Not automatically. AIMA consults the record and weighs the case: the law allows refusing renewals on public-order or public-security grounds, and the bar the law uses elsewhere sits around prison sentences above one year, but a converted administrative offence, an old suspended sentence or a closed case are not, by themselves, a brake. Two practical points: cancelled convictions no longer even show up in the lookup; and if you have a relevant conviction and the renewal is due, talk to a lawyer before submitting, not after the refusal.
OFFICIAL SOURCES
DISCLAIMER
Guidance, not legal advice. The figures (€5, 90 days) are those published by the official Justice services at the last update and can change. The apostille, legalisation and translation rules AIMA applies follow its official document-recognition page; always confirm the requirements of your specific case on official channels before requesting or paying for anything.