Portugal Emigration and Immigration

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Portugal

Emigration and Immigration

Immigration/Emigration (Imigração/Emigração)

Historically, Portugal has one of the highest emigration rates in the world. The trend reaches back to the 15th century, when Portugal began overseas exploration and colonization. Many Portuguese individuals moved to colonies in Africa, South America, and Pacific archipelagos. In the twentieth century, a large number also settled across the United States, drawn by the shipping trade in New England, California, and Hawaii.

Ship passenger lists, passport registers, emigration proceedings, citizenship papers, registration of foreigners, and similar migration documents can prove a vital link in tracing an individual back to Portugal. Such records may contain the individual's full name, age, civil status, birthplace, former residence, destination, and sometimes race or nationality. They are contained in the National and District Archives, and some have been digitized.

Online Migration Records

Passenger Lists

• Ancestry Passenger Lists ($) Many passenger lists including those arriving at US and Canadian ports.
• The Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, Inc.
• Ellis Island Passenger Lists, 1892-1956
• Immigrant Ancestors Project Index of passport registers and ship logs created shortly before individuals emigrated to another country.
• Immigrant Ships Passenger lists from all over the world. No searchable index.
• Portuguese Passenger Manifests Index to Portuguese Passenger Manifests in Hawaii. The search bar for the index is placed at the top-right of the page.
• Portuguese Passenger Ship Lists $ Partial index of ships that departed from Portugal.
• Portuguese Passenger Ship Master List in U.S. Ports Index taken from major U.S. port records.

Passports

• Immigrant Ancestors Project Index of emigration documents created shortly before individuals emigrated to another country.
• Portugal Passport Registers and Application Files, 1800-1946 at FamilySearch.
• Portugal, Aveiro, Passport Registers, 1882-1965 at FamilySearch.
• Portugal, Aveiro, Passport Registers, 1882-1965 at Arquivo Distrital de Aveiro, accessed through Tombo.pt.
• Portugal, Azores Passports Passports issued from the Azores. To view the records, select the archive (núcleo) holding the records for the island in question.
  • Angra do Heroismo contains records for Terceira, Sao Jorge & Graciosa.
  • Horta contains records for Pico Faial, Flores & Corvo.
  • Ponta Delgada contains records for Sao Miguel & Santa Maria.
• Portugal, Braga, Passport Registers, 1868-1965 at Arquivo Distrital de Braga, accessed through Tombo.pt.
• Portugal, Bragança, Passport Registers, 1844-1967 at Arquivo Distrital de Bragança, accessed through Tombo.pt.
• Portugal, Coimbra, Passport Registers and Application Files, 1835-1938 at FamilySearch.
• Portugal, Leiria, Passport Registers, 1861-1901 at FamilySearch.
• Portugal, Lisboa, Passport Registers, 1839-1944 at Arquivo Distrital de Lisboa, accessed through Tombo.pt.
• Portugal, Madeira Passports 1872-1910 at the Madeira Regional Archive.
• Portugal, Madeira Passports 1872-1910 at Ancestry, ($) Indexed.
• Portugal, Porto, Passport Registers, 1834-1966 at Arquivo Distrital de Porto, accessed through Tombo.pt.
• Portugal, Viana do Castelo, Passport Registers, 1835-1928 at Arquivo Distrital de Viana do Castelo, accessed through Tombo.pt.
• Portugal, Vila Real, Passport Registers, 1834-1967 at Arquivo Distrital de Vila Real, accessed through Tombo.pt.
• Hawaii Passport Index 1879-1883 Passport index for Hawaii, organized by town/village of origin. Includes immigrants from Portugal, the Azores, and Brazil.

Further Information

• The Family History Library contains many publications on Portuguese migration patterns. To located these books, go to the FamilySearch Catalog, enter "Portugal" into the place-field in the search bar, and select "Emigration and immigration" from the drop-down menu.
• For information on individuals who migrated from Portugal to Brazil, visit Brazil Emigration and Immigration.
• Emigração e população em finais do século XIX. A miragem do Brasil no concelho da Meda (1889-1896) Article (in Portuguese) on immigration trends in the late 18th century.
• Portugal Seeks Balance of Emigration, Immigration Article on modern Portuguese immigration and emigration.
  

Wiki Articles Describing Online Collections

• Portugal, Aveiro Passport Registers - FamilySearch Historical Records
  
• Portugal, Coimbra Passport Registers - FamilySearch Historical Records
  
• Portugal, Leiria Passport Registers - FamilySearch Historical Records
  
• Portugal, Passport Registers and Application Files - FamilySearch Historical Records
  

References

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