Portugal Emigration and Immigration

Immigration/Emigration (Imigração/emigração)
Research use: Identifies origins of those who arrived and those who departed Portugal.

Record type: Passenger lists, passport registers, emigration proceedings, citizenship papers, registration of foreigners.

General: Portugal has one of the highest emigration rates in the world.

Time period: 1757-present.

Contents: Name, age, civil status, birthplace, last former residence, destination, sometimes race or nationality; the registration of foreigners detail the information in the passports of the individuals concerned.

Location: National Archive and district archives.

Population coverage: Approximately 15%.

Reliability: Secondary source for vital information and probably has some inaccuracies but reliable for emigration/immigration information.

Portugal Passenger Lists
From around 1836-1976 the Azores, a Portuguese controlled island of the coast of Africa, was split into three districts:


 * Angra do Heroismo: consisting of Terceira, Sao Jorge &amp; Graciosa
 * Horta: consisting of Pico Faial, Flores &amp; Corvo
 * Ponta Delgada: consisting of Sao Miguel &amp; Santa Maria

It is my understanding that for this time period all passports on the Azores were issued through one of these three districts. The Government of the Azores has a digital collection consisting of passports issued at Ponta Delgada on this web site:

http://www.culturacores.azores.gov.pt/ig/passaportes/Default.aspx

Websites

 * Immigrant Ancestors Project
 * Portugal Seeks Balance of Emigration, Immigration
 * Emigração e população em finais do século XIX. A miragem do Brasil no concelho da Meda (1889-1896)
 * Portuguese Immigrants from the Azores to Hawaii; Passport Indexes by Town/Village
 * Portuguese Passenger Ship Master List
 * Passenger Manifests Index, A-Z
 * Arquivo Regional da Madeira Passports 1872-1910
 * Azores, Centro de Conhecimento Dos Acores, Passports, 1875-1939
 * Azores Gen Web has many resources for Portuguese immigrants

Wiki articles describing online collections are found at:


 * Portugal, Aveiro Passport Registers (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Portugal, Coimbra Passport Registers (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Portugal, Leiria Passport Registers (FamilySearch Historical Records)