We are a gay couple from Holland. Living now in Portugal for 5 years. We were very happy to know that Portugal legalized same sex marriages. Since we are officially partnership registrated in Holland,( that was the legal way before it was called marriage) we thought it would be accepted as a legal marriage in Portugal.

NO WAY.

If we want to have are marriage accepted,( with all the legal rights) we first have to divorce ( with the loss of all legal rights we had so far) and than get remarried in Portugal.
Thank you Europe for accepting eachothers laws!!

Same sex marriage has became possible in Portugal since June 7.

Two administrative changes have been made recently to resolve snafus encountered by same-sex couples.

People who married in other countries before the Portuguese law took effect now will have their foreign marriages recognized. Previously, those marriages were not recognized but, at the same time, such couples couldn't marry in Portugal because they were already married.

The second change removed a requirement to include the gender of the person one intends to marry on a required certificate of matrimonial capacity that a foreigner must obtain from his or her native land before marrying in Portugal. There were problems with getting such certificates from some nations that oppose same-sex marriages.

One does not have to live in Portugal to get married there.