Direção-Geral dos Registos, Notariado e Identificação (Conservatória do Registo de Pessoas Coletivas) (DGRNI)

The DGRNI is the Ministry of Justice service responsible for registries, notaries and civil identification. Among other things it organises and manages the central file of legal persons and rules on whether names and denominations are admissible. Associations and NGOs (development civil society organisations) acquire legal personality by registration with its Conservatória do Registo de Pessoas Coletivas. There is no separate NGO approval agency.

Associations, including NGOs, are constituted by registration at the Conservatória do Registo de Pessoas Coletivas under the associations law (Lei 25/VI/2003) and, for development NGOs, the OSCD law (Lei 114/VIII/2016). Registration acts (constitution, statute amendments, new office-holders, dissolution) are published as extracts in the Boletim Oficial. Foreign non-profit associations need an authorisation order from the Minister of Justice before the registry records their local representation. OSCDs may also seek public-utility status, which per secondary summaries of the law is granted for two years after a documentary review and can be refused or revoked for irregularities. Appointments for in-person registry services can be booked online on the Justice Portal.