Resume rules in Portugal
What employers in Portugal expect on a Currículo / Curriculum Vitae (CV), what the law lets them ask for, and where the two disagree.
Call it a CV for Portugal, a resume for Portugal, or Currículo: it's the same document.
This is research, not legal advice. Employment and data protection law changes, state and provincial rules matter in federal countries, and practice varies by industry and seniority. Each entry shows when it was looked up and how confident we are. Where nothing reliable was published it says Not found rather than a guess.
Law and practice, side by side
The label on the right is what local hiring expects. The two lines under it are the law and the habit, which often disagree.
Photo: Common
Common; but increasing trend toward omitting photos to reduce unconscious bias, especially in multinationals and international companies
What the law says: No legal requirement. GDPR (EU 2016/679) and Lei n.º 60/2018 restrict data collection; employer must justify purpose. CNPD (Comissão Nacional de Proteção de Dados) confirms photographs are personal data requiring purpose-specific consent.
Date of birth: Common
Common to include date of birth in personal details section; increasingly optional in modern practice
What the law says: No legal prohibition on applicant providing DOB. Lei n.º 3/2011 and Lei n.º 60/2018 protect against age discrimination in hiring decisions; employer may not discriminate based on age even if DOB disclosed.
Marital status: Not found
Traditionally included; increasingly optional and discouraged by anti-bias recruiting practices
What the law says: No legal requirement to disclose. Lei n.º 3/2011 and Código do Trabalho articles 23+ prohibit discrimination based on family/marital status in employment decisions.
Sex or gender: Optional
Optional; not standard to include gender on CV
What the law says: Lei n.º 3/2011 (transposing EU Directive 2006/54/CE) and Lei n.º 60/2018 prohibit sex/gender discrimination in recruitment and employment. Employers must establish equal criteria.
Nationality: Common
Common to state; relevant for visa/work permit context
What the law says: No legal prohibition. Lei n.º 3/2011 transposes EU Directives 2000/43/CE and 2000/78/CE protecting against discrimination on nationality/ethnic grounds.
National ID number: Avoid
Avoid; NIF, Segurança Social number, and full identity documents should not appear on CV submitted during recruitment
What the law says: No specific law prohibiting NIF (tax number) on CV, but GDPR and Portuguese data protection guidance recommend against including tax numbers, passport numbers, or Cartão de Cidadão numbers in initial application materials.
The rest of the entry
- Local name of the document
- Currículo / Curriculum Vitae (CV)
- Language to submit in
- Portuguese; English acceptable for international companies
- Typical length
- 2-3 pages typical; may extend to 4 for senior candidates
- Address detail expected
- City/region typical; full home address increasingly discouraged for privacy/security reasons
- Signature and date
- No evidence of requirement for handwritten signature or date on CV
- Officially prescribed form
- Europass available and used in EU job market; no Portuguese-specific official form mandated
- Religion, ethnicity or caste
- Lei n.º 3/2011 prohibits discrimination based on religion, race, colour, national or ethnic origin, descent. Employers may not request or base decisions on these characteristics.
- Health, disability or pregnancy
- Lei n.º 3/2011 prohibits discrimination based on disability. Employers may not request health information unless directly necessary for job accommodation and with justification.
- Other customary attachments
- No prescribed attachments required on CV itself; references, certificates, and police clearance may be requested post-offer
- Employer may not ask for
- Under Lei n.º 3/2011 and Código do Trabalho: employers may not request or act on sex, marital status, family responsibilities, age, disability, health status, religion, race, ethnicity, national origin, political views, union membership. GDPR restricts collection of special category data (health, religious beliefs, etc.) without explicit purpose and consent.
- Named statutes
- Lei n.º 3/2011, de 15 de fevereiro (transposing EU Directives on equal treatment); Lei n.º 60/2018, de 21 de agosto (equal pay and equal opportunities); Código do Trabalho (Labor Code, articles 23+, non-discrimination); GDPR (EU Regulation 2016/679)
- Data protection regime
- GDPR (EU 2016/679) + Lei de Proteção de Dados a nível nacional + CNPD (Comissão Nacional de Proteção de Dados / National Data Protection Commission) as supervisory authority
- Anti-discrimination statutes
- Lei n.º 3/2011 (equal treatment); Lei n.º 60/2018 (equal pay and opportunities); Código do Trabalho (employment discrimination prohibitions)
- Local language source
- Portuguese
Where this came from
Looked up 2026-08-15. Independently checked 2026-08-15. High confidence. Result of that check: Confirmed.
Notes: LAW vs PRACTICE clear distinction: Portuguese employment law (Lei n.º 3/2011, Lei n.º 60/2018, Código do Trabalho) protects applicants from discrimination based on protected characteristics and restricts employer requests for sensitive data, but does not prescribe CV format or mandatory content for applicants. PRACTICE shows traditional inclusion of photo, DOB, and marital status remains common, especially in domestic hiring, but international companies increasingly advise omitting these to reduce bias and align with GDPR best practices. CNPD guidance confirms photographs are personal data requiring data protection compliance from employers, though applicants themselves are not legally bound by GDPR.
Researched with AI assistants working from a written checklist, then independently checked. How we researched this