A spokeswoman for the public prosecutor in Portugal has said that the file in the case of missing four-year-old Madeleine McCann is now to be passed on to a judge.
Madeleine's parents continue to protest their innocence despite being named as 'official suspects' by the Portuguese police.
It is understood that the judge will decide what course of action to take next.
The Portuguese Attorney General has also announced that he is appointing a second public prosecutor to the case.
Madeleine McCann's parents have instructed lawyers to build a defence case in the event that charges are brought against them.
Writing on his internet blog, Gerry McCann said he and his wife Kate were confident they will be able clear their names after Portuguese police said they were formal suspects in their daughter's disappearance.
Mr McCann said he and his wife were 100% confident in each other's innocence and are sure they will be cleared of all suspicion.
Earlier, Portuguese police played down reports that traces of blood found in a car rented by Kate and Gerry McCann matched that of their missing daughter.
Police warned that the sample could not be matched perfectly to Madeleine's DNA with 'mathematical precision'. He was responding to claims by some British media outlets that the results were a perfect match.
The blood traces were found in a car rented by Kate and Gerry McCann 25 days after their daughter disappeared.
For the last four months the McCanns have led a high-profile international campaign to find their four-year-old daughter.
Kate and Gerry McCann returned to their home in the village of Rothley with their two-year-old twins over the weekend.
Police have said, however, that the family can be summoned back to Portugal at any time.
Members of the McCann family have said police suggested the McCanns hid Madeleine's body and later disposed of it using a hire car.
In an interview with a Sunday newspaper this week, Kate McCann said that Portuguese police had tried to persuade her to confess to accidentally killing her daughter.
