How to Get a NIF in Portugal (EU and Non-EU Applicants)

• A non-resident can receive a NIF in person or through an authorised agent; fiscal representation is not mandatory at the moment the NIF is issued.
• A non-resident outside the qualifying EU/EEA exceptions who creates a Portuguese tax relationship normally has 15 days to appoint a representative or adopt approved electronic notifications. VAT representation is a separate rule.
• The official NIF request is free; a private agent may charge for their service.
• You can request it before moving to Portugal, without becoming tax resident.

Your NIF (Número de Identificação Fiscal) is the 9-digit tax number issued by the Autoridade Tributária (AT). Any foreign national who works or pays tax in Portugal needs one — and it's also needed for children and dependants, since it's how their parents claim health and education expenses on their own IRS return.

Choose your route

Documents you need

• Resident in Portugal: a valid civil ID or passport and the evidence required to register your Portuguese tax address for your nationality and immigration status.
• Not resident in Portugal: a valid civil ID or passport, plus evidence of the foreign address if it is not shown on the ID.
• Child without a passport: a document proving their birth.
• For a third-country applicant making their own non-resident request, AT lists the entry visa in the passport, except where an entry visa to another EU country is shown or the nationality is visa-exempt for Schengen entry. This is not a requirement to hold every kind of visa and permit together.
• An agent needs their ID and a power of attorney authorising the NIF request. If also appointed fiscal representative, that must be stated separately. AT's manual requires originals/authenticated copies; plain copies accompany originals. Foreign-language documents require a properly certified translation.

How to request it

1. 1
   Check whether you already have a NIF

   A Portuguese Cartão de Cidadão includes an automatically assigned NIF. If you already have a number, keep it: a lost document or a move does not require a new NIF.

2. 2
   Choose the correct request route

   For a standalone request, book an AT counter appointment. An authorised agent can use e-balcão for a non-resident request. Eligible foreign citizens already living in Portugal can instead use the selected-counter combined NIF/NISS/SNS service.

3. 3
   Prepare identity, address and authority evidence

   Use the document list for your nationality, residence status and request channel. A non-resident needs foreign-address evidence if the ID does not show it; an agent also needs their ID and a power of attorney with suitable powers.

4. 4
   Submit through the official route

   Book a counter through Portal das Finanças contacts or 217 206 707, weekdays 9am–7pm. For an agent's e-balcão request, select Registo Contribuinte › Identific › Atrib/Alter NIF-Singulares. The combined service has its own counter and authentication conditions.

5. 5
   Check and keep the assigned details

   Keep the official NIF record and check your name, address, resident/non-resident status and any representative. Correct an error with AT rather than applying for another number. Portal access, activity registration and later address changes are separate tasks.

The official request has no NIF fee. An agent's professional fee, document certification or translation is a separate cost: ask what a quote includes and whether it adds ongoing representation charges. For the counter route use AT's appointment contact page; the agent uses e-balcão. Do not send identity scans to an unverified intermediary.

EU/EEA/Swiss citizens vs. third-country citizens

Nationality affects acceptable residence and entry documents, but it does not make fiscal representation a condition for issuing the NIF. The AT manual states that a non-resident foreign citizen may receive the number without appointing a fiscal representative. The separate representation rules arise later if a third-country resident creates a Portuguese tax relationship.

NISS: the Social Security equivalent

NIF identifies you to AT; NISS identifies you to Social Security. Neither number itself grants immigration status, permission to work or entitlement to a benefit. Follow the NISS document and request guide for the standalone service. A NIF is mandatory for its self-employed route, not a universal prerequisite for every NISS applicant.

Use Social Security's current NISS service and document list for your status; it is a separate application and its evidence requirements can differ for employees, self-employed people and their representatives.

Can you request NIF, NISS and SNS together?

The free combined request is made in person at selected Espaços Cidadão, not through a universal online form. It is for foreign citizens with an address in Portugal, without a Portuguese Cartão de Cidadão, who are EU citizens, have applied for or hold a residence permit, have applied for international protection, or have refugee/protection status. Check the official counter list and opening or appointment arrangements before travelling.

• Bring a passport or an EU-country identity document and proof of the eligible status: for example, the AIMA application receipt, residence title or municipal EU registration certificate. An appointment alone is not listed as the residence-application receipt.
• If that status document has no address or a different address, bring matching evidence such as a lease, loan-for-use agreement, utility bill, property-register certificate/code or landlord occupancy statement.
• A person applying for themselves authenticates with passport-linked CMD or eIDAS. If needed, CMD can be created with the passport at the counter. A representative has separate CMD/CC/eIDAS and power-of-attorney requirements; a parent or guardian applying for a minor must bring the minor and proof of the relationship.
• The service sends emails about submission to AIMA and the decision. Approval can cover all numbers, only some, or none: do not assume three numbers are issued immediately. Check assigned numbers in the gov.pt reserved area or app and keep the decision.

Check eligibility, documents and counters on gov.pt. Receiving an SNS number is not the same task as registering with a health centre or being assigned a family doctor. Ordinary NIF and NISS requests remain separate alternatives.

What the number actually is

The NIF has nine digits and stays the same when your address or residence status changes. Getting the number does not itself make you tax resident or open freelance activity. Later actions — taking work, buying property or starting taxable activity — can create obligations, so keep the taxpayer record accurate rather than treating a non-resident NIF as exemption from tax.

Registering as a taxpayer is obligatory for anyone, Portuguese or foreign, resident or not, who is subject to a Portuguese tax obligation or wants to exercise a right with the AT. In practice it gates far more than tax: employment contracts, bank accounts, leases, utilities and Social Security all ask for it.

The fiscal representative, in detail

For a person resident outside the qualifying exceptions who creates a Portuguese tax relationship — for example Portuguese property, vehicle or employment — AT gives 15 days to appoint a Portuguese fiscal representative or adopt an approved electronic-notification channel. This is optional for residents of the EU, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and Andorran citizens resident in Andorra. Nationality alone is not the test. LGT Article 19 recognises official electronic-notification systems, not just a contact email; cancelling an eligible channel may first require representation.

VAT has separate rules. CIVA Article 30 generally requires a representative for non-established taxable persons doing taxable Portuguese operations without a seat, establishment or domicile in another EU Member State, subject to its specific exceptions. AT instructs a covered third-country non-resident starting independent activity to appoint the VAT representative before opening activity. Do not extend that condition to every non-resident or treat electronic notifications as its replacement.

Appointing one can be done through the Portal das Finanças e-balcão — Registo Contribuinte › Identific › Representação Fiscal — and what you attach depends on who is asking:

• If you request it, attach a declaration of acceptance signed by the representative.
• If the representative requests it, attach the power of attorney you granted them.
• Alternatively, both attend a Serviço de Finanças or Loja do Cidadão; verify that the appointment covers the request and take the required identity documents.
• Any document in a foreign language must be submitted as a certified translation.

An ordinary fiscal representative is not liable for the represented person's income tax, but the VAT representative of a non-resident self-employed person can be jointly liable for VAT. Once you become Portuguese tax resident, update your tax address within the applicable 60-day deadline and review whether any representation should end.

Getting one before you arrive

You do not have to be in Portugal or tax resident. An authorised agent can make a non-resident request through e-balcão with the necessary identity, foreign-address and authority documents. Do not present this as an unauthenticated self-service form for anyone abroad. If an application is incomplete, follow AT's request for evidence and keep its response; do not create duplicate taxpayer requests to bypass the issue.

What it does not get you

• It is not proof of tax residence. CIRS Article 16 uses residence facts, including more than 183 days in a relevant 12-month period or, with less time, a home held in conditions indicating habitual residence. A job or family connection alone is not the statutory test.
• It does not automatically assign a NISS or SNS number, and is not immigration or work permission.
• It does not open activity as a freelancer. That is a separate declaration.
• It does not give you Portal das Finanças access on its own. You still need a password, Cartão de Cidadão or Chave Móvel Digital.

Keeping it useful

Keep your registered tax address current and ask suppliers to include your NIF on invoices intended for personal deductions. Article 78.º-B does allow a purchaser to communicate certain invoices originally issued without a NIF using the QR code or ATCUD, but relying on that correction route creates avoidable work and does not make every document eligible.

Once you have your NIF

The NIF is the gate, not the finish line. If you are going to invoice for your own work, the next step is to open atividade with Finanças — you cannot legally issue recibos verdes until you have. If you have moved to Portugal, keep the address on your NIF in step with where you live:how to change your fiscal address.

For access, see Portal das Finanças and Chave Móvel Digital. Check where credentials and notifications will arrive. Before opening a bank account, use the bank document checklist: a NIF alone does not guarantee acceptance. For a home move, use the admin moving checklist.