NISS and SNS number in Portugal: the Espaço Cidadão desk that issues NIF, NISS and utente together

You can get your NISS and your SNS número de utente in Portugal in a single request, together with your NIF, at one of the 12 Espaço Cidadão desks that run the combined service. You need a Portuguese address and a residence authorisation granted or requested (or EU citizenship, or an international protection case). As of 17 September 2026 the service still runs at 12 desks. Everywhere else, each number has its own counter: Finanças for the NIF, Segurança Social for the NISS and a public health centre for the utente number. We cover both routes here, and every step matches the official pages as they stood on 26 September 2026.

Can you get the NIF, NISS and SNS number in one visit?

Yes, if you qualify and you go to one of the participating desks. The service is called "Números de identificação para cidadãos estrangeiros de uma só vez" in the Simplex programme, and it opened on 18 March 2025, as the Instituto dos Registos e do Notariado (IRN) announced. It is for foreigners with a Portuguese address and no Portuguese Cartão de Cidadão, in four cases:

1. You have requested or already obtained a residence authorisation.
2. You are an EU national.
3. You have applied for international protection.
4. You hold refugee status or international protection.

Parents, guardians or legal representatives can file for a minor. If you send a representative, they need a power of attorney, and copies of your identity documents must then be certified by a consulate or carry a Hague Apostille. That is slow and fiddly, so we would go in person if you can. AIMA, the immigration agency, is the body responsible for the service.

Which Espaço Cidadão desks handle the combined request?

Twelve desks, in nine municipalities, since the Portuguese government announcement of 3 June 2025. IRN listed ten at the launch in March 2025, so the count has grown once. The government says it will grow again, without a date.

In March 2025 IRN said the service needed no prior appointment ("sem marcação prévia"). The current gov.pt service page says nothing about booking either way. We would not assume a walk-in still works: check the desk's opening hours before you travel across town.

What should you bring to the Espaço Cidadão?

Bring your passport and an activated Chave Móvel Digital, the two items AIMA named for this service in March 2025. The rest of the list follows from the eligibility rules.

1. Passport, the original.
2. An activated Chave Móvel Digital (the Portuguese digital signature linked to your phone). AIMA then sends the numbers by email or through the Portal Único de Serviços Digitais, so give an email address you actually read.
3. The document that proves your case: the residence authorisation, or the proof that you applied for it, or your EU identity document, or your international protection paperwork.
4. Your Portuguese address, since the service is only open to foreigners "com morada em Portugal".
5. If a representative goes for you: the power of attorney and the certified or apostilled copies.

How do you get a NISS if the one visit desk is not an option?

Request it online from Segurança Social, free of charge. You file the request through the form on the Segurança Social portal, and the official wording is plain: "o pedido do NISS é gratuito". Since 13 August 2025 you can request and obtain the number fully online, with your identity checked by biometrics such as facial recognition. If you are a citizen of a non-EU country, you attach these documents:

1. Identification: passport, plus the work visa or the residence authorisation (temporary or permanent), or another civil identity document from your country.
2. Proof of your work situation, such as an employment contract or your registration as self-employed.
3. Proof of your residence authorisation, or of your application for it.

Your employer can also file the request when you start a job. A registered letter may tell you to collect the number at a Segurança Social service desk. The official pages give no processing time, so plan your first invoice or payslip with some slack. If you work for yourself, our first year on recibos verdes explains what the NISS triggers next.

How do you get an SNS número de utente on your own?

Go to a public health unit, usually the centro de saúde for your address. A foreigner receives the number "na primeira vez que se dirijam a uma unidade de saúde pública", for example a health centre or a hospital. As of 23 June 2026, any foreigner with legal residence in Portugal can obtain it.

Two points trip people up. First, the number alone does not mean the SNS pays for your care. Coverage depends on a registration that includes your identity document, your NIF, a full Portuguese address and a valid residence authorisation. Second, you do not need a NISS first. The UK government's guidance for British residents says to take your passport and residence permit to the health centre and states that "you don't need a social security number to register for healthcare". So we would not wait for the NISS before going. For clinical or admin questions, call the Linha Saúde 24 on 808 24 24 24.

Once you are registered, the next question is usually a family doctor. Our post on using the SNS without a family doctor covers that step.

Where does the NIF fit in?

Get the NIF first when you apply number by number, because the health registration and most banks ask for it. The request is free. You make it at a Finanças office after booking through the tax contact centre on 217 206 707, weekdays from 9:00 to 19:00. There is also the e-balcão route on the Portal das Finanças, filed by a legal representative. The documents depend on your case: a non-EU national shows a passport plus an AIMA residence document or proof of accommodation. We compare the paid remote route and its costs in our NIF post, and we cover whether a non-resident still needs a fiscal representative in our fiscal representative post.

Which route fits your situation?

Use the one visit desk when you live near one of the nine municipalities and hold, or have requested, your residence authorisation. Use the separate routes in every other case, and start with the NIF.

With the three numbers in hand, the bank account is your next step: our comparison of ActivoBank, Millennium and Revolut lists what each bank asks for. If you are still weighing whether you can stay in Portugal at all, run your passport through Visa Check first.

Updated on 25 September 2026. Rules and prices change: confirm with the official source linked above before you act.