You need a NISS when you start working in Portugal. With a Cartão de Cidadão you already have one. Everyone else asks online, and it is free.
The NISS (Número de Identificação da Segurança Social) is the number that lets you use your rights and meet your duties at Segurança Social.
If you have a Cartão de Cidadão, you got it automatically. You don't need to ask.
Foreign citizens have to ask for it. So do Portuguese citizens who only have the old lifetime identity card.
The request asks you to prove your work situation. So the moment to ask is when you get a job or start working for yourself.
If you are hired, your employer can ask for your NISS. First the employer has to sign the work contract with you and report it on Segurança Social Direta.
You fill in a form online and attach scans of documents that are still valid.
If you are from the European Union, the European Economic Area or Switzerland, attach 1 of these:
If you are from any other country, attach all of these:
Foreign citizens also attach proof of their work situation, 1 of these:
And 1 proof that you have asked for your residence papers: for example, proof of a residence permit request.
Open the NISS request on the Segurança Social site
Its name is Pedido de NISS, Cidadão Estrangeiro ou Cidadão Nacional sem obrigatoriedade de ter Cartão de Cidadão.
Fill in the form, attach your documents and send it
Wait for a registered letter
It comes to the address you gave. It tells you that your NISS can be collected at a Segurança Social service desk.
Collect it with your valid identity document
You can book the visit on the SIGA platform, in the SigaApp or by phone.
Asking is free. There is no fixed time for Segurança Social to give you the number. You can follow your request on Segurança Social Direta.
Checked on 4 October 2026 against the official pages above.
Rules change. The official page is the one that counts.
Something out of date? Write to sakaloz.hello@gmail.com
You need the NIF to buy goods or services, sign contracts or open a bank account. Here is who has to ask for one, and how.
Your first weeksFrom an EU country, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Andorra or Switzerland, and staying more than 3 months? You have to register at the town hall where you live.
Getting aroundUp to the age of 23, the monthly pass for all public transport in the Lisbon metropolitan area costs nothing. You don't have to be a student. You do need a Portuguese NIF.
Sakaloz is free. Verify once that you study in Portugal, then show one code at the counter.