Moving to Portugal
How to get a NIF in Portugal
You can request a NIF yourself at a tax office in Portugal, or authorise someone in Portugal to submit the request for you. The paperwork differs slightly, and some non-residents have follow-up tax obligations after the number is issued.
A NIF is a nine-digit Portuguese tax number. The Autoridade Tributária e Aduaneira (AT), the Portuguese Tax and Customs Authority, issues it free of charge. A Portuguese Citizen Card, Portugal’s national identity card, already includes its holder’s number. Foreign nationals without one can request a NIF in person or authorise someone in Portugal to apply for them.
Can you go to a tax office in Portugal yourself?
Apply in person
Book an appointment, then take the required documents to a local Tax Authority office or to a participating public-service centre.
Go to the in-person stepsAsk someone in Portugal to apply for you
Authorise someone in Portugal to submit the request from their own Tax Authority online account. The formal terms for this person are proxy or legal representative.
Go to the outside-Portugal stepsDocuments you need
For every applicant
- Valid civil identification, normally a passport.
- Proof of the foreign address if the address does not appear on the identification document.
If you apply in person
- Take the identification and proof of address listed above as original documents or authenticated copies. A simple copy is accepted only when shown with the original.
- For a third-country national, take a passport showing a qualifying entry visa for Portugal or another EU country, unless the holder is exempt from a visa for the Schengen area.
If someone applies for you
- Copies of the applicant’s identification and foreign-address evidence.
- Identification for the person submitting the request.
- A power of attorney that authorises the NIF request. A power issued to an identified lawyer or solicitor is exempt from the AT signature-recognition requirement; other mandates must meet that rule.
The first tax record uses the applicant’s foreign address and lists the holder as a non-resident. That does not determine the holder’s right to live in Portugal or make them a Portuguese tax resident.
Apply in person
Book the appointment
Use the AT appointment service or call +351 217 206 707 on a working day between 9am and 7pm. Choose the service for a NIF request or an address change by a person without a Citizen Card.
Choose the office
A Serviço de Finanças is a local AT office. A Loja do Cidadão is a public-service centre with several public bodies in one place; only choose one that lists the relevant AT service.
Take the documents
Bring the identification and address evidence listed above. Take originals or authenticated copies, plus the qualifying entry evidence if the third-country rule applies.
Complete the request
Present the documents at the appointment. If the AT accepts them, it issues the NIF and adds the foreign address to the holder’s tax record. Keep the issued document.
Apply from outside Portugal
Someone authorised to act for you can submit the request from Portugal. For this request, that person becomes your proxy or legal representative. They use their own account on Portal das Finanças, the AT’s online portal, and send the file through e-balcão, the portal’s online request and support service.
Choose the person who will apply
The person needs Portal das Finanças access and authority to submit this NIF request. Their role ends with this act unless the power of attorney grants wider powers.
Prepare the power of attorney
Identify the applicant, the authorised person and the act being permitted. Follow the AT signature-recognition rule unless the mandate is issued to an identified lawyer or solicitor in that capacity.
Assemble the file
Give the authorised person copies of the applicant’s identification and foreign-address evidence. They add their own identification and the power of attorney.
Submit through e-balcão
In e-balcão, choose Registo Contribuinte, then Identific, then Atrib/Alter NIF-Singulares. If the AT accepts the file, it issues the NIF and creates the tax record with the applicant’s foreign address. The authorised person should send the issued record to the applicant.
04 / Cost
What a NIF costs
The AT does not charge to assign a NIF, although a lawyer, solicitor, moving service or other intermediary may charge for preparing or submitting the request. That payment covers a private service rather than the number.
05 / After the NIF
After you receive your NIF
The NIF is permanent, but the holder’s recorded address, tax status and duty to have a fiscal representative can change.
- NIF issued at a foreign address
- No fiscal representative is required solely because the number has been assigned.
- A new Portuguese tax relationship
- A resident outside the EU or EEA who later acquires a Portuguese tax relationship must appoint a fiscal representative in Portugal or join an accepted electronic-notification channel within 15 days.
- Residence in the EU or EEA
- For these residents, appointing a fiscal representative is optional. The current AT procedure applies the same rule to Andorra.
- Starting self-employed work
- A third-country resident must appoint an eligible Portuguese VAT representative before beginning the work. Electronic notices do not replace that duty.
- Becoming tax resident in Portugal
- Update the address and tax status held by the AT within 60 days of meeting a residence test; the NIF itself does not change.
A person normally becomes a Portuguese tax resident after spending more than 183 days in Portugal during the relevant 12-month period, or by having a home that they intend to keep and occupy as their usual home. The AT lists owning Portuguese property or a registered vehicle, working under a Portuguese contract, and beginning self-employed work as examples of Portuguese tax dealings that can trigger the third-country duty.
06 / Translations
Documents that need translation
Paperwork in another language may need a certified Portuguese copy. The AT procedure says a notary, a recognised chamber of commerce and industry, a lawyer or a solicitor can certify the translated copy against the original.
This rule applies only to the proof being submitted; it does not require the applicant to hire one of those professionals to request the NIF.
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