Portugal · NISS · Social security
NISS in Portugal: What It Is and How to Get Your Number
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The NISS (Número de Identificação de Segurança Social) is Portugal’s 11-digit social security number. It identifies you to the Segurança Social, which records your contributions and benefits under it. You need one to work in Portugal, as an employee or self-employed. It is different from the NIF, Portugal’s tax number, and it never expires.
What the NISS is used for in Portugal
The NISS is your way into Portugal’s contribution system: it is the number under which your employer declares your salary and the contributions withheld from it. You don’t need one to sign your employment contract — if you don’t have a NISS yet, your employer can apply for it on your behalf. What the law requires is that your hiring be reported to the Segurança Social by your first day of work. That is why the NISS almost always comes at the very start of a move to Portugal that involves work.
In practice, your NISS is used to:
- Register your employment. Your employer reports your hiring to the Segurança Social, quoting your NISS, by your first day of work. From the contract start date, each month’s pay is recorded under your NISS — and those records make up your contribution history.
- Process monthly contributions. Contributions — 11% paid by the worker and 23.75% paid by the employer, under the general scheme for employees — are linked to your NISS.
- Meet your obligations as a self-employed worker. Recibos verdes (green receipts, the invoices self-employed workers issue) are issued on the Portal das Finanças, using your NIF. It is with the NISS that a self-employed worker files the quarterly income declaration in Segurança Social Direta (in January, April, July, and October) and pays contributions, which are monthly.
- Claim social benefits. Your entitlement to unemployment benefit, sickness benefit, parental benefit and, later, an old-age pension — and how much you receive — depends on the pay recorded under your NISS. Child benefit (abono de família) is also claimed with the NISS, but it does not depend on your contributions: it depends on household income and the child’s age.
- Access Segurança Social Direta. The online portal where you check your contribution history, declare income, and request documents uses the NISS as your username.
- Prove you are in good standing. Public tenders, support schemes, and some residence procedures ask for a contribution status statement (declaração de situação contributiva), issued from your NISS.
Note what the NISS does not do: it is not a residence permit, it does not by itself give you the right to work in Portugal, and it does not replace a visa. Nor is it your SNS user number (número de utente, your ID in Portugal’s national health service): that is assigned separately, the first time you contact a health facility, and does not depend on the NISS. The NISS is the administrative record that makes paying contributions possible — your legal basis for being in the country comes from another document.
What the number looks like
The NISS is a sequence of 11 digits, written without spaces or dashes. The first digit shows the type of holder: it is 1 for individuals — Portuguese and foreign alike, with no distinction — and 2 for legal entities, such as companies. The last digit is a check digit, calculated from the ones before it, which catches most copying errors. If a form rejects your number, check it digit by digit before assuming there is a problem with your registration.
To see where the number appears on the official letter, look at our example of the NISS document.
NISS vs NIF, NUSS and NIE: what’s the difference
It is the most common mix-up among people arriving in Portugal, and it costs time: these are two different numbers, issued by two different bodies, for two different purposes. If you are moving to work, you need both.
The NIF (Número de Identificação Fiscal) is your taxpayer number. It is issued by the Autoridade Tributária e Aduaneira (the Portuguese tax authority) and is used for anything involving taxes or contracts: opening a bank account, signing a lease, buying a car, filing your IRS (income tax) return. It is usually the first number a foreigner gets — even without living in Portugal — and it can be requested remotely, through a representative holding a power of attorney.
The NISS is your social security number. It is assigned by the Instituto da Segurança Social (the Social Security Institute) and identifies you in everything to do with social security: contributions, benefits, and your pension. To get one, you need a link to the Segurança Social — in the vast majority of cases, work in Portugal — so the application generally requires proof of that activity.
Two Spanish numbers add to the confusion, especially if you have lived or worked in Spain. The NUSS is Spain’s social security number, the counterpart of the NISS — our guide to Spain’s social security number (NUSS) explains it. The NIE is Spain’s foreigner identification number, which also works as the Spanish tax number — see NIE vs NIF in Spain. Neither replaces the Portuguese numbers if you work in Portugal.
| NIF (Portugal) | NISS (Portugal) | NUSS (Spain) | NIE (Spain) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Número de Identificação Fiscal | Número de Identificação de Segurança Social | Número de la Seguridad Social | Número de Identidad de Extranjero |
| Issued by | Autoridade Tributária e Aduaneira | Instituto da Segurança Social | Tesorería General de la Seguridad Social (TGSS) | Policía Nacional |
| Used for | Taxes, contracts, banking, renting | Contributions, social benefits, pension | Contributions, social benefits, pension — in Spain | Identifying foreigners in Spain; also serves as the Spanish tax number (NIF) |
| Format | 9 digits | 11 digits | 12 digits | X, Y or Z + 7 digits + a control letter |
| Closest counterpart | NIE (Spain), in its role as tax number | NUSS (Spain) | NISS (Portugal) | NIF (Portugal) |
| When you need it | As soon as you have any economic tie to Portugal | As soon as you start working in Portugal | Before you start working in Spain | As soon as you have economic, professional or social dealings in Spain |
| Requires proof of work | No | Generally yes — an employment contract, an início de atividade (self-employment registration) with receipts, or a certidão permanente (company registry certificate) | No — a job offer is not required | No |
| Requires residence | No — non-residents can get a NIF | Not necessarily — non-EU: a residence permit or residence application, or a visa; EU citizens: an ID document is enough | No — but you normally need an NIE first | No — non-residents can get an NIE |
| Validity | Permanent | Permanent | Permanent | Permanent |
The recommended order is to get your NIF first. The NISS form asks for it if you already have one — and if you apply for the NISS as a self-employed worker, it is mandatory, because registering your activity with the Finanças (the tax office) requires a NIF. Your employer also needs it to report your salary to the Finanças. If you don’t have a NIF yet, you can get your Portuguese NIF online before you deal with the NISS.
A practical note: the two numbers are not interchangeable, and there is no public lookup that returns one from the other. If you lose your NISS, recover it through the Segurança Social; if you lose your NIF, through the Finanças.
Common situations: which one is yours
The NISS process changes depending on your situation. These are the cases we see most often.
You’ve been hired by a Portuguese company
Your employer can apply for the NISS on your behalf, through Segurança Social Direta, when reporting your hiring. In practice, many companies — especially smaller ones — don’t do this for foreign workers, or leave it until the last minute. If your contract has a set start date, it is worth moving ahead with the application in parallel.
You’ll work as a freelancer or digital nomad
If you are going to work for yourself, you register your activity with the Finanças (the so-called início de atividade) and issue your recibos verdes on the Portal das Finanças, using your NIF. The Finanças reports the start of your activity to the Segurança Social, but as a foreigner you have to apply for the NISS online, attaching a copy of your início de atividade and copies of the receipts or invoices you have issued. If you are a digital nomad with an employment contract with a foreign company, you do not register an activity: the proof of work accepted for the NISS is that contract.
If this is the first time you are registered as self-employed, contributions are only due from the first day of the 12th month after you start your activity — the so-called first-year exemption. You can ask to start contributing earlier, and months without contributions do not count towards your retirement pension. From then on, you file a quarterly income declaration and pay contributions every month.
You’re an EU citizen
You don’t need a residence permit or a visa. If you stay in Portugal for more than three months, you have to apply for the CRUE — the Certificado de Registo de Cidadão da União Europeia (EU citizen registration certificate) — at the câmara municipal (city hall) where you live. For the NISS application, the Segurança Social also accepts your national ID document or your passport, together with proof of work; if you already have the CRUE, attach it to the application.
You’re a non-EU citizen
You need your passport and a document proving your residence status: your residence permit (front and back), a valid residence or work visa — including job-seeker and digital nomad visas — or, if you are still waiting for the card, the receipt for your residence permit application. That receipt is accepted: you don’t have to wait for the physical card to apply for the NISS.
You’re a student starting an internship or a job
Studying in Portugal does not require a NISS. Working or doing a paid internship does — even part-time, even if the internship is short. The rule follows the activity, not your student status.
You’ve worked in Portugal before
If that work was declared to the Segurança Social, you already have a NISS and should not apply for another: registration is for life and any new coverage is linked to the same number, so a second application is unnecessary and only slows things down. Recover the number you already have through Segurança Social Direta, on an old payslip, or at a service desk.
You’ll work as a domestic worker
The general Segurança Social scheme applies, with its own rules: by default, contributions are calculated on a conventional pay figure indexed to the IAS (Indexante dos Apoios Sociais, the social support index) — per hour, per day or, on a full-time monthly contract, an amount equal to the IAS. On a full-time monthly contract, the worker and the employer can agree in writing to pay contributions on the actual salary, never below the minimum wage — which also gives entitlement to unemployment benefit. The NISS is just as mandatory, and the process for getting it is the same.
The mistakes that hold up the process most
Almost every returned application we see falls into one of four cases: illegible or incomplete documents — PDF, JPG, or PNG files up to 3 MB are accepted, but the details must be readable, the edges of the document visible, and the image free of glare, and a two-sided document such as a residence permit is uploaded as two files; missing proof of work — the employment contract already signed, the início de atividade together with the receipts or invoices, or the certidão permanente, as applicable, and not a promise of a job; a self-employed application without a NIF, which the form makes mandatory for that type of application; and a second application from someone who already has a NISS, which does not generate a new number — the NISS is unique. An incomplete application only delays the assignment, and the Segurança Social has no set deadline for assigning a NISS — which is why it pays to get it right the first time.
What to do after you receive your NISS
The number does nothing on its own — what counts is what gets linked to it. Once you have it:
- Activate Segurança Social Direta. At
seg-social.pt, choose Iniciar sessão (Log in) and then Registar (Register), and enter your NISS and date of birth. The Segurança Social sends you a verification code: by text message or email, immediately, if you have those contact details on file; otherwise, by letter to your registered address, usually within 8 business days. Use that code to activate the account and set your password. If you have the Chave Móvel Digital (Portugal’s Digital Mobile Key), you can log in with it directly. - Give your NISS to your employer. Your employer uses it to report your hiring to the Segurança Social, which the law requires by your first day of work. Check that the start date reported is the date you actually started.
- Check that your contributions show up. After the 20th of the month following your first salary, check in Segurança Social Direta that your pay has been declared. Until an employment relationship is reported and regularised, that time does not appear in your contribution history — and it does not count towards unemployment benefit or your pension.
- Register at your local health centre (centro de saúde). Bring your ID document, your NIF, and your valid residence permit (if you are an EU citizen, your registration certificate), and give your address in Portugal. If you don’t have an SNS user number yet, you are assigned one at that point. The NISS is not required to register.
- Keep your proof of registration. Proof of registration with the Segurança Social is among the documents AIMA (the Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum) asks for in several types of residence permit. As for the number itself, you’ll be asked for it whenever you claim a social benefit, and by your employer whenever you start a new job.
If you lose the number, you don’t need to apply for it again: it is in Segurança Social Direta (you can log in with the Chave Móvel Digital), on any payslip, and on the hiring declaration your employer must give you.
NISS registration for expats, employees, and the self-employed
Our team helps expats, employees, and self-employed professionals apply for a NISS online in Portugal without unnecessary delays or language barriers. We handle the process directly with the Portuguese Social Security authorities, ensuring your registration is secure, fast, and fully compliant.
The NISS (Número de Identificação de Segurança Social) is the official Portuguese Social Security Number. By obtaining it, you are officially registered in the Portuguese social security system and can benefit from the country’s welfare programmes and legal protections.
You will receive your NISS in PDF format by email and WhatsApp.
How to apply for NISS
- Submit your application
- Verify your identity
- Make a signature in the application to e-sign it in your form
- Receive your NISS
Please note
The issuance of a NISS in Portugal typically takes 3–4 weeks and is fully dependent on the processing time of the Segurança Social. Once the Social Security authorities confirm that your NISS has been issued, our team guarantees to collect and deliver it to you within a few days. We ensure that no delays occur on our side — the timeframe depends solely on the validation process by Segurança Social.
Requesting a NISS from the Segurança Social directly is free of charge. If you already have a NISS but cannot find the number, call the Segurança Social line on +351 210 545 400 or +351 300 502 502 (working days, 9:00–18:00), or ask at any Social Security desk.
Required documents
Passport scan
The only accepted format is a scanned copy — photos are not accepted.
Portuguese NIF
The NIF is the Portuguese tax identification number issued by the Tax Department. It’s required for most financial activities in Portugal. If you don’t have it yet, you can get it online in 3 days with our online NIF service.
Proof of residence in Portugal
- For NON-EU — Portuguese residence permit (both sides) or receipt of residence application (Recibo de comprovativo de pedido de concessão de autorização de residência).
- For EU — CRUE (Certificado do Registo de Cidadão da UE).
Proof of work
- Employed — Work contract with Portuguese company.
- Freelance — registration of activity (Início de Atividade).
- Company owner — Certidão Permanente.
Who needs a NISS in Portugal
All employees, self-employed individuals, and residents in Portugal who wish to access social security benefits are required to have a NISS. It is also mandatory for those seeking legal employment, ensuring compliance with Portuguese labour laws.
- As employees.
- As self-employed workers.
- As domestic workers.
Benefits of having a NISS in Portugal
The NISS allows expats and residents to access Portugal’s social security system, including healthcare, unemployment benefits, and pensions.
Having a NISS is essential for proper tax registration and to benefit from various social security tax incentives.
It facilitates smoother integration into the Portuguese social and economic systems.
These advantages make the NISS crucial for anyone planning to live and work in Portugal.
FAQ
What is the NISS in Portugal?
The NISS is the Número de Identificação de Segurança Social, Portugal's social security number. The Segurança Social assigns it once, it never expires, and it identifies you for contributions and benefits such as sickness, parental and unemployment benefit and a pension. You need it to work legally in Portugal as an employee, a self-employed worker or a domestic worker. It is separate from the NIF, which identifies you to the tax authority.
What does a NISS number look like?
A NISS is 11 digits long, written without spaces or dashes. The first digit shows the type of holder: 1 for individuals, Portuguese and foreign alike, and 2 for legal entities such as companies. The last digit is a check digit calculated from the others, so a single mistyped digit usually makes the number invalid. You will find it on your NISS assignment letter, on your payslips and in Segurança Social Direta.
NISS vs NIF: what is the difference?
They are two different numbers from two different bodies. The NIF (Número de Identificação Fiscal) is your tax number, issued by the Autoridade Tributária, and you need it for taxes, bank accounts, leases and contracts, even as a non-resident. The NISS is your social security number, assigned by the Segurança Social, and you need it once you work in Portugal. Most people moving there for work need both, and should get the NIF first.
Is the NISS the same as Spain's NUSS or NIE?
No. The NUSS (Número de la Seguridad Social) is Spain's social security number, issued by the Tesorería General de la Seguridad Social. It is the Spanish counterpart of the NISS, but the two systems are separate, and a NUSS does not replace a NISS if you work in Portugal. The NIE is Spain's foreigner identification number, which also serves as the Spanish tax number, so it is closer to Portugal's NIF than to the NISS.
Can I look up my NISS with my NIF?
No. There is no public lookup that turns a NIF into a NISS, because different bodies assign them. If you already have a NISS, you will find it in Segurança Social Direta (you can log in with the Chave Móvel Digital without knowing the number), on any payslip, on the hiring declaration your employer must give you, or on your NISS assignment certificate. You can also ask at a Segurança Social desk, bringing an ID document.
How do I get a NISS in Portugal online?
You can apply yourself through the Segurança Social's online form, which is free, or have E-Residence prepare and submit the application for you. Either way you need your passport, your NIF if you have one (it is mandatory for a self-employed application), proof of your residence status and proof of work, such as an employment contract. Assigning the number typically takes 3–4 weeks, and there is no official deadline.
Do I need a Portuguese address to apply?
You need to give an address in Portugal on the application. It can be your own home, a friend's address, a hotel or a hostel, and you do not have to prove it. Use an address where post will reach you: if your phone number and email are not on file, the Segurança Social Direta activation code is sent by letter to the registered address.
Can I work in Portugal without a NISS?
You can sign your contract before you have one, but you cannot work without being registered. Your employer must report your hiring to the Segurança Social by your first day of work, and can request a NISS for you if you do not have one. Until your work is reported under a NISS, your contributions are not recorded, and that time does not count towards unemployment benefit or your pension.
Do students need a NISS?
Only if they work. Studying in Portugal does not require a NISS, but a job or a paid internship does, even part-time or short-term: the rule follows the activity, not your student status. International students who start working need the same documents as other applicants, including proof of residence status and the employment or internship contract as proof of work.
Does the NISS expire?
No. The NISS is assigned once and stays with you for life, even if you leave Portugal and come back years later. If you have worked in Portugal before and that work was declared, you already have a NISS: do not apply again, because a second application does not create a new number. Recover your existing number through Segurança Social Direta, an old payslip or a service desk.
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Reviewed by: E-Residence Team · Licence No. 62802L · Author: Dina Fortuna, Head of Customer Support · Last updated:
This page offers general guidance on the Número de Identificação de Segurança Social (NISS) and does not constitute legal advice. The contribution rates and procedures described reflect Portuguese Social Security rules as of the last-updated date shown above and may change. For your specific situation, check with the Instituto da Segurança Social or a qualified professional.
Official sources
- Instituto da Segurança Social — Apply for a NISS (gov.pt)
- Segurança Social Direta
- Código dos Regimes Contributivos — Lei n.º 110/2009 (Diário da República)
- Autoridade Tributária e Aduaneira — Portal das Finanças
- Seguridad Social (Spain) — Affiliation and the social security number (seg-social.es)
- Policía Nacional (Spain) — NIE assignment (sede.policia.gob.es)