How a legal resident registers with Portugal’s Serviço Nacional de Saúde (SNS) and obtains the número de utente — eligibility, the required documents (residence permit + NIF; a NISS is NOT required), where and when the number is assigned, the free cost and the current taxas-moderadoras status — each fact dated and linked to its primary source.
| Item | Rule |
|---|---|
| Who can obtain an SNS número de utente | Any legal resident — a Portuguese national, OR a foreign national holding a residence permit (autorização de residência) — can obtain an SNS número de utente and access the public health service.A foreign national with a residence permit or work visa registers at the centro de saúde of their area of residence. A person legally in Portugal for fewer than 90 days without permanent residence may instead obtain a provisional número de utente via SNS 24 — see the provisional-registration fact. |
| Required documents (foreign national) | The residence permit (autorização de residência) — which supplies the number and validity — plus the Número de Identificação Fiscal (NIF), and any document proving health benefits the person is entitled to.The residence permit and the NIF are the documents the public-service pages list for a foreign national. A NISS (Social Security number) is NOT among the required documents — see the "NISS not required" fact. |
| NISS is NOT required to register for the SNS | A NISS (Número de Identificação da Segurança Social) is not a prerequisite for the SNS número de utente. The número de utente is granted on the basis of the residence permit (with the NIF), not the NISS. Retirees who do not work in Portugal generally do not need a NISS for healthcare.Foreigners MAY request the NIF, the NISS and the SNS número de utente together as a convenience (see the combined-request fact), but the SNS registration itself does not require the NISS. |
| Where to register | At the centro de saúde (health centre) of the freguesia / area where you live. If you do not know which centro de saúde covers your area, call SNS 24 on 808 24 24 24 (free). |
| When the número de utente is assigned | The número de utente is assigned when you first attend a public health unit — the centro de saúde of your area of residence, or a hospital — presenting the required documents. |
| Cost of registration | Free. Requesting the SNS número de utente and registering at the centro de saúde costs nothing. |
| Provisional número de utente (< 90 days, no permanent residence) | A foreign national living in Portugal for fewer than 90 days who does not yet have permanent residence may make a provisional registration. Contact Linha SNS 24 (808 24 24 24) for a provisional número de utente. |
| Combined NIF + NISS + SNS request (convenience) | A foreign national with an address in Portugal may request the NIF (tax number), the NISS (Social Security number) and the SNS número de utente at the same time. This is an optional convenience — the NISS is not a prerequisite for the SNS número de utente. |
Last verified: · Source: gov.pt — Migrantes: cuidados de saúde em Portugal
| Item | Status | Legal reference |
|---|---|---|
| Taxas moderadoras (user fees) — current status | Since 1 June 2022, taxas moderadoras were abolished across almost all SNS services — health-centre consultations, prescribed exams and analyses, and first and follow-up hospital consultations are free at the point of use. A taxa moderadora remains only for non-referred hospital emergency (urgência) attendances.Decreto-Lei n.º 37/2022 (in force 1 June 2022) removed taxas moderadoras from all SNS services except hospital emergency attendance without prior SNS referral (or admission to inpatient care via the emergency room). Verified against the SNS notice and the DR detail page for DL 37/2022. | Decreto-Lei n.º 37/2022, de 27 de maio |
Last verified: · Source: SNS — Fim das taxas moderadoras no SNS
| Item | Instrument | Legal reference |
|---|---|---|
| Lei de Bases da Saúde — Serviço Nacional de Saúde | The Lei de Bases da Saúde establishes the Serviço Nacional de Saúde as the central instrument for guaranteeing the right to health protection, universal in scope.Lei n.º 95/2019 (Lei de Bases da Saúde) was published 4 September 2019 and entered into force 3 November 2019. Cited at the instrument level for the SNS framework; the article-level conditions for foreigners’ access are detailed in Decreto-Lei n.º 113/2011. | Lei n.º 95/2019, de 4 de setembro |
| Estatuto do Serviço Nacional de Saúde | The Estatuto do SNS is the current statute organising the National Health Service and its network of care providers.Decreto-Lei n.º 52/2022 approved the new Estatuto do SNS (creating the Direção Executiva do SNS). Cited at the instrument level; linked to the DR consolidated text. | Decreto-Lei n.º 52/2022, de 4 de agosto |
| Access to SNS services by foreign nationals | The rules governing access to SNS services — including by foreign nationals resident in Portugal — are set out in Decreto-Lei n.º 113/2011 (acesso às prestações do SNS), which also historically governed the taxas moderadoras regime.Cited at the instrument level. The taxas-moderadoras values it regulated were abolished for almost all services by Decreto-Lei n.º 37/2022 (see the taxas-moderadoras fact). Article-level detail is not asserted here. | Decreto-Lei n.º 113/2011, de 29 de novembro |
Last verified: · Source: Diário da República — Lei n.º 95/2019 (Lei de Bases da Saúde)
Related: Healthcare in Portugal for expats · How to get a NISS in Portugal
