Key figures — as of 2026-08-01: NISS now assigned in real time during AIMA appointments — no separate Segurança Social visit required — measure took effect end of July 2026; 250,000 people went to Segurança Social counters in 2025 just to request and later collect a NISS; the fix runs on a new direct data link between AIMA's and Segurança Social's IT systems, part of a digital-transformation programme running since 2025.
The bottleneck that finally got fixed
Foreigners regularising their status in Portugal have spent years bouncing between agencies for two numbers — a NIF from Finanças and a NISS from Segurança Social — before AIMA would move their file forward. That second trip is now gone. From July 2026, the assignment of the Social Security Identification Number (NISS) becomes automatic for immigrants who go to AIMA to regularise their migratory situation, according to Público, and the change is now live at AIMA service points.
The mechanics are simple but overdue. The president of the Social Security Institute of Informatics, Luís Farrajota, explained that currently when an immigrant goes to AIMA to regularise, AIMA tells them they need the NISS and NIF and sends people to knock on the doors of various agencies — but the two services created a direct link so AIMA can enter the person's identification and Social Security assigns the NISS in real time, without the person needing to go to Social Security.
Why 250,000 people mattered
This wasn't a marginal inconvenience. In 2025 alone, 250,000 people went to Social Security counters to request the NISS and later had to return to collect it, overloading services. That's a structural jam affecting not just newcomers but every Portuguese resident who needed a counter appointment for something else entirely.
GrowIN's read on the numbers: if that 250,000-person cohort each made the two separate trips the old system demanded, that's roughly half a million in-person counter visits a year tied up in a single administrative handoff — appointments that now simply don't need to exist. Even shaving one visit per applicant frees enormous capacity at Segurança Social desks for everything else people need from that office: pension queries, sickness benefit claims, contribution disputes.
Part of a wider digital push
The NISS fix sits inside a broader modernisation effort. The idea is to move people away from in-person service and let them resolve their main problems through digital channels or by phone — that's the goal of the "digital transformation" programme under way since 2025. A related piece landed alongside it: since the start of the month, appointment booking for in-person, phone or video call service has been available via WhatsApp. Officials have signalled that channel will eventually handle more than scheduling — including document exchange with Social Security, with the citizen's authorisation.
What this means in practice
For anyone converting a D7, D8 or Startup Visa into a residence permit, or renewing an existing one, the NISS should now simply appear as part of the AIMA appointment rather than as a follow-up errand. That matters because a missing NISS has historically stalled other steps — opening the way to formal employment contracts, registering as a freelancer (recibos verdes), or accessing Segurança Social healthcare and benefit entitlements once a residence permit is in hand. Applicants still need a NIF from Finanças first, and AIMA had already been flagging, as recently as January 2026, that residence renewals require a correctly registered NISS on file — this update simply removes the manual detour to get one.
GrowIN Portugal Editorial's take: for the first time, getting legal in Portugal no longer means treating a Social Security number like a separate bureaucratic quest.
What to watch next
The change applies specifically to people going through AIMA for regularisation — it's worth confirming at your own appointment that the live assignment is functioning, since national rollouts of this kind sometimes lag in smaller AIMA offices before reaching full coverage. It's also unclear yet whether the same real-time link will extend to people applying for a NISS through other routes, such as freelancers registering início de atividade without an AIMA process attached. Anyone with an appointment already booked should still bring proof of address and passport/residence documentation as usual, since AIMA has separately been pushing applicants to keep those records current.
For the fuller picture on what comes before and after this step — NIF, tax residency, and the permits it feeds into — see our visas hub, and get in touch via services if you'd like help navigating an AIMA appointment or renewal.
Outcomes still depend on AIMA and Segurança Social processing your case correctly, and applicants should confirm current procedures directly with AIMA before their appointment.