What’s changing
From late July 2026, anyone starting a regularisation process at AIMA will walk out with a working NISS (Número de Identificação da Segurança Social) — no separate trip to a Social Security office required. Starting in late July, immigrant citizens initiating their regularisation process at the Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum (AIMA) will automatically receive their Social Security Identification Number (NISS). It sounds like a small technical fix. For anyone who’s actually sat through Portugal’s immigration paperwork, it’s a genuinely welcome one.
Why this mattered so much
Until now, the two systems simply didn’t talk to each other. This measure eliminates the need for individuals to subsequently visit a Social Security service counter to obtain the document, forming part of the Social Security digital transformation program that has been under development since 2025, with the goal of simplifying administrative procedures, reducing bureaucracy, and alleviating pressure on in-person service counters.
Luís Farrajota, president of Portugal’s Social Security IT Institute, described the old routine bluntly to Público: “a AIMA diz que precisa do NISS e do NIF e manda as pessoas bater à porta dos diversos organismos” — AIMA tells people they need the NISS and NIF and sends them off to knock on the doors of various agencies. His fix: “O que fizemos foi criar uma ligação entre os dois serviços, o que permite à agência introduzir a identificação da pessoa e nós atribuímos-lhe o NISS em tempo real, sem que a pessoa tenha que ir à Segurança Social” — a direct link between the two services means AIMA enters the person’s details and Social Security issues the NISS in real time.
The scale of the problem is what makes this worth reporting. Data from 2025 shows approximately 250,000 people visited Social Security counters solely to request the NISS—and had to return later to collect it—thereby overburdening in-person services. That’s a quarter of a million duplicate appointments in a single year, for a document that should take minutes to issue.
How it will work in practice
The mechanics are straightforward on paper. The new solution stems directly from the creation of a digital link between AIMA and Social Security — AIMA enters the citizen’s identification details, and Social Security assigns the number in real time, thereby avoiding additional trips. In effect, the NISS becomes a byproduct of the AIMA appointment itself rather than a separate errand you have to complete before AIMA will move your file forward.
For anyone who already holds a NISS but never linked it to their AIMA case — a common snag for people who applied for the number independently before their residence appointment — the agency’s existing online contact form still applies: choose “Portal das Renovações” as the subject and the relevant sub-type to register or correct the number, and AIMA says it updates records within two working days.
One caveat worth flagging: this streamlines the paperwork, not the underlying eligibility rules. Portuguese Social Security tightened its criteria in late 2025, moving away from what officials called indiscriminate automatic issuance, and a work contract or equivalent activity remains the substantive basis for getting a NISS in most cases. The July change removes a physical bottleneck; it doesn’t hand out numbers to people who wouldn’t otherwise qualify.
The bigger picture
This sits inside a wider digital push at Social Security that also includes a new WhatsApp contact channel for scheduling appointments, launched earlier in July, with plans to eventually handle document exchanges through the same channel. AIMA itself has been under pressure for months over processing backlogs and inconsistent decisions, so a fix that visibly cuts a step out of the regularisation process is a rare bit of good administrative news for foreign residents navigating the system.
What to watch next
The exact rollout date within “late July” hasn’t been pinned down publicly, and details on which appointment types are covered first — new Autorização de Residência conversions, renewals, or both — may firm up once AIMA publishes guidance on its own site. If you have a regularisation appointment booked for late July or August, it’s worth checking your NISS status via AIMA’s contact form beforehand and bringing proof of a work contract or activity if you have one, since that remains the underlying basis for issuance. For the full picture on residence permits and what AIMA requires at each stage, see our visas hub.
Anyone with an appointment already scheduled should treat this as a bonus rather than a guarantee — outcomes still depend on AIMA and Social Security getting the technical integration right on day one, and early teething problems with new government IT links are far from unheard of in Portugal.
Sources
This article was produced with AI assistance and editorial oversight in line with our editorial policy. It is general information, not legal or tax advice.