The NISS — Número de Identificação da Segurança Social — is the number that opens your file with Portuguese social security. Employers declare you under it, contributions are booked to it, sick pay, parental leave and one day the pension are paid against it. Portuguese citizens get it automatically with the citizen card; a foreign resident has to ask for it. Since the process moved online, there are three ways to do so.
- Online only — the request is made through Segurança Social's service, not at a counter
- Three routes: yourself, a legal representative, or the employer that is hiring you
- Free; the number is for life and follows you from job to job
- Not needed if you hold a Portuguese citizen card — the NISS is assigned with it
Who can ask, and how
The request is open to foreign citizens, to Portuguese citizens who still hold the old lifetime identity card, to a legal representative acting for the foreign citizen, and to an employer that is hiring one. The employer route has a condition: the employment contract must be signed first and the employment reported on Segurança Social Direta — only then is the NISS assigned. In every case the file is identity (passport or residence document), the NIF and, depending on the route, the residence document or the employment contract.
1. Get the NIF first
Social security cross-checks the tax number. Without a NIF the request does not go through; the three-numbers page explains how to obtain it, by proxy if you are still abroad.
2. Choose the route
Starting a job: let the employer request it once the contract is signed. Self-employed or not yet working: request it yourself, or through a representative with a power of attorney.
3. Submit online
Identity document, NIF, residence document or contract, uploaded through the Segurança Social service; a confirmation arrives by e-mail with the number.
4. Activate Segurança Social Direta
With the NISS you register on the online portal, where contributions, declarations and benefits are managed.
What happens next
An employee is enrolled by the employer, who withholds 11 % of the salary and adds 23,75 % on top (Código Contributivo, art. 53.º). A self-employed worker opens the activity at Finanças and is registered with social security automatically; a first registration only takes effect on the first day of the twelfth month after the activity starts, so the first year carries no contributions, and then 21,4 % is charged on 70 % of the average invoicing of the previous quarter (Código Contributivo, art. 145.º, as amended by Decreto-Lei n.º 2/2018). Either way the NISS is the identifier on every declaration.
Three mistakes we see
- Asking for the NISS before the NIF. The order is fixed: tax number, then social security number, then health number.
- Two numbers. A NISS requested by you and another by the employer creates a duplicate that takes months to merge. Agree who requests it.
- Wrong document at the employer’s end. An employer who reports the contract before the worker holds a residence document or visa gets the request refused; the contract and the residence file must be consistent.
Access Portugal obtains the NIF and the NISS for new arrivals and coordinates the employer's declaration so that the first payslip carries the right number. Ask for the set-up service.
Can I get a NISS without a residence permit?
With a visa or a pending residence file and an employment contract, yes — the employer route exists for that case. Without any residence title or contract there is nothing to register.
Is there a card?
No physical card is issued for a NISS requested online; the number on the confirmation and on Segurança Social Direta is what employers and services need.
I am an EU citizen — do I still need to request it?
Yes, unless you obtain a Portuguese citizen card. The registration certificate does not carry a NISS; the request is the same as for any foreign citizen.
Sources and official references
- gov.pt — Pedir o Número de Identificação da Segurança Social (NISS): online request by foreign citizens, legal representatives or hiring employers; automatic for citizen-card holders (updated 3 September 2026) — checked 19.9.2026
- Lei n.º 110/2009 (Código Contributivo), artigo 53.º — 11 % employee, 23,75 % employer — checked 19.9.2026
- Decreto-Lei n.º 2/2018 — self-employed workers: registration effective from the twelfth month after starting (art. 145.º), 21,4 % on 70 % of average invoicing — checked 19.9.2026
