How to Register With the SNS After Your Visa Is Approved

1. ArrivalNIF and proof of address ready
2. Health centreYou get your SNS number
3. AIMA waitYou pay for most care
4. Residence cardThe SNS pays, then the family doctor list

What is an SNS number, and what does it give you?

It's your patient number in Portugal's public health service. Every hospital, health centre, pharmacy and the SNS 24 helpline finds you with it.

It's free, and it's yours for life: you keep the same number if you move, or if your situation changes.

Does the SNS number mean your care is free?

Not on its own. Your number opens a file in the national patient register. What's in that file decides who pays.

• With your residence card on file, the SNS pays for your care, as it does for Portuguese residents. Your file is then a 'registo atualizado' (an up-to-date record).
• Without it, you're still treated, but you pay for most care. Your file is a 'registo em curso' (a record in progress).

Since July 2026, the SNS sorts every file this way. Your visa doesn't count as a residence card here, and neither does an AIMA receipt.

How to get your SNS number, step by step

Most of this happens in one visit to your health centre. What you get from it depends on your residence card: whether you have it yet.

1. Before you go: your NIF and proof of address

You need two things ready, besides your passport.

• Your NIF. Your Portuguese tax number. If you applied for a D7 or D8 visa, you almost certainly have one: the residence application needs it. If not, get your NIF first.
• Proof of your address. Your residence card shows it. Without the card, bring a lease, a free-use contract ('contrato de comodato') or a water, electricity or gas bill in your name.

Some health centres also ask for an 'atestado de residência' from your parish council ('Junta de Freguesia'), though it isn't on the official list. If you already have one, bring it.

Which health centre do you go to?

The one that covers your address. It may be called a 'centro de saúde', a USF or a UCSP: all three are public health centres.

Not sure which one is yours? Call SNS 24 on 808 24 24 24: that's the government's own advice.

2. At the health centre: ask for your number

Take a ticket and ask for your número de utente. Many people leave with it the same day, sometimes within minutes.

Bring copies of your passport, NIF and proof of address, and your residence card if you have it.

Should you also ask to enroll at the health centre?

Yes, if you have your residence card. Enrollment, the 'inscrição', puts you on the centre's patient list, and later on the family doctor list.

It's a separate request: some desks only give the number unless you ask.

What if the clerk turns you away?

Try again: one refusal isn't the final answer. The requirements are the same everywhere, but some clerks apply them more strictly than others.

A clerk may turn you away with only your visa, and another may register you an hour later with a phone bill at a local address.

What if they send you to an e-mail address?

Ask for the address in writing, and follow up. Some centres take documents by e-mail instead of at the desk.

Can you register with the SNS on your visa alone?

Yes, you can get a number. Your file stays a 'registo em curso' until your residence card is on it, so you pay for most care in the meantime.

Can you get your NIF, NISS and SNS number in one go?

Yes, at some Espaços Cidadão (citizen service desks). One free request gets you all three, if you live in Portugal and have a residence card or have applied for one: you bring your AIMA receipt.

AIMA decides, by e-mail, and may grant only some of the numbers. The government lists 10 desks in November 2026: Braga, Lagos, Olhão, Saldanha, Laranjeiras, Loures, Nova SBE, two in Porto and Setúbal. Check the government's service page before you go.

A number you get this way still gives you a 'registo em curso' until your residence card is on your file.

Do your children need their own number?

Yes. Each child needs their own número de utente. Children don't need a NIF or a residence card for the SNS to pay for their care, so register them as soon as you arrive.

3. While you wait for your AIMA residence card

Expect months, sometimes more than a year. By law, AIMA decides within 90 days once your application is filed. But even getting the appointment to file it can take months.

All that time, your file stays a 'registo em curso'. In practice:

• You can always be treated. The SNS never refuses care.
• You pay for most of it, at the SNS's own prices: consultations, tests, hospital care.
• You pay full price for medicines, with no SNS discount.
• You can't enroll at a health centre, so you can't join the family doctor list.

What does the SNS pay for before your residence card?

Some care, whatever your file says:

• pregnancy and maternal care, family planning and newborns;
• children who live in Portugal;
• vaccines of the national programme;
• urgent care, if you show a declaration from your Junta de Freguesia that you've lived in Portugal for more than 90 days.

What happens after 180 days without a residence card?

Your file becomes a 'registo incompleto', an incomplete record. Nothing changes for you in practice: you still pay, and you still can't enroll.

The SNS texts you when your file is created, and again 90 days later, to ask for the missing documents. Until AIMA issues your card, there's nothing more to send.

This is the period your private health insurance is for (more on that below).

4. When your residence card arrives

Go back to your health centre with it. Your file is updated on the spot: from then on, the SNS pays for your care and your medicines get the SNS discount.

Ask to enroll at the same visit. If you enrolled earlier and it was ended in the meantime, ask again: it doesn't come back on its own.

How do you check the SNS is paying?

Look for 'Tipologia' in the SNS 24 app. Since 29 October 2026, it shows your file's type: 'Registo atualizado' means the SNS pays.

You log in with your número de utente and the phone or e-mail on your file, or with your 'Chave Móvel Digital' (Portugal's digital ID). The app is also where you book appointments, see prescriptions and get test results.

5. Join the family doctor list

Once you're enrolled, ask to be added to the list for a 'médico de família' (family doctor).

How long is the wait for a family doctor?

It depends on where you live. On 24 August 2026, 87% of the people eligible had a family doctor. By region:

• Lisbon and the Tagus Valley: 74%, so about 1 million people waiting;
• Algarve: about 80%;
• North, Porto included: 98%.

Families with a pregnant woman, a child aged 12 or under, or a chronic illness come first. The wait isn't only for newcomers: Portuguese residents wait too, some of them for years.

How do you see a doctor in the meantime?

Call SNS 24 on 808 24 24 24. It gives medical advice, and can book you an appointment at your health centre when you need one, even without a family doctor.

Many health centres also give out a few same-day appointments to patients without a family doctor. Patients often queue before 8 a.m. for them.

Should you keep your private health insurance?

Yes, at least until your residence card is on your SNS file.

Your visa required health insurance, and this is when people start wondering if they can cancel it. Until AIMA issues your card, the SNS bills you for most care, and that can last more than a year. After that comes the family doctor wait.

Many residents keep a private plan even then, for specialists without the wait.

If you're weighing it, Feather's guide to health insurance in Portugal explains what private plans add on top of the SNS. Feather also offers expat health insurance for this period, which you can cancel monthly.

What if the health centre turns you away?

Ask which document is missing, and try again. Most refusals come down to one document, the wrong centre for your street, or a stricter clerk that day.

• "You need a NISS." Your social security number is optional for the SNS. Retirees have got their number without one just by pointing this out.
• "You need an atestado." It isn't on the official list. If they insist, your Junta de Freguesia issues it.
• "We don't cover your street." Ask which centre does, or call SNS 24.

Still stuck? Ask for the complaints book, the 'Livro Amarelo', which every public health centre keeps. You can also complain to the health regulator, the ERS, or call it on 309 309 309.

Frequently asked questions

The short version

Bring your passport, NIF and proof of address to your health centre and ask for your número de utente: many people get it the same day. Until your AIMA residence card is on your file, which can take a year or more, you pay for most care, so keep your private health insurance.