When I decided I’d be moving to Portugal, I saw that a NIF number would be the first step. I came across multiple law firms stating that they help with this process. Most of them charged 300€+ for something that should be free if you’re in the country.
I happened to be in the US when applying for the D7 Visa so I wasn’t able to get a NIF number in person. The best way to go about getting a NIF number is to be in Portugal.
Now that I live in Lisbon, I accompanied my partner to get his NIF during a visit. We looked online for the best way to get a NIF number but there was lots of conflicting information.
Financas Office in Lisbon
After contemplating whether to work with a lawyer or DIYing it, we decided to go directly to the Financas office to get answers. Our first Financas office visit was the Marques de Pombal office. The only answer we got was that this office doesn’t handle new NIF number registrations.
We continued to another office located in Saldanha next to the Picoas stop off the yellow metro line. Here the receptionist was nice enough to give us helpful information.
Not every Financas office does NIF registrations, it’s best if you can double check before going early to the wrong one.
Getting a Free Portugal NIF Number
She let us know we were at the right office and that they only accept 15 new NIF number registrations a day. The only way to make sure we were in the first 15 people, she suggested we arrive at 6am.
So my partner arrived at 6:13am the following morning and was the 13th person in line. The office doesn’t open until 9am so it was a long wait.
The documents needed to bring are a passport and a residence card. It can be the card or document stating residence in the country where the passport is issued.
In addition to this we also brought his Hungarian student visa, residency card, and Budapest contract. We also brought along with copies of everything. Thankfully we didn’t need these but we had them just in case.
Since my partner was number 13, it took us under 3 hours to get called up to the office to give the paperwork. The process didn’t take more than 15 minutes. The guy asked for the passport which has the address so no other document was needed in this case.
I was added as a tax representative on his paperwork since I was present. All the people before us went in by themselves and had no issue.
Once the guy filled in the information, he printed a couple copies and my partner now has a NIF number. The whole process took just under 6 hours, but it was completely free and done without a lawyer.
This way will only work if you are present in Portugal and have a morning to dedicate to this.
Related Posts
- International Moving Abroad Costs (from the US to Portugal)
- Portugal D7 Visa (Everything You Need to Apply)
- How to Live Abroad (As An American)
Let me know in the comments how this works for you! If you want additional assistance feel free to book a call with me and I can help you as best I can.
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Viaja more y live más,
