Do My Children Need a NIF?

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Written by: | Last updated on February 29, 2024 | Est. Reading Time: 2 minutes

Adults who are resident in Portugal need a Número de Identificação Fiscal (or NIF for short). This number is used for most transactions in Portugal. It’s optionally used in shops, for example, such as when you’re buying your groceries, and it’s needed for purchases like buying a house or car. You’ll also need one if you’re signing a contract to rent a house or apartment.

But those are all things that adults do. Minors are not going to be renting a house or buying a car, so will they need a NIF number as well?

According to Kathleen Lo from Bordr, a website that helps people obtain a NIF number and bank account, ‘there isn’t a hard requirement on age, but your child will need a NIF in order to enroll in school.’

Get a NIF with Bordr.com for just $140.

So, even though a child is unlikely to use a NIF on a day-to-day basis like an adult would, they will still need a NIF number at certain points, such as when they enrol in school.

Similarly, your child may also require a NISS (Número de Identificação de Segurança Social) to register, along with other documents like a vaccination certificate.

There are a few ways to obtain a NISS or social security identification number, some free or by using a paid online service like E-Residence.

Written by

James Cave is the founder of Portugalist and the author of the bestselling book, Moving to Portugal Made Simple. He has visited just about every part of Portugal, including Madeira and all nine islands of the Azores, and lived in several parts of Portugal including Lisbon, the Algarve, and Northern Portugal.

You can contact James by emailing james@portugalist.com or via the site's contact form. This article includes contributions from Kathleen Lo, co-founder of Bordr.io.

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Comments

  1. Hi, thanks for the very useful articles!

    I also found out that for the child to be able to enroll in the school you need a NISS number. Do you hear anything about this?

    Reply

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