Get A Portuguese NIF Number Online For Only €64

A NIF (Número de Identificação Fiscal) is your nine-digit Portuguese tax identification number. It’s one of the first things you’ll need to sort out when you’re moving here—most D7 and D8 applicants get their NIF early because you need it to open a bank account and sign a lease, which are two of the main requirements for a visa here.

If you’re resident outside the EU/EEA (e.g. you live in the US, UK, or Canada), your best option is to get it online. You can get it in person in Portugal at a Finanças (Tax Office) or a Loja do Cidadão, but you need a fiscal representative. Your fiscal representative needs to be someone living in Portugal, and if you don’t know someone willing to do this for you, you’ll end up paying for this service—around €150-€300—much more than if you use one of the services below.

Here’s who I would go with, so you don’t have to read the whole page:

🏆 Visas.pt* It’s €64 through my link—the cheapest price I found during my comparison (August 2026), versus €95 direct. It’s not the fastest (about seven days, not three) unless you pay €50 extra for the 2-day rush service. It also doesn’t include fiscal representation, but most people moving to Portugal who plan to rent when they arrive don’t need this.

🥈 Novomove* would be my second pick—it’s only €5 more (€69 with code PORTUGALIST), faster (3-7 days), and fiscal representation is included, with every Finanças letter scanned and emailed within 24 hours.

Do you need fiscal representation?

Generally, no: only if you’re going to buy a house or car while you’re resident outside the EU/EEA (or have some other fiscal tie to Portugal). Most people moving to Portugal from the US, UK, or Canada plan to rent first and then buy once they’re living here, so that means they usually don’t need fiscal representation. However, if there’s a chance you will buy before moving—and you reside outside the EU/EEA—go with a company that offers fiscal representation (like Novomove). You can remove the fiscal representation once you move to Portugal. (Just remember to do this otherwise it’ll autorenew for another year).

Now if any of that sounds confusing, fill in the form below and Portugalist will figure out the best option for you—instantly.

Note: If you’re an EU/EEA resident, you can get a NIF in person at a Finanças (tax office) for free and without needing a fiscal representative. More on that below.

The Services I Compared

I looked at fifteen-odd services; these are the ones I thought were the best.

Finanças issues the same NIF whichever one handles it—so you’re not buying a better or worse number, you’re buying speed, fiscal representation (if that’s something you need), and a company that’s actually reliable. That last part matters most if you need ongoing fiscal representation, because you’re essentially paying for a mail-forwarding service from the Portuguese tax office—and you want those letters forwarded fast.

When Finanças writes to you, the clock starts on a limited window to respond, and a missed deadline can mean a fine, so a representative who forwards things quickly is worth more than one who’s simply cheap.

*Delivery times are provider-advertised. Bordr is priced in dollars and the euro figure changes slightly with the exchange rate.

A word on trust, since it’s the thing people worry about: all of these have strong Trustpilot scores (e-Residence the most reviews, Visas.pt the fewest), and they’ve been tried and tested by Portugalist readers for months—that’s why they’re the ones listed. I left the others out because they aren’t tried-and-tested.

You can also get a NIF through just about any Portuguese immigration lawyer. But there are so many of them, and they aren’t necessarily any cheaper or faster than the services above, so I haven’t included them.

Visas.pt is the one I’d choose if I didn’t need fiscal representation—it’s the cheapest and it does the job. It’s not as fast as some of the others, like Novomove, so allow about a week. It also has fewer Trustpilot reviews than many of the other companies, but it’s been used by Portugalist readers for months without trouble. [Trustpilot]

Novomove is who I’d pick if I needed fiscal representation and wanted my NIF fast. 3-7 days is the quickest here, with 12 months of fiscal representation bundled in, and you can renew for €79 (first year is €69 with the discount code). It’s a good all-rounder. [Trustpilot]

Bordr was one of the first to offer this remotely and still has a reputation for excellent customer service, though the services that followed are cheaper and often faster. [Trustpilot]

Anchorless advertises 3–10 days but generally delivers in around three, and they’ll do a 1–2 day premium rush if you’re up against the clock—message them first to confirm. [Trustpilot]

e-Residence has by far the most reviews, so if that reassures you it’s a fair pick. When I tested them in August 2026, they were charging an extra €20 for the Portal das Finanças password—and since everyone else included that, it made the pricing feel a little opaque. [Trustpilot]

StartAbroad is pricier and slower (about two weeks), so it’s here for completeness—a solid option if you’re using it as part of a wider relocation package. They’re very competitive on the bank account, though, so worth a look for that. [Trustpilot]

How I’d Get a NIF as an EU/EEA Resident

EU/EEA residents don’t need a fiscal representative to get a NIF. They can go into a Finanças (Tax Office) or a Loja do Cidadão and request a NIF for free, either once they move to Portugal or while they’re here visiting. (Non-EU/EEA residents can also go into Finanças and request a NIF, but will be asked for a fiscal representative.)

And if you’re an EU/EEA or Swiss citizen, you don’t need a visa like the D7 (passive income visa) or D8 (digital nomad visa) to move to Portugal. Instead, you can move here, get your NIF at a Finanças office, open a bank account, and register for your EU citizen registration certificate (CRUE). Cost for you to get a NIF at Finanças? €0.

So, if I were an EU/EEA resident—and especially if I were also an EU/EEA citizen—I’d just wait and get my NIF in Portugal.

What is a fiscal representative? A fiscal representative is someone residing in Portugal who acts as the point of contact between you and Finanças. Finanças will send a letter to anyone in Portugal—or even elsewhere in the EU/EEA—but no further, so if they want to reach you, they need the address of someone living here. Your fiscal representative can be someone you know—a friend or family member—but most people moving to Portugal don’t know anyone, so they typically use a lawyer or online relocation service.

Here are examples of people who do and don’t need a fiscal representative:

• If you’re moving to Portugal on a visa like the D7 and you won’t buy before you move, then you probably don’t need fiscal representation.
• If you’re buying a property in Portugal and you live outside the EU/EEA, then you need fiscal representation. This applies even if you plan to move later on, as you’ll be a non EU/EEA resident while buying and while you initially own the property.

Finally, a distinction that clears up most of the confusion—and explains how a service like Visas.pt gets you a NIF while offering no ongoing representation:

• A legal representative is authorized to submit your remote application (via e-Balcão). A one-off job.
• A fiscal representative is your ongoing point of contact with the Tax Authority after you have the number.

The documents you’ll normally need

What can you use as proof of address? Most people use a bank statement or utility bill, but a life insurance document or a government letter works too.

Everyone needs their own NIF, by the way—you can’t share a NIF the way a couple shares a bank account.

When to Change Your Registered Address

Do you need to change your NIF to a Portuguese address before your AIMA appointment? Usually not, based on current practices.

When I spoke to the immigration lawyer Sandra Gomes Pinto, she’d handled around 40 AIMA appointments in three months and not one of them required it—you simply show a NIF. That’s current practice rather than a written-in-stone rule, but it’s a good read on how things are working right now.

Changing your NIF address to a Portuguese one is what tells Finanças you want to be treated as a tax resident. That isn’t necessarily what makes you a tax resident here—spending more than 183 days in Portugal and/or having your main home in Portugal does—however, it is best not to confuse things by changing your address early. Note: once you meet those criteria, you have 60 days to update your tax record.

One practical note: you can rent with a NIF that still shows a foreign address. If you later want to use the lease as your proof of a Portuguese address, your landlord needs to have registered it with Finanças.

Using Your NIF in Portugal

Once you’re here you’ll use your NIF constantly—at the supermarket, pharmacy, café, petrol station, everywhere really.

It’s worth handing over whenever you’re asked, because giving it on a receipt lets you deduct certain expenses (food, car maintenance, hairdressers and so on, each with its own annual allowance) on your Portuguese income tax. It felt faintly dystopian at first, the government logging what I buy—until I remembered my loyalty card, my credit card, and Google Maps already know exactly where I’ve been. You get used to it.

One tip worth more than it sounds: memorize your NIF in Portuguese, not English. You’ll be asked for it endlessly, and if you’re standing at the till translating nove, sete, quatro in your head one digit at a time, you hold up the line and the cashier. Learn to rattle it off like a phone number, in Portuguese, and everyone’s life gets easier—yours included.

Sources

The rules on this page come from the Portuguese Tax Authority (Autoridade Tributária e Aduaneira) and the government’s own service portals. Everything below was checked on 24 August 2026; the rules change from time to time, so if you’re reading this much later, confirm anything time-sensitive at the links.

• Do you need a fiscal representative, the 15-day deadline, the electronic-notifications alternative, and the self-employed exception — Tax Authority FAQ, Representação Fiscal: Questões Frequentes – Representação Fiscal (faqs-00307). (Confirms: EU/EEA/Norway/Iceland/Liechtenstein residents never need one; third-country residents with a Portuguese tax tie must appoint a representative or activate electronic notifications within 15 days; a €75–€7,500 fine for not doing so; and that self-employed people liable for Portuguese VAT still need an actual representative.)
• The legal basis for the above — Article 19 of the Lei Geral Tributária (General Tax Law), as amended by Decreto-Lei 44/2022.
• When you become a tax resident, and the 60 days to update your tax record — Tax Authority, Update your tax residency. (Confirms the 60-day window, and that an AIMA appointment confirmation or a receipt for a pending application is accepted — you don’t always need the physical residency card in hand.)
• The 183-day / habitual-residence test — Tax Authority, Tax residency (see also Article 16 of the CIRS).
• How to get a NIF, who can apply, and the documents you need — gov.pt, Pedir o Número de Identificação Fiscal para pessoa singular. (Confirms a NIF is needed to open a bank account, sign a contract or buy property; that Portuguese Citizen Card holders get one automatically; and that a non-resident foreigner needs a representative to submit the application.)
• Step-by-step for foreign applicants (available in English, Portuguese, Arabic, Hindi and Mandarin) — gov.pt, Como pedir o NIF e o NISS para pessoas estrangeiras em Portugal.
• Booking a Finanças appointment online (no Citizen Card / no login needed) or by phone — Tax Authority, Número de Identificação Fiscal (NIF). (Confirms the online appointment path and the CAT phone line, +351 217 206 707.)
• Official leaflet: assigning a NIF to non-resident foreign citizens (PDF) — Tax Authority, Atribuição de NIF a cidadãos estrangeiros não residentes.