Country guide · Portugal
When you move to Portugal, you clarify access to the SNS health service and the proof needed at registration.
At a glance
You clarify these points before you move to Portugal. Each line names its source; last updated 12 October 2026.
EU nationals with permanent residence or a temporary stay in Portugal are among those entitled to SNS care.
Foreigners receive the user number (número de utente) on their first visit to a public health facility, for which basic data is enough; for the SNS to cover costs, ID, a Portuguese tax number, an address in Portugal and a valid residence permit must be on file, with exceptions set by law.
If you stay longer than three months, you must register with the Câmara Municipal within 30 days after the three months end; the law names ID or passport and a declaration on your honour for this, but no policy.
Enrolment in primary care requires a complete registry entry, a family doctor is assigned according to available places, and without enrolment, occasional care is possible when needed (rules since 1 April 2025, last amended as of 10 June 2026).
According to a Lusa report of 26 September 2026, the PSD and CDS-PP want to tie SNS access for non-resident foreigners and people without regular residence to payment or proof of cover, except for urgent, life-saving care; foreigners with regular residence would remain entitled.
Source [9]
To tick off
In detail
The state health service is called the Serviço Nacional de Saúde (SNS). User number, family doctor and the status of the rules are in the table above.
The SNS is financed from the state budget; users bear the share the law assigns to them, and the law provides exemptions from the user fees (taxas moderadoras).
Ask at the health centre of your future municipality what applies for the user number and enrolment.
First you clarify which country is responsible for you, then what Portugal requires for access.
Anyone who works in Portugal is subject to Portuguese law, subject to exceptions in the Regulation (for example in case of secondment), and everyone else to the law of the member state of residence, in each case to the law of only one member state.
For access, see the first row of the table above. For a pension from Germany or a secondment, the section “In Germany” helps; for family members there is more on the page Health insurance for the family.
Whether the condition applies to Germans depends on whether Germany also requires health insurance cover of Portuguese people; you clarify this at the Câmara Municipal.
This concerns the municipality for registration and the health centre for the user number.
| Body | What the source says | What you clarify beforehand |
|---|---|---|
| EU law | For people who are not working, the EU directive names “comprehensive sickness insurance cover in the host Member State”; for the registration certificate, only ID and proof of this condition may be requested. | What the Câmara regards as sufficient cover. |
| General rule | Under the law, the registration certificate is never a precondition for exercising a right; the residence authority AIMA adds that no body may require a residence permit from Union citizens. | How the health centre applies it. |
What remains open is which proof takes the place of the residence permit for Union citizens that the information page on the user number mentions. Ask at the health centre and have the answer given to you in writing.
Three routes are possible: the SNS, private insurance in Portugal and international health insurance.
| Option | What the source says | What you clarify |
|---|---|---|
| State health service SNS | See the table “Checkpoints” and the section “System”. | User number, cost coverage, family doctor. |
| Private health insurance in Portugal | In Portugal, insurers offer health insurance; the supervisory authority ASF distinguishes it from “health plans” without risk transfer, for which it states it is not responsible. | Whether insurance or plan, which limits apply and whether the Câmara recognises it. |
| International health insurance | The sources say nothing about recognition. | Whether the Câmara recognises it and what it is intended for. |
Before you deregister (Abmeldung) in Germany, you clarify in writing what happens to your current insurance. The questions below apply to any destination country. They are questions, not legal advice: the answers are in your contract documents or come from the body you ask.
You apply for form S1 at your Krankenkasse (statutory health insurer) and have it registered in the new country; it applies, among others, to pensioners without a pension from the country of residence and to seconded workers.
The EHIC applies to temporary stays in another EU country, covers only public providers and no planned treatment. Clarify with your Krankenkasse what fits your situation.
Do not cancel any contract before it is clarified in writing what applies afterwards. We explain the connections on the pages Health insurance when emigrating and PKV and Anwartschaft. For families, there is more at Health insurance for the family abroad.
Read the row “User number and cost coverage” in the table above and ask at the health centre which documents Union citizens should show.
Read in the section “In Germany” what the card is intended for, and ask your Krankenkasse whether it is enough for your case.
First ask the Câmara Municipal what it wants to see at registration.
Check in the offer whether insurance or a plan is being sold (section “Options”).
FAQ
If you stay longer than three months and are not working, you need sufficient means and health insurance cover, provided your home state also requires it of Portuguese people.
Which country is responsible depends on whether you work in Portugal: anyone who works in Portugal is subject to Portuguese law, subject to exceptions in the Regulation (for example in case of secondment), and everyone else to the law of the member state of residence, in each case to the law of only one member state.
Whether the condition applies to your nationality, you clarify at the Câmara Municipal. For family members there is more on the page Health insurance for the family.
Yes, the law names EU nationals explicitly: EU nationals with permanent residence or a temporary stay in Portugal are among those entitled to SNS care.
In practice, access begins with the registry entry: foreigners receive the user number on their first visit to a public health facility, for which basic data is enough; for the SNS to cover costs, ID, a Portuguese tax number, an address in Portugal and a valid residence permit must be on file, with exceptions set by law.
What Union citizens present instead of a residence permit, you clarify beforehand at the health centre. For the family doctor and the status of the rules, see the table above.
If you stay longer than three months, you must register with the Câmara Municipal within 30 days after the three months end; the law names ID or passport and a declaration on your honour for this, but no policy.
On the role of the certificate: under the law, the registration certificate is never a precondition for exercising a right; the residence authority AIMA adds that no body may require a residence permit from Union citizens.
EU law sets the framework: for people who are not working, the EU directive names “comprehensive sickness insurance cover in the host Member State”; for the registration certificate, only ID and proof of this condition may be requested.
The EHIC applies to temporary stays in another EU country, covers only public providers and no planned treatment.
For a move, you check form S1: you apply for form S1 at your Krankenkasse and have it registered in the new country; it applies, among others, to pensioners without a pension from the country of residence and to seconded workers.
Whether the EHIC continues to apply after the change of residence and for what period, you ask your Krankenkasse. Also ask your Kasse whether an S1 is an option for you.
In Portugal, insurers offer health insurance; the supervisory authority ASF distinguishes it from “health plans” without risk transfer, for which it states it is not responsible.
Check in the offer whether you are looking at insurance or a plan, and ask about limits and exclusions. Also ask whether you use the SNS alongside it. You compare prices only once the answers are in.
Whether a private or international policy counts for registration, you ask at the Câmara Municipal. More on international policies is on the page International health insurance.
Sources: [13]
This page is for you if you live in Germany and are planning your move to Portugal.
Tassilo Peter Seitz is a shareholder of Verus Vorsorge GmbH and advises in German and English (insurance broker licensed under Section 34d (1) of the German Trade Regulation Act (GewO)). How we work and how we are paid is explained on the page How we work, how we earn.
By Tassilo Peter Seitz, advising for Verus Vorsorge GmbH (insurance broker licensed under § 34d (1) GewO). This page provides general information and does not replace individual advice. What is binding is the law, the terms of your policy and the competent authorities.
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