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Getting a NIF for your children and family, documents and costs

When a family moves to Portugal, the NIF questions multiply fast. Does a baby need a tax number? Are children covered by a parent NIF? What does it cost to file for four people at once? This guide answers those questions in full: why every family member needs their own Portuguese NIF, the documents each person needs, how one family application works, and the real family NIF Portugal cost, with the discount maths shown in the open.

Why every family member needs their own NIF

Portugal treats the NIF as a personal number, one per person, from birth onwards. Schools, doctors, banks and government offices do not record a child under a parent number; they ask for the child own number. That surprises many parents, because in some countries children only enter the tax system as teenagers. In Portugal the number comes first and everything else attaches to it.

A family usually meets the need for a child NIF at one of these moments:

• School enrolment: Portuguese schools ask for the NIF of each child being enrolled, alongside the parent details.
• Healthcare registration: registering a child with the local health centre and the SNS health service uses the child NIF.
• Property bought as a family: when a home is bought in several names, every named buyer on the deed needs their own NIF.
• Inheritance: an estate with Portuguese assets is settled into the names of the heirs, and each heir, adult or child, needs a NIF first.
• Visa and residence applications: family visa and residence files list every family member, and a NIF for each person keeps the file moving.

None of these steps can borrow a parent number. Getting every family member number early, in one go, is simply the calmest order to do it in.

One person, one number, for life

Each family member receives their own nine digit NIF, issued once and kept for life. A number given to a baby is the same number that person will use as an adult for work, property and tax in Portugal. It never expires and it is never reissued to anyone else, so there is no renewal and no second application later.

That permanence is also why accuracy matters. The name on the NIF record should match the name on the passport exactly, letter for letter, because the same record follows your child for decades.

Our NIF for non-residents: the complete guide covers the adult side of the same rules in full.

Documents for each person

The document list is per person, and it is short. One person documents never cover another person, which is the mistake families make most often, so work through the list name by name.

For each adult:

• A valid passport, in colour, with all four corners visible. EU and EEA citizens can use a national ID card instead.
• Proof of address abroad in that adult name, issued within the last 3 months: a bank statement, a utility bill or an official letter.

For each child:

• The child passport, if the child has one.
• If the child has no passport, a birth document for the child, such as a birth certificate, which shows the child name and the parents names.
• Many families send both the passport and the birth certificate where they have them. It costs nothing and it answers questions before Finanças asks them.

Where a parent applies for a child, we also need that parent own documents: their passport or ID card and their proof of address, because the parent is the applicant acting for the child. The parent signs the power of attorney, and the wording we provide covers the child application as well as the parent own filing where the parent is also applying. In general terms, a parent or legal guardian is the person who signs for a child. If your family situation is unusual, tell us before you apply and we will confirm exactly what is needed for your case.

You can check the exact set for your family in seconds with the free document checker on our home page, which includes a child option.

One application for the whole family

With GetYourNIF.pt a family does not file person by person. You make one application, list every applicant in it, and everyone is filed together in one family file. That keeps names, addresses and documents consistent across the family, and it is what qualifies the application for the family discount.

Every applicant pays the same per person rate, adults and children alike: €99 per person on Standard or €145 per person on Urgent, VAT included, with 6 months of fiscal representation included for each person. There is no child rate and no adult rate; the rate follows the plan, not the age. The full breakdown is printed in the family pricing area of our pricing section before you apply.

What a family NIF costs, with the maths shown

Family applications with two or more applicants filed together get 5% off the NIF fees. Two rules keep the maths honest: the discount applies to the NIF fees only, and the optional Finanças password add-on is never discounted. Here are the worked examples, exactly as they appear in the application form:

The same maths scales to your family size: multiply the per person rate by the number of applicants, take 5% off that NIF fee total, then add €50 for each person who chooses the password add-on. The application form shows your exact total before you submit, and nothing is charged until you confirm.

The Finanças password question for children

Parents often ask whether a child needs the Finanças password. In practice, almost never. The password is the login for the Portal das Finanças, where a person reads official letters and manages their own tax affairs online. A young child has no portal business of their own, and a parent cannot use a child password to manage the family tax life; each login is personal to its holder.

The practical pattern most families choose is simple: add the password for the adults who will deal with Portuguese tax online, and skip it for the children. It can always be requested later, when a child is older and genuinely needs portal access.

Read Finanças password explained: what it unlocks and how it arrives before you decide.

Step by step for families

The family route mirrors the standard four steps, with the family details gathered once, at the start.

The 4 steps of the remote NIF route, from application to delivery.

For a family, step 1 is where everyone is added: each applicant is listed, each set of documents is uploaded under the right name, and the total, with the family discount applied, is shown before anything is submitted.

See How to get a Portuguese NIF from outside Portugal, step by step for the complete process.

Timelines for families

Filing together does not slow anyone down. A family application follows the same timelines as a single one: 3 to 5 business days on Standard, and 1 business day on Urgent where Finanças processing allows. The clock starts once the family documents are checked and the applications are filed, and each person official NIF PDF arrives by email.

One honest note: a document problem for one person does not have to hold up the rest of the family, but a missing birth document is the most common reason a child filing pauses, which is why the next section matters.

Common family mistakes

• Assuming children are covered by a parent NIF. They are not: every child needs their own number, and schools and health centres will ask for it.
• Missing birth documents. A child with no passport needs a birth document such as a birth certificate. Order a copy early if yours is kept in another country.
• Name spellings that differ between documents. If a passport spells a name one way and a birth certificate another, tell us before filing so the difference can be explained rather than discovered.
• Applying for the adults now and the children later. Two separate applications lose the togetherness that keeps the file consistent, and a later application cannot be added to a discount already given.

This guide is general information about family NIF applications. It is not legal advice for your individual circumstances.

Frequently asked questions