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This card allows you to receive medical assistance during a temporary stay in a European Union country , Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland.
The European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) is an individual card, so each beneficiary and family member who travels to Portugal must have his/her own.
Both the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) and the Provisional Replacement Certificate (CPS) will only be accepted in public hospitals or health centres.
The CPS is a document that replaces and guarantees the same rights as the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC).
On this page you can find information on:
You can apply for the European Health Insurance Card if you live in Portugal and have:
- Social Security Identification Number (NISS)
- Number of users of the National Health Service (SNS).
The following are entitled to the card:
- workers covered by a social security scheme, pensioners and their family members, and the unemployed
- beneficiaries of public health subsystems
- beneficiaries of private health subsystems
- users of the National Health Service, in case there is no link to Social Security or to a public or private health subsystem.
If you are staying temporarily in Portugal and do not have the European Health Insurance Card, you must apply for the Provisional Replacement Certificate (CPS) to the competent authority of your country of residence. The competent authority may send you the Provisional Certificate of Replacement by e-mail or fax.
The Provisional Certificate of Replacement is a document that replaces and guarantees the same rights as the European Health Insurance Card.
For more information, see the FAQ page of the Social Security Institute and the page of the National Health Service.
If you live in Portugal, you can apply for the card:
- in Direct Social Security, with your Social Security data, or with the Digital Mobile Key or Citizen Card
- at the Social Security service desks
- in the Citizen Stores or Citizen Spaces that provide the service.
The application for the card is free of charge and is sent to the holder's residence within about 7 working days.
The card, in general, is valid for 3 years.
The renewal of the card must be carried out in the same way as the initial application for the card. If the application for renewal is made before the expiry date, the full number of the card whose validity is about to expire shall be indicated. The renewal of the card has no cost.
If you are staying temporarily in Portugal, you can ask the competent authority of your country of residence to send the Provisional Certificate of Replacement (CPS) by e-mail or fax.
If you live in Portugal, go to one of the Social Security service desks to request the Provisional Certificate of Replacement. You can also ask the Social Security Institute to send you the certificate by e-mail or fax.
The Provisional Certificate of Replacement is a document that replaces and guarantees the same rights as the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC).
In case of emergency, please contact:
- Medical emergency - 112
Available 24 hours a day, every day.
112 is the single European emergency telephone number available throughout the European Union. Calls are free.
- Health Line 24 - 808 24 24 24
For clinical contact, available 24 hours a day, every day. For administrative contact (non-clinical), from 8am to 10pm, every day.
The Health Line 24 ensures screening, counseling and referral in situations of illness. The value of the call is that of a call to the fixed network.