“It is an important measure because it simplifies people's lives” and “it allows citizens to go to just one service in person instead of going to three different public services or to do it comfortably at home, because this service can also be done at home”, using the digital mobile key, the Minister of Youth and Modernisation, Margarida Balseiro Lopes, told Lusa.

As of today, it is possible to “request, in a single application, the Tax Identification Number (NIF), the Social Security Identification Number (NISS) and the National User Number (NNU)”, says the Government, in a statement.

Today, at 12 pm the minister and the minister of the Presidency will go to the Cidadão space in Loures to see how the system works, which is available in nine other similar locations in the country and via the internet, for those who have a digital mobile key.

“In a single request, without even having to go in person”, I can “resolve a complex bureaucratic problem”, later receiving the data by email.

“By saving these people from having to visit these stores and public services in person, we are also ensuring that we do not overload the work and lives of the people who work in these spaces, who often find themselves under enormous pressure due to the number of people seeking these public services,” explained the minister.

This measure “is aimed at foreign citizens, who do not have a citizen card and who already have a residence permit or have already requested one, who have nationality from a European Union country or those who hold refugee status or are beneficiaries of international protection", explained the minister.

Overcoming language barriers

On the gov.pt online page, a virtual conversation assistant is now available to clarify doubts in 12 different languages.

This “is another problem we have in Portugal, because we have many citizens who do not yet speak Portuguese and who also have difficulty accessing this information because of the language barrier”, acknowledged the minister.

From now on, “the virtual assistant tells people all the steps they need to take” to request identification numbers with regards to their relationship with the State and indicates which “citizen space they can go to”.

This service is available in 10 citizen spaces across the country (Braga, Cascais, Lisbon, Olhão, Lagos, Setúbal, Porto, Loures, Oeiras or Faro).

The measure “required coordination between several entities, because we are simplifying people's lives”, but required the combined efforts of organizations such as the Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum, the Administrative Modernisation Agency, the Tax Authority, and health and social security services, among others.

According to the Government, “this measure will have a double positive effect: it will simplify the process of obtaining these identification numbers for foreign citizens and, at the same time, it will improve the efficiency of public services to serve all citizens, reducing the pressure on face-to-face service”.

For now, the system is only available at 10 citizen spaces, but the aim is for it to be “progressively extended to the entire network, which currently has more than 930 Spaces”.

In addition to face-to-face assistance, information about the process is also available by telephone through the Citizen Line (210 489 010) or on the Single Digital Services Portal, gov.pt.