Social Security Pays Former Combatants Their Yearly Pension Top-Up This Month, Up to 205.98 Euros With Half the Budget Rise Added

Portugal's Instituto da Segurança Social (Social Security Institute, ISS) is paying former combatants their once-a-year pension top-ups this month, and for the first time the amounts include half of the increase written into the 2026 State Budget. The ISS confirmed the October payment in a notice published on Tuesday. Nobody needs to apply again: the money arrives automatically, together with the pension.

There are two separate benefits, and which one a veteran receives depends on the pension he or she already draws. Both are paid once a year, in October, to antigos combatentes (former combatants) whose military service in conditions of difficulty or danger has been certified by the Ministério da Defesa Nacional (Ministry of National Defence).

The supplement for contributory pensioners

The Suplemento Especial de Pensão (Special Pension Supplement) goes to veterans on an old-age or invalidity pension from the general social security scheme. It also reaches former combatants covered by the systems of other EU and European Economic Area countries or Switzerland, even if they never paid into Portuguese social security, and those covered by countries with which Portugal has a social security agreement, provided they were once in the Portuguese system. Veterans whose pension comes from the Caixa Geral de Aposentações (the civil service pension fund) or the lawyers' and solicitors' fund receive it from those bodies instead.

The supplement comes in three bands, set by how much bonus service time the veteran was credited with. The 2026 budget law (Lei n.º 73-A/2025) raised all three, but phases the rise over two years. According to the ISS practical guide, this October's payments are:

• up to 11 months of bonus time: 103.00 euros, against 93.50 euros in 2025;
• 12 to 23 months: 137.33 euros, against 124.65 euros;
• 24 months or more: 205.98 euros, against 186.95 euros.

In 2027 the full new values apply: 112.50, 150.00 and 225.00 euros. The ISS notes that the supplement will not follow the social support index (IAS) in 2026 and 2027; indexation returns from 2028.

The complement for the poorest pensioners

The Complemento Especial de Pensão (Special Pension Complement) is meant for veterans on the lowest pensions: the social old-age pension, the special scheme for farm workers or the transitional rural scheme. It is worked out as a percentage of the social pension for each year of military service.

The budget raised that percentage from 7 to 10.5 percent a year of service, by amending article 6 of Lei n.º 9/2002. Here too only half of the rise applies this year, so the 2026 rate is 8.75 percent, a quarter more than before. With the social pension at 262.40 euros, the ISS gives two worked examples:

• 10 years of certified service: 262.40 x 8.75% x 10 = 229.60 euros for the year;
• 6 years and 3 months: 137.76 euros for the six years plus 34.44 euros for the three months, a total of 172.20 euros.

The complement is calculated as 14 monthly amounts but paid in a single sum. If the veteran dies, either benefit passes to the surviving spouse when he or she receives a survivor's pension.

If nothing arrives

Veterans who believe they qualify but have never received either benefit need to apply. The form is the RP 5079 (Requerimento de Complemento Especial/Acréscimo Vitalício de Pensão/Suplemento Especial de Pensão), available on the Social Security portal. It can be handed in at any Social Security service desk, posted to the district centre, emailed to the national pensions centre at [email protected], or filed through the portal's e-Clic service under Reforma (retirement), then Benefícios Antigos Combatentes. The ISS asks for an identity document, proof of the bank account (IBAN) in the applicant's name, and the Defence Ministry's certification of service time. It says applications take 60 days on average.

Both increases began as a Socialist Party amendment to the 2026 budget. It fell at the first vote last November when Chega abstained, and passed once Chega changed its vote, Observador reported at the time. The veterans' benefits have widened in other ways this year: in July, MPs extended free public transport to war veterans across the whole country.