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Getting a Disability Certificate (Atestado Multiusos) in Portugal

Researched and written with AI tools from official sources. How we make our guides

How to get Portugal's multipurpose disability certificate, what it costs, how the medical board works, how long it lasts, and the help it opens at 60%.

The Portugal Brief 7 min read

Getting a Disability Certificate (Atestado Multiusos) in Portugal

Last verified: October 2026.

Who this is for

  • You live in Portugal with a lasting illness, injury, or disability.
  • You care for a child or adult who may qualify for disability support.
  • You already hold a certificate and need to renew it or appeal your rating.

Not for you if: you can no longer work and need an income. Read Claiming a Disability Pension in Portugal instead.

The multipurpose disability certificate (atestado médico de incapacidade multiuso, AMIM) states your degree of disability as a percentage. It is issued through the national health service (SNS). You hand a request and your medical reports to your health centre. A doctor reviews the file first and may issue the certificate without a medical board. If not, you see a medical board (junta médica). With a rating of 60% or more, you can get tax relief, free SNS care, free non-urgent patient transport, and benefits such as the social inclusion benefit. The certificate costs €12.50 from a board, and nothing if issued at the first review.

What the certificate is

The certificate proves that you have a disability, physical or otherwise, and gives it a degree as a percentage. The percentage is measured on Portugal's National Disability Table (Tabela Nacional de Incapacidades). The disability can be temporary or permanent.

It is called multipurpose because one certificate works for many bodies: the tax office, Segurança Social, the health service, IMT, and others. You show a copy to each one.

Why 60% matters. Most rights linked to the certificate need a rating of 60% or more. Below that, you still get a certificate, but it opens much less.

How to apply

  1. Gather your medical evidence. Get a report from the specialist who diagnosed you and your recent test results. Tests done in the last year are preferred. The stronger the file, the better the first review can work.
  2. Make your request. Fill in the request for a disability assessment (requerimento de avaliação da incapacidade), addressed to the president of the medical board. Attach your reports and tests. Hand it in at your health centre or local health unit. The health regulator (ERS) also lists gov.pt and the SNS 24 app and website as channels. It notes that requests are made in person until the online process is fully running. Ask your health centre which route works for you.
  3. First review (análise prévia). Specialist doctors on the board look at your file without seeing you. If the law's tables let them set your rating from the evidence, they issue the certificate there and then. No board is needed.
  4. Contact before a decision. The doctor contacts you if your rating looks likely to be under 60%, or 80% or more. You can then choose to stop or to go on to a full board.
  5. The medical board, if needed. It meets at a health establishment in the area where you live. It reviews your file, may examine you, and sets your rating. If your disability makes travel hard, you can ask in writing for a board member to visit you at home.
  6. Receive the certificate. It states your percentage and whether it is permanent or has a review date.

Who goes first. Requests are handled in order of date. Children under 18 have priority. So do adults asking for a first certificate rather than a reassessment.

How long it takes. No official processing time is published. Ask your health centre for an update if you are waiting.

Members of the Armed Forces, PSP, or GNR have their own system. Contact your force's medical service.

What it costs

SituationFee
Certificate issued at the first review, without a boardFree
Certificate issued by a medical board€12.50
Certificate issued at a reassessment board€5.00
Certificate issued by an appeal board€25.00

Cancer patients

If you have recently been diagnosed with cancer, you can skip the medical board. A specialist at the unit where you were diagnosed issues the certificate, with a rating of at least 60% for five years after diagnosis. It must be a different doctor from the one treating you. This covers people diagnosed since 17 January 2020. It also covers people diagnosed earlier who asked for a board that never took place, through no fault of their own.

How long it lasts

  • Certificates from the first review last five years from the date issued. The doctor can make it permanent if your condition is not expected to change.
  • Board certificates are permanent or carry a review date (reavaliação).
  • Cancer certificates last five years.

Renew in time and you keep your rights. Ask for a new assessment before your certificate expires and keep proof of the request. Your certificate then stays valid for benefits until the new assessment takes place. If illness stops you asking in time, you can ask later with a justified reason.

If your health gets worse, you can ask for a reassessment before your certificate expires.

If you disagree with your rating

  1. Appeal within 30 days of learning your rating.
  2. The head of the service can order a new board. It has a president and two other doctors who were not on your first board. You can name one of them.
  3. If the appeal board keeps your rating, you can go to court.

The appeal board's certificate costs €25.00.

What a 60% rating opens

Health care.

  • You pay no SNS user fees (taxas moderadoras). See Healthcare in Portugal.
  • The SNS provides free transport to appointments, tests, treatment, and hospital stays. Ask your doctor to prescribe it.
  • You can get free assistive products, such as wheelchairs, walkers, and adapted beds. You need a prescription from a specialist prescribing centre. You then hand it in at Segurança Social, or at the Santa Casa da Misericórdia in Lisbon.
  • You have the right to be served first at public and private counters. You may need to show the certificate.

Income tax (IRS). First tell the tax office (Finanças) about your disability. You then count as a taxpayer with a disability for tax purposes. The main relief is:

  • only 85% of employment and self-employed income, and 90% of pension income, is taxed
  • an extra deduction of four times the social support index (IAS) for you, and two and a half times for each dependant or ascendant with a disability
  • 30% of education and rehabilitation costs, and 25% of some life insurance premiums
  • with a rating above 90%, an extra deduction of four times the IAS for care costs

The IAS is €537.13 in 2026. See Filing Your IRS Tax Return.

Vehicles.

  • Car tax (ISV). You can be exempt when you buy a new, used, or imported vehicle for your own use. Conditions apply. See Importing a Car to Portugal.
  • VAT. You can be exempt on vehicles and mobility aids for your own use, such as wheelchairs.
  • Road tax (IUC). One vehicle a year can be exempt. For a car bought on or after 2 August 2016, the exemption is capped at €240 a year. See Paying Road Tax and Vehicle Inspection.
  • Parking card. IMT issues a free disabled parking card, usually for ten years. Physical disabilities must also limit your movement. See Getting a Disabled Parking Card.

Benefits and housing.

  • The social inclusion benefit, a monthly payment from Segurança Social. See Claiming the Social Inclusion Benefit.
  • A subsidised mortgage scheme for buying, building, or improving your permanent home. Ask your bank.
  • Extra protection for tenants on older rental contracts.

The certificate is not a disability pension

The certificate rates your disability for tax, health, and access rights. It does not replace your income. If you cannot work, the disability pension is a separate claim to Segurança Social, with its own medical assessment. If you have a rating of 60% or more, give Segurança Social your certificate when you claim.

What this means for you

  • Apply as soon as your condition is stable enough to assess. No processing time is published.
  • Send a full file. Good specialist reports and recent tests can mean a certificate at the first review, free and without a board.
  • Diary your review date. Ask for reassessment before the certificate expires and keep the proof.
  • Tell Finanças. Tax relief does not start until the tax office knows about your disability.
  • Appeal within 30 days if you think your rating is wrong.

This guide is general information, not medical or legal advice. Rules and fees change; check with your health centre or the official source before you act.

Sources

This guide is written from official sources and, where relevant, organisations' own websites.

Last verified October 2026. Rules and fees change; check the official source before acting.

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