Claiming the Social Inclusion Benefit for Disability in Portugal

Last verified: October 2026.

Who this is for

• You live legally in Portugal and have a disability rated at 60% or more.
• Your disability started, and was certified or proven, before you turned 55.
• You care for a child with a disability and want to know what they can get.

Not for you if: you have paid social security and can no longer work. Read Claiming a Disability Pension in Portugal instead.

Updated October 2026. A new single social benefit (Prestação Social Única) replaces 13 other benefits from 31 December 2026. The social inclusion benefit is not one of them and stays in place, with small changes.

The social inclusion benefit (Prestação Social para a Inclusão, PSI) is a monthly payment from Segurança Social for people with a disability rated at 60% or more. You do not need to have paid contributions. The base amount in 2026 is €333.64 a month for adults and €166.82 for children. Adults on a low income can also get a complement of up to €670 a month. You apply online or at a Segurança Social office, with your disability certificate or proof that you have asked for one. The PSI is not taxed.

Who can get it

You can get the PSI if all of these apply:

• You have a disability of 60% or more, shown on the multipurpose disability certificate (atestado médico de incapacidade multiuso). See Getting a Disability Certificate.
• Your disability began before age 55. You must ask for the certificate before your 55th birthday. If you are older, you can still qualify if Segurança Social's medical service confirms the disability is congenital or began before 55.
• You live in Portugal, or count as resident.

Children can get the PSI from birth. Some first responders (such as firefighters, police, and INEM staff) injured on duty can claim from 55 up to pension age.

If you are not Portuguese. You need a valid residence document:

• EU citizens: the EU registration certificate from your town hall.
• Non-EU citizens: a temporary or permanent residence permit. Segurança Social asks for at least one year in Portugal with it.
• Refugees: your refugee status document.

How much you get

The PSI has three parts.

1. The base amount (componente base). It helps with the extra costs of living with a disability.

If your rating is 60% to 79% and you have income, the base amount falls as your income rises, and stops once your income is high enough. Income from work has a more generous limit than other income, so working costs you less of the benefit. Segurança Social Direta shows how your income was counted.

A child in a one-adult home. The base amount for a child goes up by 35% if only one adult is responsible for them. That adult can be a relative up to the third degree, an adoptive parent, a guardian, or a carer named by a court.

2. The complement (complemento). An extra amount for adults on a low income or living alone.

• You must be 18 or over and receive the base amount.
• It is means tested on your household's income.
• The most you can get is €670 a month in 2026. If two people in the home get the PSI, the most is €1,172.50 between them.
• You cannot get it while living in a state-funded institution, in prison, or in foster care.

How household income is counted. Segurança Social multiplies a yearly reference value of €8,040 by a weighting: 1 for you, 0.7 for each other adult, and 0.5 for each child. Your household's income must be below that limit. Some benefits are left out of the count, including the social integration income, the solidarity supplement for older people, the dependency supplement, and the third-person assistance allowance.

3. The extra amount (majoração). The law also provides for an extra payment for specific disability costs. Segurança Social's guide gives no amount for it.

What you can and cannot combine it with

You can receive the PSI with:

• a disability pension, but only if your rating is 80% or more and was certified before age 55
• the dependency supplement
• survivors' pensions, orphans' pensions, and foreign pensions
• work accident pensions and compensation
• family allowance (abono de família), except the disability bonus
• sickness and unemployment benefits
• the social integration income (RSI)
• the informal carer's support payment

You cannot receive it with:

• the disability bonus on family allowance (bonificação por deficiência)
• the solidarity supplement for older people (complemento solidário para idosos)
• the social old-age pension
• the third-person assistance allowance, unless you already had it when you claimed the PSI

From 31 December 2026. The social integration income becomes part of the new single social benefit. Some people may already get the solidarity supplement for older people, or the new single benefit at pension age. If they then claim the PSI and it would pay less, they can choose to keep their current benefits.

How to apply

1. Get your disability certificate, or ask for it. You can apply with proof that you have asked for the certificate. The original must reach Segurança Social within one year, or your claim is closed.
2. Apply online. Log in to Segurança Social Direta. Go to Família, then Deficiência e Incapacidade, then Prestação Social para a Inclusão, then Requerer a Prestação Social para a Inclusão. Upload your certificate or proof of request and confirm your income.
3. Or apply on paper. Use form PSI 1 for the base amount and complement, with form PSI 1/1 for income. Hand them in at any Segurança Social office or post them to your district centre.

Documents you need:

• a valid identity document, such as your Citizen Card, passport, or a child's birth certificate
• your tax number (NIF)
• proof of legal residence, if you are not Portuguese
• your disability certificate, or proof that you have asked for it
• a bank document showing your IBAN, if you want payment by transfer
• medical records showing the disability began before 55, if you are 55 or older

When payment starts. The PSI is due from the month in which your complete request arrives. If you applied with proof of a certificate request, payment starts from the month you applied, once the original certificate arrives.

No official decision time is published.

Payments and reviews

• 12 payments a year. There is no extra payment in July or December.
• Paid by bank transfer or postal order.
• Not taxed. You do not declare the PSI on your income tax return.
• Reviewed every 12 months, and whenever your income, household, or rating changes.

Changes you must report

Tell Segurança Social within 10 working days if:

• your income or your household changes
• your disability rating changes
• you start or stop work
• you move house
• you go into, or leave, a state-funded institution or foster care
• you spend time outside Portugal

Time abroad. The PSI is suspended if you leave Portugal for more than 30 days in a year, unless it is for health, study, or training.

You can report changes online through the eClic help area in Segurança Social Direta, with form PSI 35, or at an office. If you do not report, the benefit can be stopped.

Turning 18. If a child's rating is 60% to 79%, send form PSI 35 with an updated income statement three months before their 18th birthday.

Contacts

• Segurança Social line: 210 545 400 or 300 502 502, working days from 09:00 to 18:00.
• Appointments line: 210 548 888 or 300 088 888.

What this means for you

• Ask for your disability certificate early, and in any case before age 55. You can claim the PSI while you wait for it.
• At 80% or more, the base amount of €333.64 is paid whatever your income.
• Check the complement if you live alone or on a low income. It can add up to €670 a month.
• Think before combining benefits. The PSI cannot be paid with the solidarity supplement for older people or the family allowance disability bonus.
• Report changes within 10 working days, including long trips abroad.

This guide is general information, not legal or medical advice. Amounts change every year; check with Segurança Social before you apply.

Sources

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

• Instituto da Segurança Social, practical guide to the social inclusion benefit (8003, version 1.28, published 3 July 2026): https://www.seg-social.pt/ptss/pssd/documento/cmc20cv1800oxkl2ycdd4k87m (60% rating, before-55 rule and SVI proof, first responders, residence documents and one year for non-EU citizens, children from birth, €333.64 and €166.82, 80% rule, income reduction for 60% to 79%, 35% increase for one-adult homes, complement from 18, €670 and €1,172.50, €8,040 reference and weighting, excluded income, exclusions from the complement, combinations allowed and not allowed, online path, forms PSI 1, PSI 1/1, and PSI 35, documents, one year to send the certificate, start of payment, 12 payments, not taxed, 12-month review, 10 working days to report, 30 days abroad, eClic, turning 18, contact lines), checked 2 October 2026
• gov.pt, Doenças incapacitantes: apoios socioeconómicos e benefícios fiscais (updated 4 September 2026): https://www.gov.pt/guias/doencas-incapacitantes-apoios-socioeconomicos-e-beneficios-fiscais (60% with the certificate, residence, complement for low incomes and not in an institution, prison, or foster family), checked 2 October 2026
• Diário da República, Decreto-Lei n.º 166/2026, of 13 August (single social benefit): https://files.diariodarepublica.pt/1s/2026/08/15600/0001100041.pdf (13 benefits merged, including the social integration income; amendment of article 49 of Decreto-Lei n.º 126-A/2017 letting CSI and PSU holders keep their benefits if the PSI is lower; effect from 31 December 2026), checked 2 October 2026
• Instituto da Segurança Social, practical guide to the disability pension (version 4.57): https://www.seg-social.pt/ptss/pssd/documento/cmc1zu99c00lykl2y7f0avytg (80% rule with a disability pension), carried from verified guide W2A-19, checked 1 October 2026
• Diário da República, Portaria n.º 480-A/2025/1, of 30 December (IAS of €537.13 for 2026): https://diariodarepublica.pt/dr/detalhe/portaria/480-a-2025-993056222

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