Claiming the Social Integration Income (RSI) in Portugal

Last verified: October 2026.

Who this is for

• You, or your household, have very little or no income and few savings.
• You live legally in Portugal: EU, EEA, and Swiss citizens from day one, others after one year.
• You already receive the RSI and want to know what changes on 31 December 2026.

Not for you if: you lost your job after working as an employee and paying Portuguese social security. Read Claiming Unemployment Benefit in Portugal first.

Updated October 2026. A new single social benefit (prestação social única) replaces the RSI from 31 December 2026. If you already receive the RSI, you are moved across automatically and keep your amount until your current period ends.

The Social Integration Income (rendimento social de inserção, RSI) is a monthly payment from Segurança Social for households in extreme poverty. It comes with an integration contract, a plan of steps towards work and independence. You do not need past contributions. In 2026 the maximum for one person living alone is €247.56 a month. Each extra adult adds €173.29 and each child adds €123.78. You receive the difference between that maximum and your household's income.

How the RSI works

The RSI has two parts that go together:

• A monthly payment that tops up your household's income to a minimum level.
• An integration contract (contrato de inserção), a plan of actions suited to your household, such as job search, training, or other activities.

If you accept the payment, you must also sign and follow the contract.

Who qualifies

You must meet all of these conditions.

Legal residence.

• EU, EEA, and Swiss citizens, and citizens of other countries with a free movement agreement with the EU: you must live legally in Portugal.
• Citizens of other countries: you must have lived legally in Portugal for at least one year.
• Recognised refugees: you must live legally in Portugal.

Age. You must be 18 or over. If you are under 18, you can apply only if your own income is above €173.29 a month. You must also be pregnant, married or in a de facto union for more than two years, or have dependants.

Low income. Your household's gross monthly income must be below the RSI maximum for your household. For one person living alone, that is €247.56.

Limited savings. Your household's savings and investments must not exceed €32,227.80. That is 60 times the social support index (IAS). This includes bank deposits, shares, bonds, savings certificates, and fund units.

Available for work. If you are able to work and unemployed, you must register at your local job centre (centro de emprego). If you are over 16 and studying or in training, proof of that replaces registration. If you left your last job on your own initiative without just cause, you must wait one year from that date before you apply.

Other conditions. You must also:

• authorise Segurança Social to check your financial information;
• commit, formally, to sign the integration contract;
• not be in prison or pre-trial detention (you can apply in the 45 days before your expected release);
• not receive support under the asylum or refugee support scheme;
• not live in a state-funded institution, with some exceptions.

People who give essential care to a family member, under the informal carer scheme, can also qualify. See Becoming a Recognised Informal Carer in Portugal.

Who counts as your household

Your household (agregado familiar) is the people who live with you and share expenses. It includes your spouse, or a partner you have lived with for more than two years, and close relatives such as children, parents, brothers and sisters, and grandparents. It also includes children placed with you by a court or official decision.

How much you get

The RSI maximum for your household is the total of these amounts:

You receive the maximum minus your household's income.

Example from Segurança Social. Joana lives with two other adults and one child. Her household maximum is €247.56 + €173.29 + €173.29 + €123.78 = €717.92. Her household income is €300. She receives €717.92 minus €300, so €417.92 a month.

If you have no income, you receive the full maximum.

Which income counts

Segurança Social looks at your household's income in the month before you apply. If income varies, it uses the average of the last three months.

• Work income: 80% of earnings, after social security contributions, plus a twelfth of holiday and Christmas pay.
• Other income: 100%, including pensions, maintenance, most social benefits, and regular housing support.
• Savings: a twelfth of the higher of your actual interest or dividends, or 5% of your savings on 31 December of the year before.
• Property: your own home counts only if it is worth more than €241,708.50 (450 times the IAS). Then a twelfth of 5% of the excess counts. For other property, the higher of the rent you receive or 5% of its value counts, divided by twelve.

Some income does not count. This includes family allowance, disability and dependency benefits, and pay from school holiday jobs.

If you start work while receiving the RSI, only 50% of your work income counts for the first 12 months.

How to apply

1. Gather your documents and those of everyone in your household (see the list below).
2. Apply online, preferably, in Segurança Social Direta. Go to Ação Social, then Apoios e Respostas Sociais, then Rendimento Social de Inserção, and choose "Registar pedido através do Canal e-Clic". Attach the form and documents and submit.
3. Or apply in person at any Segurança Social service desk (serviço de atendimento).
4. Sign the integration contract within 45 days of approval.

If you do not apply online, the forms are the RSI 1 application and the RV 1017 identification form for everyone in your household. Both are on the Segurança Social website. To report changes later, use form RSI 28.

Documents

• A valid identity document for you and each household member, such as a Citizen Card, passport, or birth certificate.
• A tax number (NIF) document for anyone without a Citizen Card. See Getting a NIF (Tax Number) in Portugal.
• Payslips for the last month, or the last three months if your pay varies.
• Proof of legal residence:
• EU, EEA, and Swiss citizens: the registration certificate from your town hall (Câmara Municipal).
• Other citizens: a visa or residence permit that shows at least one year of residence.
• Refugees: a residence permit showing refugee status.
• If you have savings or rental income: bank statements and rent receipts.
• Where relevant: proof of study, a medical certificate, a certificate of disability, or last year's tax return.

You can be paid by bank transfer or by postal order. To be paid into a bank account, register your IBAN in Segurança Social Direta. If you have no account, any bank must offer a basic bank account (serviços mínimos bancários) at low cost.

When payment starts and how long it lasts

You are entitled from the date your application is complete, meaning the day you hand in the last document, if it is approved. No official decision time is published in the practical guide.

The RSI is granted for 12 months. It renews automatically if you still qualify. Segurança Social starts the review two months before the period ends, using the information it already holds.

Your duties

You, and everyone in your household, must:

• tell Segurança Social within 10 working days about any change in income, household, or address;
• hand in documents when asked;
• attend meetings with the local integration unit (Núcleo Local de Inserção, NLI), which agrees and reviews the contract;
• sign and follow the integration contract;
• be willing to claim other benefits you may be entitled to, and unpaid maintenance or debts owed to you.

What happens if you break the rules

The penalties are strict.

Missing a meeting, or not answering a letter within five days without a reason, counts as refusing to sign. Valid reasons include illness, caring for a sick relative, work or a job interview, a legal duty, or a death in the close family.

Temporary stop. Payment can also stop for a while, for example if you do not report a change within the deadline, or your income rises above the limit for up to 180 days. The right ends if your income stays above the limit for more than 180 days.

The new single social benefit

The single social benefit (prestação social única, PSU) takes effect on 31 December 2026. It merges 13 means-tested benefits, including the RSI, the social pensions, and the social unemployment benefit, into one payment.

If you receive the RSI on 31 December 2026, Segurança Social moves you to the PSU automatically. You keep the amount you are receiving until the end of your current period.

If you apply later, you will apply for the PSU. Key points from the new law:

• The reference value is half the IAS, about €268.57 at the 2026 rate.
• The household scale is the same: 1 for you, 0.7 for each other adult, and 0.5 for each child.
• Savings, and registered goods such as cars, must each be worth no more than 60 times the IAS.
• Citizens of countries outside the EU still need at least one year of legal residence.
• If you leave a job on your own initiative without just cause, you still wait one year.
• A new work incentive reduces the benefit gradually as your earnings rise, instead of stopping it at once.
• Segurança Social must decide within 30 days of a complete application.

The government still has to publish the detailed procedures. Check the Segurança Social website before you apply late in 2026 or in 2027.

Other help to check

• If you are over the state pension age and have a low pension, see Claiming the Elderly Solidarity Supplement (CSI) in Portugal.
• If you have a disability of 60% or more, see Claiming the Social Inclusion Benefit for Disability in Portugal.
• For how the IAS sets these limits, see What Is the IAS, Portugal's Social Support Index?

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Your exact amount depends on your household; check with Segurança Social before you act.

Sources

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

• Social Security Institute, practical guide to the Social Integration Income (8001, version 4.66, 3 July 2026): https://www.seg-social.pt/ptss/pssd/documento/cmc20aw2e00ovkl2ysmfehy58?dswid=8826 (what it is, informal carers, residence rules, savings limit €32,227.80, job centre registration, one-year wait after leaving a job, consent, income below €247.56, under-18 rules and €173.29, prison and institution rules, amounts €247.56, €173.29, €123.78, Joana example, income rules, 80% and 50% work income, home over €241,708.50, payment by transfer or postal order, basic bank account, entitlement from complete application, 12 months, automatic renewal two months before, temporary stops and end of the right, online and in-person applications, forms RSI 1, RV 1017, RSI 28, documents, duties, 10 working days, 45 days to sign, penalties of 12 and 24 months, valid reasons, household definition; legal basis Lei n.º 13/2003, Portaria n.º 257/2012, Portaria n.º 71/2026/1, Portaria n.º 480-A/2025/1), checked 2 October 2026
• Procuradoria-Geral Regional de Lisboa, Lei n.º 13/2003, of 21 May (RSI), consolidated: https://www.pgdlisboa.pt/leis/lei_mostra_articulado.php?nid=2027&tabela=leis (legal framework of the RSI), 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; one year of residence for non-EU citizens; reference value 50% of IAS, article 7; savings and registered goods up to 60 times IAS and one-year wait, article 8; scale of 1, 0.7, and 0.5, article 24; work incentive; 30-day decision; automatic conversion of RSI with amount kept during the current period, article 57; regulation by portaria, article 59; revocation of Lei n.º 13/2003, article 62; effect from 31 December 2026, article 63), checked 2 October 2026

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