Getting a NIF and a bank account in Portugal as a Brazilian

A few months later, once I had my residence and a Portuguese address, I updated my address at Finanças and removed the fiscal representative.

Choosing a bank

I compared three options:

• Millennium BCP: big branch network, English and Portuguese app, monthly fee of around 6 euros for a basic account
• Caixa Geral de Depósitos: state-owned, very common, similar fees
• ActivoBank: a digital bank owned by Millennium, no monthly fee if you meet certain conditions

I chose ActivoBank because of the fees. But opening the account online required a Portuguese address, so I went to a physical branch in Porto.

Opening the account

I brought my passport, NIF, proof of address in Brazil and a declaration of my income (my freelance contracts and three months of bank statements). The process took about one hour, mostly because they had to review my income documents for anti-money-laundering checks. The bank also asked me to fill in a tax residency form (for international reporting).

I received my debit card by post at the address of my Airbnb eight days later.

MB Way and Multibanco

Two things made life easy once I had a Portuguese account:

• MB Way is the national instant payment app. You can pay in shops and send money to friends using just a phone number. Everyone uses it.
• Multibanco is the ATM network, which lets you pay bills, taxes, phone top ups and even the rent from any ATM.

Without a Portuguese account, you cannot use either, which is one of the main reasons to open one early.

Sending money from Brazil

I use Wise to transfer my earnings from Brazil to Portugal. I compared the total cost with a traditional Brazilian bank transfer, and Wise was about 3 percent cheaper each time, which on my income is over 100 euros a month.

Tips

• If you speak Portuguese, go in person. It is faster and free.
• Bring more documents than you think you need, especially proof of income.
• Ask whether you can waive the monthly fee by having your salary or a minimum deposit.
• Register for MB Way as soon as your card arrives.

The process was far easier than I expected. The Portuguese bureaucracy has its reputation, but these two steps were painless compared with renting an apartment.