This is about Portugal, specifically the Portal das Finanças access password (senha) that comes with a NIF.
I got my Portuguese NIF through AnchorLess in early March 2026, with fiscal representation included, as part of preparing a Golden Visa application. The number arrived. The senha never has, six months on.
I’ve been told several times that the letter was lost by CTT and reissued. That may well be true. What has worn me down is that in six months I have never received a single update without chasing for it, and my last two emails have gone unanswered.
The structural problem is that I’m based outside the EU, so the senha goes to my fiscal representative’s address in Portugal, never to me. I can’t verify that a request is actually live, can’t escalate at the finanças, and every route runs back through the firm that isn’t moving.
Two questions for anyone who has been through this.
First, how much does the senha really matter in practice? I have no Portuguese income and no property yet, but I do have a Golden Visa application ahead of me. Is this something I can sit on, or does not having portal access quietly create problems down the line?
Second, has any non-EU resident here obtained the senha another way? I’m thinking changing fiscal representative to a different address, going to a finanças counter in person with a passport, or anything the AT will confirm directly to the taxpayer without portal access. I’ve also seen mention of the electronic notifications channel as a way to drop the representative requirement, but signing up for it seems to need portal access, which puts me back where I started.
Grateful for any experience, including “just wait, it eventually shows up”.