European Health Insurance Card (CESD): how to get it when Segurança Social Direta refuses

Open a request in e-Clic

Segurança Social Direta → Contactos → «Canal e-Clic» → «Registar pedido». Topic: Cartão Europeu de Seguro de Doença. As the reason choose «Esclarecer dúvidas sobre a minha situação». Do not pick «Apresentar um pedido»: it sends you back to the same online form that refused. The text is below — add your name and municipality.

Envolvido: o próprio (titular), [NOME COMPLETO], trabalhador independente, residente em [CONCELHO], com NISS ativo.
Assunto: Cartão Europeu de Seguro de Doença (CESD).
Pedido: ao tentar pedir o CESD na Segurança Social Direta, surge a mensagem «Atualmente não reúne condições para solicitar o CESD por esta via». Não tenho nenhum cartão emitido anteriormente. Solicito que me informem o motivo e procedam à emissão do CESD em meu nome, ou me indiquem como devo fazer o pedido e que documentos são necessários.
Junto, desde já, o Modelo GIT-53 e o Modelo MG2 preenchidos e assinados, e a cópia do título de residência.
Obrigado.

Not self-employed? Change «trabalhador independente». Keep the last sentence only if you attach the forms right away.

Confirmed: sending everything at once saves three and a half weeks. Tested on the second applicant: GIT-53, MG2 and the permit attached to the very first request — card in 14 days. The first one, with a request for information in between, took 39.

Wait for the reply

We got an answer after 18 days: send form GIT-53, form MG2 and a copy of the residence permit. The request became «Pendente de Informação», with 30 days to reply — otherwise it is closed. The blank forms are attached to the request itself, «Documentos» tab, and on the Segurança Social website.

Fill in GIT-53 — the card application

Four pages; you fill in the first and the third. Below is a sample with made-up data; the numbers in the picture are explained underneath.

1. Name — as on your residence permit.
2. NISS — eleven digits.
3. Address — as on your residence permit. We copied it from the card word for word.
4. «Período de autorização de residência»: the permit's issue date and expiry date. Issue date is on the back, expiry on the front.
5. Box 2: «Beneficiário» — the card is for you. Dependent family members go in box 4 on page 2; each gets their own card.
6. 3.1: employed or self-employed — «Sim» to the first question, «Não» to the second. The other way round for pensioners.
7. 3.2: «Sistema de Segurança Social português». Leave section 3.3 empty.

1. Page 3: today's date.
2. The signature goes here: by hand or digitally, as in step 5. The CMD stamp lands just below the field — that is fine, it does not cover the declaration text.

Fill in MG2 — update of personal data

The «Alteração de dados» form, one page. Segurança Social asks for it with the permit copy — as we understand it, to check your details and the address the card is posted to.

1. Name, NISS, date of birth.
2. Mobile and e-mail. They go into the Segurança Social records.
3. The address is filled in by anyone without a Cartão de Cidadão — that is, foreigners. As on your residence permit.
4. Today's date; the signature in the field on the right.

Sign without a printer — Chave Móvel Digital

A free government service: cmd.autenticacao.gov.pt → «Assinatura de Documentos». You need the CMD signature switched on and its PIN. Files up to 3 MB. Sign each form separately.

1. Upload the original, unsigned PDF. Upload one that is already signed and it ends up with two signatures.
2. Tick «Deseja que a assinatura esteja visível no documento?» — the signature must show on the page.
3. Orientation: Vertical. In «Motivo» avoid long dashes and quotes: special characters turn into «???». «Local»: your town.
4. Page and position 1–18 — the least obvious part. The stamp lands in the upper part of the chosen cell; we missed twice. Correct: GIT-53 — page 3, position 12; MG2 — page 1, position 15.
5. Phone number, signature PIN, SMS code — then download the signed file.

Copy your residence permit

Both sides on one page, file up to 3 MB. With a phone: the card on a dark plain table, daylight, no flash, phone parallel to the card, tap to focus on the line with the numbers. Flash glares on the hologram and the NIF and NISS become unreadable.

Send the reply

Open the request → «Responder ao pedido». Paste the text below, then «Adicionar documento» — one file at a time: GIT-53, MG2, permit. Then «Enviar resposta»; the status changes to «Em Análise». The Segurança Social session is short: have the files ready first — ours expired halfway.

Exmos. Senhores,

Na sequência do pedido de informação, junto os documentos solicitados para a emissão do Cartão Europeu de Seguro de Doença (CESD):

1. Modelo GIT-53, devidamente preenchido e assinado;
2. Modelo MG2, devidamente preenchido e assinado;
3. Cópia do título de residência (frente e verso).

Fico ao dispor para qualquer esclarecimento adicional.

Com os melhores cumprimentos,
[NOME COMPLETO]
NISS [NÚMERO]

Wait for the card

According to Segurança Social, the card arrives by post 5–7 working days after it is issued, at the address on file. Travelling sooner? The Provisional Replacement Certificate (CPS) has the same legal value. No need to ask anyone: as soon as the card is issued, Segurança Social Direta → CESD → «Ações» → «Obter certificado provisório» — the PDF downloads instantly. Ours came with the card's full validity.