Subsídio
de Mobilidade

The State gives you back part of what your flight between Madeira and the mainland cost. Almost nobody claims it.

What changed in the law

Three questions

Are you eligible?

Three questions. Nothing is stored, nothing is asked of you.

Have you lived in Madeira or Porto Santo for more than 6 months?

Did you fly between the island and the mainland (or between autonomous regions)?

Was the ticket bought in your name, on or after 15 January 2026?

Step-by-step guide

How to get your flight money back

Six steps, one sentence each. Open “Why” if you want the reasoning.

Before anything else

The phone number and email must be the person's own

If you are helping someone else, use their phone and their email — the same ones used for their Chave Móvel Digital. Putting your own contacts into another person's record risks losing access to your own account. The real case and what to do: Helping someone else.

What you need at hand

  • Chave Móvel Digital, or a Cartão de Cidadão with a card reader
  • A valid residence permit, if you are a foreign national
  • Your IBAN filled in on your platform profile
  • The airline invoice, showing your NIF
  • The travel proof (electronic ticket)

The access key

Activate the Chave Móvel Digital if you do not have one.

Why

The platform accepts only two means: Chave Móvel Digital (CMD) or a Cartão de Cidadão with a reader. There is no login with tax-office credentials. It is a one-time setup: autenticacao.gov.pt

Buying the ticket

Give your passport, not your residence permit.

Why

The passport is what is checked at check-in and boarding, and that is the number the airline prints on the documents. At check-in, choose the electronic boarding pass: it is saved and cannot be lost.

After the flight

Request the invoice from the airline.

Why

TAP issues the invoice after the flight has been taken — request it in your account or with the booking reference and surname; it usually arrives the next day. Check that it includes page two, the «Declaração para efeitos de Subsídio de Mobilidade»: every figure comes from there.

Assemble the folder

Have the invoice and the ticket before opening the form.

Why

The form will not move on without both documents, in two separate fields: the invoice under «Fatura(s) de Viagem», the travel proof under «Título(s) de Viagem» — both marked with an asterisk. Accepted formats: .jpg, .pdf, .png. With TAP both are requested in one place, no account needed: Documentos TAP.

Submit

Open The claim in five steps and do it in one sitting.

Why

Five screens: beneficiary details, IBAN, trip details, passenger details and attachments. The instruction shows every screen and every field, with the TAP invoice alongside — and the seven figures copied from it. Do it all in one session: the draft loses fields.

Wait

Follow the status under «Histórico de Pedidos».

Why

The claim sits in «Em Análise» and an operator approves attachments one by one — days can pass between documents, which is normal. If «Correção Solicitada» appears, fix it and carry on. In our claims, filing to payment took about two weeks. Statuses, timings and a real correction notice: After submitting.

Read separately

The smallest thing you can claim

Getting a flight refunded is the least the State has on offer. The support programmes for businesses in Madeira run into thousands of euros — and most of them go unclaimed, because nobody knows they exist or where to start.