GHIC, S1 and Healthcare in Portugal for Britons Who Move

A Briton who lives in Portugal gets state healthcare by registering as a resident with the Serviço Nacional de Saúde (SNS), not by using a UK Global Health Insurance Card (GHIC). The S1 form is a separate route for people whose healthcare the UK pays for, such as UK State Pension recipients.

This guide follows GOV.UK, the NHS and the Portuguese government pages, read on 18 October 2026. It is general information, not medical, insurance or legal advice. For the Portuguese side in full, see our guide to healthcare access for newcomers, and for the residence side, moving to Portugal as a Briton after Brexit.

What do the GHIC and the S1 each do?

The two documents answer different questions.

The NHS page says the GHIC “lets you get necessary state healthcare in the European Economic Area (EEA), and some other countries, on the same basis as a resident of that country”. It also says the GHIC is not a replacement for travel insurance, and does not cover being flown back to the UK or treatment in a private medical facility.

Can I use my GHIC once I live in Portugal?

GOV.UK’s Living in Portugal guide, whose change history shows it was rewritten on 9 January 2026, says: “If you’re living in Portugal, you cannot use your UK-issued EHIC or GHIC to access healthcare, nor renew it, unless you meet the criteria.” It lists three cases where you may be able to: a UK student in Portugal, a UK State Pensioner with a registered S1, and a frontier worker with a registered S1. The FCDO guide for British nationals in Portugal also says not to register for or try to access healthcare using an EHIC.

The NHS page on applying says you are entitled to a UK GHIC if you are ordinarily and legally resident in the UK and have no healthcare cover provided by an EEA country or Switzerland. It adds that you may also be entitled if you live in the EEA or Switzerland with a registered S1, or with an A1 document issued by the UK. A new UK EHIC, rather than a GHIC, is for those living in the EEA since before 1 January 2021 with a registered UK-issued S1, E121, E106 or E109 form, or with a UK-issued A1, and for people with rights under the Withdrawal Agreement who choose it.

In short, the GHIC is the card for a trip, including a trip from the UK to Portugal before you move. After you move, the pages point you to registration as a resident.

How does a Briton register for healthcare as a resident?

GOV.UK’s guide for British nationals says Portugal “has a residence-based healthcare system”, so if you are legally resident you are entitled to state healthcare on the same basis as a Portuguese citizen. The steps it gives:

1. Have a residence permit (you register for healthcare after you register as a resident).
2. Go to your local health center (centro de saúde).
3. Take your valid passport and residence permit.
4. You are issued a health number (número de utente de saúde), your ID number for state healthcare.

The two GOV.UK pages differ slightly on documents. The FCDO guide says you do not need a social security number to register. The Healthcare for UK nationals page (last updated 14 October 2021) lists a residence certificate, passport and NIF, and adds the NISS if you are employed or self-employed. The Living in Portugal guide lists residence certificate, passport and NIF. Ask the health center for its checklist. Our NIF guide covers the tax number.

GOV.UK also says you pay standard user fees (taxas moderadoras), that you can get private health insurance but do not need to, and that you still need to register for state healthcare. It also says you must show proof of healthcare cover when you apply for a visa and before you register as a resident; the consulate or the Portuguese authorities say what they accept. The visa side of insurance is covered in private health insurance and what the visa requires.

Who can get an S1, and what does it change?

The NHS page on planning your healthcare says that if you live in the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland, you may be eligible for an S1 if you are lawfully present as a resident and meet one of these criteria:

• you receive an eligible exportable benefit issued by the DWP (including UK State Pension)
• you are a posted or frontier worker recognised by HMRC
• you receive the unemployability supplement element of a UK war pension

It lists the exportable benefits as contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance, Maternity Allowance, and Widow’s Benefit or Widowed Parent’s Allowance. It says that from 1 January 2021, DLA, PIP, Carer’s Allowance and Attendance Allowance no longer entitle you to an S1 if you do not already have one, and that people who had an S1 on one of them before that date keep it while they receive the benefit.

Two limits matter. If you receive both a state pension from the country you live in and a UK State Pension, you cannot get an S1, because the country you live in is responsible for your healthcare. And a dependant’s S1 ends when the dependant starts claiming their own UK State Pension: NHS Overseas Healthcare Services sends a new S1, which must be registered to keep cover.

If you hold a registered S1, GOV.UK says you and your dependants are entitled to state healthcare in Portugal on the same basis as a Portuguese citizen, plus, according to the older GOV.UK guide to healthcare for UK nationals in Portugal (last updated 14 October 2021), a UK-issued GHIC or EHIC for travel and planned treatment in other EU countries.

If you are not yet drawing a UK State Pension or exportable benefit, the NHS says to wait until you have started to receive it before applying for an S1.

How do I get an S1 and register it in Portugal?

The Portuguese health ministry’s page for foreigners (ACSS) describes the same order for European citizens: the S1 is requested from the competent institution in the home country and presented at the district social security center, and then the health center assigns the SNS user number. The NHS warns that you are responsible for having healthcare cover while the S1 is being registered, and that without insurance you may be charged. Tell NHS Overseas Healthcare Services if your address or circumstances change.

Does the date of my move change my rights?

Yes, in two places the pages state.

First, the card. The NHS page says a UK EHIC is for people living in the EEA since before 1 January 2021 (with a registered S1 or similar) and for people with Withdrawal Agreement rights. GOV.UK’s Portugal guide says a UK S1 holder is entitled to a new UK-issued EHIC or GHIC, and that the card depends on when you moved. It adds that if you moved before 1 January 2021 and apply for a new EHIC, you can also use it in Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.

Second, the Withdrawal Agreement. GOV.UK says a UK national living in an EU country by 31 December 2020 is covered if they meet one of the residence conditions, and that people with rights under it can continue to be covered by reciprocal healthcare arrangements, including the S1, the S2 route for planned treatment and the EHIC. For the residence permit itself, see our Brexit guide.

What about the NHS when I visit the UK?

Three pages speak to this, and the oldest disagrees with the other two. The NHS page on planning your healthcare, last reviewed on 2 May 2023, says a registered UK-issued S1 holder who lives in the EU can, from 1 January 2024, access the NHS on the same basis as a UK resident when visiting England on a temporary basis, without paying for NHS treatment. The NHS Business Services Authority knowledge base says the same for a valid registered UK-issued S1 holder visiting the UK, adds that you can show the S1 certificate or verification that one was issued, and that charges that apply to ordinary UK residents, such as prescription charges in England, must still be paid. Both say to check with the relevant NHS authority for Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.

The Portugal healthcare guide for British nationals (undated apart from a 2022 copyright line) says S1 holders who became resident in Portugal before 1 January 2021 are entitled to use NHS services for free when visiting the UK, and that those who became resident from 1 January 2021 onward can no longer do so and should travel with insurance covering necessary treatment. The two newer pages do not mention that cut-off date. Check the position with NHS Overseas Healthcare Services before you travel.

The NHS says that if you move abroad permanently you are no longer automatically entitled to NHS treatment under normal rules, because the NHS is residence-based. GOV.UK’s Portugal healthcare page says UK nationals who move abroad may lose their entitlement and should not expect free NHS use on visits unless they have an EHIC, a PRC or an S2, or another exemption applies. Residents with a Portuguese-issued EHIC may use it for necessary care on UK visits, according to the FCDO guide.

What date does this guide refer to?

The update date, 9 January 2026, is the entry in the change history of GOV.UK’s Living in Portugal guide that reads “Rewrote guide to make it easier to read and understand”, the latest entry about healthcare. The guide’s later entry of 10 July 2026 concerns residence cards and driving. The Portuguese government’s migrant health guide is dated 23 June 2026 and we used it only as a date marker. The NHS GHIC page was last reviewed on 12 December 2023 and the NHS planning page on 2 May 2023 (its next review date has passed), and the GOV.UK Healthcare for UK nationals page was last updated on 14 October 2021. Where those older pages and newer ones differ, we have said so.

More guides on this site: registering with the SNS; the UK State Pension in Portugal; voluntary National Insurance contributions.

Pages read, on 18 October 2026

GOV.UK, Living in Portugal; FCDO and DHSC, Healthcare for British nationals living in Portugal; GOV.UK, Healthcare for UK nationals living in Portugal; GOV.UK, The Withdrawal Agreement: what UK nationals need to know about citizens’ rights; NHS, Apply for a UK GHIC or UK EHIC; NHS, Planning your healthcare when living abroad; gov.pt, Migrantes: cuidados de saúde em Portugal; ACSS, Acesso de cidadãos estrangeiros ao SNS. NHS Business Services Authority, “Can S1 certificate holders access healthcare whilst visiting the UK?”.