Recognition of the Informal Carer Status

Citizens who provide permanent or regular care to a person in a dependency situation (person receiving care) and who wish to be formally recognised as informal carers.

In order to be recognised as an informal carer, the person providing care must fulfil certain conditions, as well as the person receiving care (see next tab on the necessary conditions of the person receiving care).

Only one carer per household can be recognised as an informal carer.

The informal carer can be considered as primary or non-primary carer.

The informal carer must fulfil the following conditions, cumulatively:

• To be legally resident in the national territory;
• To be aged 18 or older;
• To have adequate health conditions to provide care to the person concerned and be available to provide that care;
• To be spouse or de facto partner, relative or kin, in straight line or collateral line, up to the 4th degree, of the person receiving care (e.g.: son/daughter, grandson/granddaughter, great-grandson/great-granddaughter, brother/sister, father/mother, uncle/aunt, grandfather/grandmother, great-grandfather/great-grandmother, great-uncle/great-aunt or cousin);
• The informal carer may not have a family relationship with the person receiving care but must be living in the same household with the person concerned, in the case of primary informal carer
• Parents with shared custody of the person receiving care can both be considered non-primary informal carers
• The informal carer cannot be a total invalidity pensioner or an invalidity pensioner under the special invalidity protection scheme and cannot be receiving dependency benefits.

In addition to the aforementioned conditions, the primary informal carer must also fulfil the following conditions, cumulatively:

Primary informal carer

1. Spouse or de facto partner, relative or kin, in straight line or collateral line, up to the 4th degree, of the person receiving care:

• He/she must be taking care of the person concerned on a permanent basis;
• He/she has to prove that he/she and the person receiving care have established a relationship of mutual support and sharing of resources;
• He/she may or may not have the same tax residence as the person receiving care;
• He/she cannot be receiving remuneration from a professional activity or due to the care provided to the person concerned.

2. Person without a family relationship with the person receiving care:

• He/she must be taking care of the person concerned on a permanent basis;
• He/she must be living in the same household and have the same tax residence as the person receiving care;
• He/she cannot be receiving remuneration from a professional activity or due to the care provided to the person concerned.

Non-primary informal carer

1. The non-primary informal carer accompanies and takes care of another person on a regular, but not permanent basis, and may or may not receive remuneration from a professional activity or due to the care provided to the person concerned.
2. Parents with shared custody of the person receiving care, whether or not they receive remuneration from a professional activity or due to the care provided to the person concerned.
3. The non-primary informal carer may be holder of unemployment benefits.

Provisional recognition of the Informal Carer Status:

The informal carer status can be provisionally recognised when the application is submitted with only the following documents concernig the carer and the person receiving care

• Citizen card, identity card or passport
• Document attesting legal residence in Portugal, when applicable
• Sworn statement by the carer stating that he/she has adequate physical and psychological conditions to provide care to the person concerned,

AND

Provided that, on the date of the application submission, the applicant declares that he/she fulfils the conditions for the Informal Carer status recognition and undertakes to submit the following documents within 90 days:

• Consent from the person receiving care, stating unequivocally (clearly) that he/she wants the applicant to be recognised as his/her informal carer.

This consent is submitted to the Social Security Institute (ISS, I. P.) services, by means of a statement signed by the person receiving care, provided that he/she is an adult, and must be accompanied by a medical statement attesting that the person receiving care is in full use of his/her intellectual faculties. This document may also be signed by a legal representative on his/her behalf.

• Proof of the application submitted to the Public Prosecutor's Office or to the Court, within the scope of the Legal Scheme for Accompanied Adults, where applicable;
• Statement of the person receiving care confirming that he/she has a relationship of mutual support and sharing of resources with the person that is taking care of him/her on a permanent basis, in case the carer is the spouse or de facto partner, relative or kin, in straight line or collateral line, up to the 4th degree and whether or not they have the same tax residence;
• Statement of the person receiving care confirming that he/she is living in the same household with the carer, in case the primary carer has no family relationship with the person receiving care.

Please note: The application will not be provisionally recognised, i.e., will be rejected without further consideration, if the applicant does not commit to submit the aforementioned documents within 90 days.

Upon the recognition of the informal carer status, an identification card is issued by the Social Security Institute (ISS, I.P.), which the informal carer must submit whenever required.

The following citizens are considered to be legally resident in Portugal:

• Portuguese citizens whose habitual residence is in Portugal.
• Citizens of the European Union, European Economic Area and third countries that have an agreement on the free movement of persons within the European Union, who hold an EU citizen registration certificate issued by the municipal council of the place where they are residing.
• Stateless persons and nationals of States not mentioned above, who hold a temporary stay visa, a residence visa, a temporary residence permit or a permanent residence permit issued under the legal scheme of foreigners’ entry and permanence in and exit and removal out of the national territory, provided that they are staying or residing in national territory under one of the abovementioned permits for at least one year, unless the respective holder has been granted refugee status.

1. For the purposes of the informal carer status recognition, the person receiving care must fulfil the following conditions:

a) He/she must be in a dependency situation and in need of permanent care provided by a third party;

b) He/she cannot be accommodated in a public or private residential facility, of social or health care response;

c) He/she must be holder of one of the following social benefits:

• 2nd degree long-term care supplement, or
• Allowance for care provided by a third party, or
• 1st or 2nd degree of the long-term care supplement, or Allowance for care provided by a third party granted by the Civil Servants Pension Fund (CGA - Caixa Geral de Aposentações).

2. The person receiving care may also be temporarily bedridden or in need of permanent care due to a dependency situation.

3. In situations where the person receiving care is holder of the 1st degree long-term care supplement, the temporary situation referred to in the previous paragraph is determined by a specific assessment from the user's family doctor or medical assistant, who defines the time limit after which the dependency situation of the person receiving care shall be reassessed.

4. In situations where the person receiving care is not holder of the 1st degree long-term care supplement, the dependency situation is assessed by the disability assessment services (SVI) of the Social Security Institute (ISS, I.P.), and the person receiving care must submit a statement issued by his/her family doctor or medical assistant, defining the temporary period after which the dependency situation of the person receiving care shall be reassessed.

Please note: If the person receiving care is not holder of any of the previously mentioned benefits, he/she may submit the respective application along with the application for the Recognition of the Informal Carer Status.

The application for the Recognition of the Informal Carer Status, Form Mod. CI 1-DGSS, must be submitted together with the documents indicated therein, preferably via the Social Security Online Service (Segurança Social Direta) or at any Social Security customer information service.

After the person concerned is recognised as an informal carer, the Informal Carer Identification Card is issued.

The application form is available here or in any Social Security customer information service.

For information on how to access the Social Security Online Service (Segurança Social Direta), see the Practical Guide available here.

The informal carer status ceases to be recognised in the following situations:

• Cessation of usual or legal residence in national territory of the carer and/or the person receiving care.
• The carer becomes permanently disabled or dependent.
• Non-compliance with the informal carer’s duties, attested by substantiated information from the social security or health professionals accompanying the carer.
• Non-submission of the statement of consent, within 30 days after the communication of the Court’s judgment within the scope of the Legal Scheme of Accompanied Adults, where applicable.
• Non-submission of information/documents requested by the services.
• Cessation of the requirements that led to the recognition of informal carer status.
• Withdrawal or death of the carer and/or the person receiving care.
• End of entitlement to the Primary Informal Carer Allowance

Please note: The informal carer is required to communicate to social security, within 10 working days, any change in the circumstances that determined the recognition of the Informal Carer status, namely the previously mentioned situations. 

Rights

The informal carer, whose status is duly recognised, has the right to:

• have the fundamental role he plays in maintaining the well-being of the person receiving care formally recognised
• be accompanied and receive training for the development of his/her capabilities and the acquisition of competences aimed to the adequate provision of health care to the person concerned
• receive information from health and social security professionals
• have access to information that, in coordination with the health services, clarifies the person receiving care and the informal carer about the evolution of the disease and all the support to which they are entitled
• have access to information on good practices within the scope of informal carers’ training, monitoring and counselling
• psychological support from health services, whenever necessary, even after the death of the person receiving care
• benefit from rest periods aimed at his/her well-being and emotional balance
• be able to reconcile the provision of care with professional life, in the case of non-primary informal carers, in accordance with the Labour Code, in its current version
• benefit from the student-worker scheme, when attending an educational establishment
• be heard within the scope of the definition of public policies aimed at informal carers.

In the case of a primary informal carer, he/she is also entitled to:

• the Primary Informal Carer Allowance, provided that he/she fulfils the respective entitlement conditions
• apply for coverage under the Voluntary Social Insurance Scheme

For more information go to:

Voluntary Social Insurance Scheme

Contributions - Voluntary Social Insurance Scheme

• the promotion of his/her integration into the labour market after the care provided to the person concerned has ended.

In this situation, in order to be entitled to the support and technical interventions of the Employment and Vocational Training Institute (IEFP - Instituto do Emprego e Formação Profissional, I.P.), which promotes socio-occupational integration and return to the labour market, the carer must register at the employment centre of his/her residence area.

Duties

With regard to the person receiving care, the informal carer must:

• Attend to and respect his/her interests and rights
• Provide support and care to the person concerned, in coordination with and under the guidance of health professionals, and request social support whenever necessary.
• Ensure the necessary support for the overall well-being of the person receiving care
• Contribute to the improvement of the quality of life of the person receiving care, intervening in the development of his/her maximum functional capacity and aiming at his/her autonomy
• Promote the satisfaction of the basic and instrumental needs of daily life, including ensuring compliance with the therapeutic scheme prescribed by the health team that accompanies the person receiving care
• Develop strategies to promote the autonomy and independence of the person receiving care, as well as foster communication and socialisation, in order to maintain the person receiving care interested in various subjects
• Strengthen the family relationships with the person receiving care
• Promote a safe, comfortable and peaceful environment by encouraging daily rest periods for the person receiving care, as well as leisure time
• Ensure the hygiene conditions of the person receiving care, including housing hygiene
• Ensure adequate nutrition and hydration to the person receiving care.

In addition to the duties listed above, the informal carer must also:

• Communicate to the health team any changes in the state of health of the person receiving care, as well as any needs that, if satisfied, would contribute to improving his/her quality of life and recovering his/her state of health;
• Participate in the training and capacity-building activities assigned to him/her;
• Inform the competent social security services within 10 working days of any change in the circumstances that led to recognition of the informal carer status.

People who have been granted the status of informal carer are entitled to support measures of a different nature, as provided for in Regulatory Decree no. 1/2022 of 10 January (Decreto Regulamentar n.º 1/2022, de 10 de janeiro), such as:

Qualified professionals - health professionals and social security professionals

1. The competent health and social security services of the place where the person receiving care is residing shall appoint a qualified professional according to the needs of the person receiving care. This qualified professional is responsible for a close follow-up of the situation and, together with the person receiving care and the informal carer, he/she must identify the appropriate forms of intervention and mobilise the available resources in order to ensure, in an integrated and systemic manner, the support and services necessary to respond to the needs of the person concerned, in terms of health care and social support
2. The qualified professional from the Health services, namely in the family health team context, is responsible for advising, monitoring, enabling and training the informal carer in order to develop his/her competences in the provision of health care to the person receiving care.

3. The qualified professional from the Social Security services is also responsible for providing information on rights and benefits, as well as for the identification of situations requiring further support and referral to social support networks, a set of human resources and institutional services at the disposal of the dependent person and the informal carer that may provide support in home and community contexts, promoting home care service provision.

Please note: The follow-up by health and social security qualified professionals begins with the provisional decision to recognise the Informal Carer status. in this case, the social security qualified professional informs, guides and supports the informal carer in obtaining the documents whose submission has been temporarily waived, in order to complete the process.

Please note: In situations where the person receiving care lives in the municipality of Lisbon, the competences of the social security qualified professionals are ensured by professionals of the charitable organisation Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa.

4. Specific intervention plan for the carer (PIE – Plano de intervenção específico ao cuidador)

1. The Specific intervention plan for the carer (PIE) is a document/programme resulting from the diagnosis of the situation and planning of measures focused on continuity and proximity of care according to the identified health and social security needs.

2. The PIE is drawn up jointly by the qualified professional from the health services and by the qualified professional from the social security services, with the active participation of the informal carer or his/her accompanying person or his/her representative, within 30 days from the decision granting the informal carer status.

3. The PIE includes the assessment of the informal carer's needs, the follow-up, counselling, capacity-building and training strategies that the carer must pursue in order to meet or minimise the needs arising from the situation of the person receiving care and the resources to be mobilised for support and relief in the provision of care.

4. In addition to the identification of the carer and the person receiving care, the PIE shall include the following information:

1. Result of the diagnosis of the informal carer’s needs in line with those of the person receiving care;
2. Identification of care to be provided by the informal carer, as well as information supporting such care;
3. Annual rest period of the informal carer, if applicable;
4. Statement of consent of the person receiving care for accommodation in a social response or unit of the National Network of Integrated Long-term Care (Rede Nacional de Cuidados Continuados Integrados) so that the informal carer may rest, where applicable;
5. Continuous training and capacity-building actions and information that the informal caregiver should attend or consult;
6. Access to health and social support measures aimed at the person receiving care, promoting his/her autonomy, participation, life quality and good care, namely those that contribute to improving the life quality of the person concerned;
7. Assessment of the carer’s life quality and burden, where appropriate;
8. Identification of relevant resources in the community for the situation under assessment;
9. Identification of qualified professionals of the health and social security services, as well as the way in which they may be contacted swiftly;
10. Identification of the self-help groups available in the residence area of the carer.

5. The Specific intervention plan for the carer (PIE) must be evaluated and reviewed whenever necessary, at least once every six months, considering the changes in the needs of the informal carer or the person receiving care, as well as the available support resources and services.

The Specific intervention plan for the carer (PIE) may be reviewed at any time whenever there is a change in the needs associated with the care provision.

Self-help groups

1. Informal carers have the right to participate in self-help groups, created in the health services responsible for their follow-up, promoted by health professionals with a view to mutual help and sharing of experiences between people who are experiencing or have experienced similar situations and/or difficulties, minimising their possible isolation.
2. Self-help groups are aimed to:
   1. Provide information, support and encouragement;
   2. Promote self-esteem, trust and emotional stability;
   3. Foster communication between people and the establishment of positive supportive relationships;
   4. Minimise isolation by fostering integration into the community.
3. In order to enable the carer to participate in self-help groups, and if necessary, the qualified professional from the social security services must provide information about the existing social support networks that are more appropriate to substitute the carer during his/her possible temporary absence.

Training and information

1. Health services shall provide the informal carer with specific information appropriate to the needs of the person receiving care and information on how best to provide him/her with the necessary care, in cooperation with social security services, whenever necessary.
2. In situations where the person receiving care resides in a municipality different from the one where the carer is residing, the competent health services of the residence area of the person receiving care are responsible for ensuring the necessary training adequate to the situation.
3. It is up to the health services to define the content and organisation of the training actions and specific information according to the activities to be carried out by the informal carer, identified in the Specific intervention plan for the carer (PIE), in cooperation with the social security services, whenever necessary.

Psychosocial support

1. The social security and health services, without prejudice to coordination with other social action resources of the community, shall ensure psychosocial support for the informal carer through a systemic and organised intervention, with the aim of:
   1. Promoting the development of personal and social skills;
   2. Promoting the necessary conditions for the provision of care appropriate to the well-being of the person receiving care;
   3. Providing information and ensuring referral to responses and services to mitigate and solve complex situations, namely at the level of dependency, mental health, the informal carers’ rest need, among others;
   4. Promoting the use of resources and social support, the need for which is expressed in the diagnosis of the informal carer’s potential and needs, in line with those of the person receiving care.
2. In the provision of psychosocial support, the principle of minimum intervention must be safeguarded, in the sense that the intervention must be carried out exclusively by entities whose action is essential for the effective promotion of rights and the protection of the person receiving care.

Counselling, support and guidance

The informal carer can resort to technicians from the municipality and other services, who may give him/her advice, support and guidance, within the scope of social action Information and support services.

Informal carer’s rest 

The informal carer may benefit from a rest period, according to the assessment carried out in the Specific intervention plan for the carer (PIE), with a view to reducing the carer’s physical and emotional burden.

To allow the informal carer's rest, the person receiving care may:

1. Be referred, within the scope of the National Network of Integrated Long-term Care (RNCCI - Rede Nacional de Cuidados Continuados Integrados), to a long-term in-patient and maintenance unit, benefiting from a positive differentiation. See glossary
2. Be referred, within the scope of the Mental Health National Network of Integrated Long-term Care (RNCCI de Saúde Mental) to a residence accommodation unit with maximum support or a residence unit with moderate support, benefiting from a positive differentiation; 
   • Please note: the rest measures provided for in paragraphs 1 and 2 are implemented by a qualified health professional.
3. Be referred to and accommodated in social support establishments, namely Residential Structures for Elderly People (ERPI – Estrutura Residencial para Pessoas Idosas), Residential Homes or Host Families for elderly people and adults with disabilities, on a periodic and temporary basis;
4. Benefit from home support services (SAD – Serviços de Apoio Domiciliário).
5. Benefit from the reserve pool of carers.

Please note: the rest measures provided for in paragraphs 3, 4 and 5 are implemented by a qualified social security professional.

The carer’s rest must be defined in the Specific intervention plan for the carer (PIE) and must take into account:

• The will of the informal carer and of the person receiving care;
• The needs of the carer and of the person receiving care;
• The labour requirements of the informal carer, where applicable;
• Functional limitations and exhaustion levels of the informal carer, namely through burden assessment;
• The type of responses of the supporting social network;
• The proximity to the residence area of the person receiving care.

Promotion of the carer’s integration into the labour market

The primary informal carer is entitled to support and technical interventions promoted by the Employment and Vocational Training Institute (IEFP, I.P. – Instituto do Emprego e da Formação Profissional) with a view to his/her social and occupational integration and return to the labour market, in the following terms:

1. Applying the candidate to immediately available job offers that match his/her profile;
2. Providing professional guidance to support the management of the carers’ professional career, namely, those who want to rethink their professional project, who are interested in creating a business project or who have to make educational and training choices;
3. Providing geographical mobility supports for candidates who conclude employment contracts or create their own employment and whose workplace involves their geographical mobility, as provided for in the applicable legislation;
4. Providing integration supports within the scope of professional traineeships, appropriate to the basic academic or professional qualification of these candidates, for the development of skills and improvement of the employability profile, as provided for in the applicable legislation;
5. Providing hiring supports within the scope of available measures aimed at stimulating the hiring of these candidates and facilitating their integration into the labour market, as provided for in the applicable legislation;
6. Providing entrepreneurship supports within the scope of available measures, to help the creation of small business projects and the creation of new jobs, as provided for in the applicable legislation;
7. Providing integration supports through the development of socially useful activities that meet temporary social or collective needs of the promoters, in accordance with the applicable legislation, with a view to promoting employability and improving the social and occupational skills of these candidates through contact with the labour market, avoiding isolation, demotivation or marginalisation risks.

Access to the measures referred to in points a) to c) and f) to g) does not require compliance with specific access requirements other than recognition of the informal carer status.

Access to the measures referred to in points d) and e) is defined in a specific Ministerial Order of the Government member responsible for the employment area, in accordance with Decree-Law no. 13/2015 of 26 January.

The registration at the employment centre is mandatory after the conditions that determined the recognition of the informal carer status have ceased.

Recognition, Validation and Certification of Competences

1. After the end of care provision, the person who has been recognised as an informal carer and wishes to pursue a professional activity, may be referred to a Qualifying Centre (Centro Qualifica) for the purposes of diagnosis and referral to a qualification path, namely within the scope of the recognition, validation and certification of competences (RVCC) at school and professional levels.
2. Within the scope of the recognition, validation and certification of competences (RVCC) at school and professional levels, all the training actions attended by the informal carer, as well as skills acquired throughout the informal care provision experience, are taken into account.
3. The RVCC processes referred to in the preceding paragraphs make it possible to recognise the accumulated experience of these carers in the informal exercise of their duties and to award them the corresponding certification within the scope of the National Qualifications Catalogue.

Rights

The person receiving care has the right to:

• have his/her overall physical, mental and social well-being being taken care of
• be accompanied by his/her informal carer, whenever he/she requests, to medical appointments and other health acts
• confidentiality and protection of his/her privacy
• be actively involved in family and community life, in the full exercise of citizenship, whenever and wherever possible
• self-determination over his/her own life and therapeutic process
• be heard and to express his/her will with regard to the informal carer, in terms of his/her coexistence with him/her and the way he/she accompanies and takes care of him/her
• have access to occupational, leisure and social activities, whenever possible
• have access to social facilities aimed at ensuring socialisation and social integration, namely day centres and community centres
• If the person receiving care is a minor and, when appropriate, he/she shall be entitled to support measures for learning and inclusion, in accordance with the Legal Framework for Inclusive Education, approved by Decree-Law no. 54/2018, of 6 July.
• protection in discrimination, neglect and violence situations
• support, follow-up and evaluation by local services and other organisations in the community.

Duties

Taking into account the capabilities of the person receiving care, he/she must participate and collaborate in his/her therapeutic process, including in the implementation of his/her care plan.

Several documents, including legislation on this subject are available for consultation in the Documentação Relacionada (Related Documentation) menu, at the upper right corner of the screen.