Local Administration in the Algarve

Contact information for the national and local administrative offices of Portugal including the provinces of Grande Lisboa and the Setubal Peninsula. The place to go for residency papers, vehicle registration papers and driving licences.

Many government and municipal public administration organisations have information relevant to foreigners in English aimed at EU immigrants and residents from EU and other countries. The most important of these are listed below.

The Portal do Cidadão is an online citizens advice portal with information on housing, taxes, education, health, family issues and more (in Portuguese).
Information line (in Portuguese) Tel: 808 241 107
Website

The Grande Área Metropolitana do Algarve (Great Algarve Metropolitan Area, AMAL) is an association formed by the 16 municipal councils in the Algarve region. Its objective is to promote projects of common interest to all the councils.

AMAL
At: Rua General Humberto Delgado 20, 8000-355 Faro
Tel: 289 880 800
Fax: 289 880 809
e-mail
Website (in Portuguese)

Municipal Councils in the Algarve

The website for each municipal council (Câmara Municipal) contains information on local services, emergency numbers, sports and recreation facilities, public transport and tourism, some of which is in English.

Faro Municipal Council At: Rua do Município, 8000-398 Faro	Tel: 289 870 870 Tel: 289 802 326 e-mail Website
Albufeira Municipal Council At: Rua do Município, 8200-863 Albufeira	Tel: 289 599 500 Fax: 289 599 511 e-mail Website
Alcoutim Town Hall At: Rua do Munícipio, 8970-066 Alcoutim	Tel: 281 540 500 Website
Lagos Town Council At: Praça Gil Eanes, 8600-668 Lagos	Tel: 282 762 055 Website
Loulé Municipal Council At: Praça da República, 8100-951 Loulé	Tel: 289 400 600 Website
Olhão Municipal Council At: Rua Dr. Teófilo Braga, 8700-952 Olhão	Tel: 289 700 100 Website
Portimão Municipal Council At: Largo 1º de Mayo, 8500-543 Portimão	Tel: 282 470 700 Website
Silves Municipal Council At: Praça do Munícipio, 8300 Silves	Tel: 282 440 800 Website
Tavira Muncipal Council At: Praça da República, 8800-951 Tavira	Tel: 281 320 500 Website

DGRN Offices in the Algarve

The DGRN - the Directorate General of Registry and Notary (Direcção-Geral dos Registos e do Notariado) - provides a single place for citizens to take care of many administrative matters, including vehicle registration, registering births, marriages and deaths and registering new companies.

DGRN Faro	e-mail
DGRN Albufeira At: Palácio Justiça, 8200 Albufeira	Tel: 289 580 680 Fax: 289 580 689 e-mail
DGRN Alcoutim At: Rua da Misericórdia 2, 8970-059 Alcoutim	Tel: 281 540 130 Fax: 281 540 139
DGRN Lagoa	e-mail
DGRN Lagos At: Rua da Misericórdia 2, 8970-059 Alcoutim	Tel: 281 540 130 Fax: 281 540 139
DGRN Loulé At: Edíficio do Nera Zona Industrial de Loulé, 8100-285	Tel: 289 420 612 Fax: 280 420 616 e-mail
DGRN Olhão	e-mail
DGRN Portimão At: R. Carvalho 5 1º, 8500-631 Portimão	Tel: 282 424 230 Fax: 282 411 075 e-mail

Social Security

The Portuguese Social Security system (Segurança Social) website is mainly available in Portuguese. However, relevant information on several aspects of the system can be found in English, particularly those related to Social Security affiliation, contributions, benefits, the elderly, the infirm, and disabled. Information on other aspects is gradually being made available in English.

Social Security website

Taxes

There are several websites covering taxation and finances (Finanças) but they are principally in Portuguese. However, tax offices usually have some members of staff who speak Spanish, French or English.

Online Income Tax Returns (Declarações Electrónicas)
Director-General of Taxes (Direcção-Geral dos Impostos)
Inspector-General of Taxes (Inspecção-Geral das Finanças - IGF)
Ministry of Finances & Public Administration (Ministério das Finanças e da Administração Pública)

Immigration Office

The website of the Portuguese Immigration Office (Serviço de Estangeiros e Fronteiras - SEF) provides information in English on work permits, obtaining Residency Cards and other issues concerning foreigners in Portugal.