Portugal

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This guide contains public integration notes for Portugal. Use it for identifier formats, search behavior, and country-specific caveats. The live source of truth for coverage, pricing, data sources, documents, legal forms, roles, and status values is the pricing page.

Portugal coverage, pricing, and sources

Open the current catalog for supported datapoints, documents, sources, identifiers, and availability.

Country details below are preserved as integration notes. If a table or example conflicts with the live pricing page, use the pricing page as the source of truth and contact support.

Data Sources
Company Identifiers
Search Capabilities
Quirks & Gotchas
Mappings
Data Availability
Example API Responses

Data Sources

Portugal uses a combination of a private business intelligence platform and the official registration authority. For a given entity, data comes from a single primary source (all-or-nothing model). There are two distinct data pathways: one for structured company profile data and one for official document retrieval.

Company Profile Data

Aggregated commercial register source — A Portuguese business information platform that consolidates company data from official registries. Used as the primary source for all structured company data. A company report is retrieved from the source, from which all structured attributes are extracted via AI parsing: company name, legal form, status, registration date, registered address, share capital, activity codes (CAE), legal representatives, and shareholders.

Official Documents

Instituto dos Registos e do Notariado (IRN) — The Portuguese registration and notary authority, operating under the Ministry of Justice since 2007. Used exclusively for official document retrieval. Two document types are available: the Certidao de Registo Comercial (permanent commercial register certificate) and the Certidao do Ultimo Pacto Social/Estatutos Atualizados (latest articles of association). Both are delivered via an email-based retrieval flow through the IRN portal.

Publications (all company data)

Publicacoes do Registo Comercial — Official commercial register publications, and the source of all Portuguese company data. Publications include legal announcements, corporate acts, and other mandatory filings. In verification mode, the most recent publications are read chronologically and the company profile, legal representatives and shareholders are extracted by AI from them; the most recent publication determines the current company status. In onboarding mode, base company fields (legal name, NIPC, legal form, status, share capital) are reconstructed from the same publications ahead of time and refreshed daily, so they are returned instantly; officers and shareholders are not included. Neither mode performs a live query against the register, so both carry a cached_from_registry data source on publicacoes_mj.

AI-parsed data: Portugal’s company profile data is entirely AI-parsed from HTML reports. There is no structured company API available. All attributes (including legal form, status, legal representatives, and shareholders) are extracted by AI from HTML content.

Company Identifiers

Query Identifiers

Company Type	Source	Format	Example	Notes
All companies	IRN / commercial register	9-digit NIPC/NIF	`501442600`	Numero de Identificacao de Pessoa Coletiva

NIPC Format: The Portuguese NIPC (Numero de Identificacao de Pessoa Coletiva) is a 9-digit tax identification number for companies. For commercial companies, the first digit is typically 5. The 9th digit is a check digit calculated using a modulo 11 algorithm with weights [9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2].

Identifiers in API Response

Once you retrieve company data, the identifiers object contains all available identifiers for that entity:

Identifier Type	Format	Example	Found In
`NIF` / `NIPC`	9 digits	`501442600`	All registered companies
`VAT`	PT + 9 digits	`PT501442600`	Companies with EU VAT registration

Search Capabilities

Search Type	Pattern	Example	Match Type	Expected Results
By NIF/NIPC	9 digits	`501442600`	Exact	Exact match returned first (matchType: id); other results may follow
By Name	Text string	`"Exemplo Empresa"`	Fuzzy	Multiple results

Search implementation: Portugal search is performed via the aggregated commercial register source. Both NIF-based and name-based searches are routed through the same search workflow. Results include company name, NIF, and address (city/region). Brand results are automatically filtered out.

Quirks & Gotchas

Quirk	Details
All profile data is AI-parsed	Company profile, legal form, status, legal representatives, and shareholders are all extracted from HTML reports via AI parsing. There is no structured API.
Email-based document retrieve	Certificates require an email-based retrieval flow through the IRN portal. A document request is submitted through the IRN portal and the access code is received by email.
Up to 24-hour document delivery	After obtaining an access code, the system waits for document availability on the IRN portal (up to 24 hours). Most documents are available within 1-2 hours.
Access code reuse (1 year)	Once obtained, access codes are valid for 1 year. Subsequent requests for the same document type reuse the existing code, bypassing the email retrieval flow entirely.
CAE classification	Portugal uses CAE (Classificacao de Actividades Economicas), currently CAE Rev. 3 maintained by INE (Statistics Portugal). CAE closely mirrors NACE. Codes are extracted from the source report by AI.
NIPC check digit	The 9th digit of the NIPC is a check digit calculated using modulo 11 with weights `[9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2]`. The system can generate valid NIPCs for internal use.
No direct registry API	Unlike many European countries, Portugal does not offer a structured API for commercial register data. All data is sourced through an aggregated commercial register platform.
Retrieval may be slower than API-based countries	Both search and company report retrieval require interaction with a web platform, which is inherently slower than direct API calls.
Onboarding profile is pre-parsed	Onboarding mode returns base company fields reconstructed from the register publications ahead of time and refreshed daily, rather than reading the publications at request time. This is why it responds instantly, why it carries a `cached_from_registry` data source, and why it excludes officers and shareholders. Use verification mode for those.
Publication-based status detection	For the onboarding profile, company status is determined from the most recent publication’s announcement type. Terms like “Dissolucao”, “Liquidacao”, “Encerramento”, or “Extincao” in the announcement type indicate the company is dissolved/closed.
Legal representative exclusions	The AI parser is instructed to exclude board members, administrators, and auditors from the legal representatives list. Only persons with active executive authority are returned.

Mappings

Company Status

Company status is extracted from HTML reports via AI parsing. There is no deterministic status mapping — the AI infers the status from the document content and standardizes it.

Local Status	English Translation	Standardized Status
Ativa / Em Actividade	Active	Active
Encerrada	Closed	Closed
Dissolvida	Dissolved	Closed
Em Liquidacao	In Liquidation	Closed
Extinta	Extinct / Terminated	Closed
Insolvente	Insolvent	Under Insolvency Proceeding

AI-inferred status: Since all company data is AI-parsed from HTML reports, status values may vary in their exact local names depending on how the source presents the information. The AI standardizes these to the Topograph status enum. For the onboarding profile (publication-based source), dissolution is detected from the announcement type field of the most recent publication.

Legal Forms

Portuguese legal forms are extracted from HTML reports via AI parsing. The AI identifies the legal form from the company report and provides both the local Portuguese name and standardized classification. ISO 20275 (ELF) codes are assigned via AI enrichment.

Key Business Forms

Abbreviation	Portuguese Name	English Translation	Standardized	ISO 20275
Lda.	Sociedade por Quotas	Private Limited Company	Limited Liability Company	`USOG`
S.A.	Sociedade Anonima	Public Limited Company	Corporation	`DFE5`
Unipessoal Lda.	Sociedade Unipessoal por Quotas	Single-Member Private Limited Company	Limited Liability Company	`VF4C`
S.A.D.	Sociedade Anonima Desportiva	Sports Public Limited Company	Corporation	`W9W3`
S.C.	Sociedade em Comandita	Limited Partnership	Partnership	-
S.N.C.	Sociedade em Nome Coletivo	General Partnership	Partnership	-

Sole Entrepreneurs

Abbreviation	Portuguese Name	English Translation	Standardized	ISO 20275
ENI	Empresario em Nome Individual	Sole Trader	Sole Proprietorship	`VALH`

Cooperatives

Abbreviation	Portuguese Name	English Translation	Standardized	ISO 20275
CRL	Cooperativa de Responsabilidade Limitada	Limited Liability Cooperative	Cooperative	-
SCE	Societas Cooperativa Europaea	European Cooperative Society	Cooperative	`V6YL`

Non-Profits

Type	Portuguese Name	English Translation	Standardized	ISO 20275
Associacao	Associacao	Association	Nonprofit Organization	`ALPT`
Fundacao	Fundacao	Foundation	Nonprofit Organization	-

Public & Government Entities

Abbreviation	Portuguese Name	English Translation	Standardized	ISO 20275
EPE	Entidade Publica Empresarial	Public Business Entity	Government-Owned Entity	`A8CT`
EM	Empresa Municipal	Municipal Enterprise	Government-Owned Entity	`PIDC`
EEM	Entidade Empresarial Municipal	Municipal Business Entity	Government-Owned Entity	`D7OA`
EIM	Empresa Intermunicipal	Intermunicipal Enterprise	Government-Owned Entity	`IX01`
EMet	Empresa Metropolitana	Metropolitan Enterprise	Government-Owned Entity	`XD16`
-	Pessoa Coletiva de Direito Publico	Public Law Legal Entity	Government-Owned Entity	`P5S3`

European & International Forms

Abbreviation	Portuguese Name	English Translation	Standardized	ISO 20275
AEIE	Agrupamento Europeu de Interesse Economico	European Economic Interest Grouping	Other	-
ACE	Agrupamento Complementar de Empresas	Complementary Grouping of Companies	Other	-
-	Pessoa Coletiva Internacional	International Legal Entity	Other	`QFXD`

Legal form extraction and standardization are entirely AI-inferred from the source report content. ISO 20275 (ELF) codes are added via AI enrichment. The local Portuguese legal form name from the source document is always preserved verbatim. The tables above list the most common forms; the AI can recognize additional forms not listed here.

Legal Representatives

Legal representatives are extracted from HTML reports via AI parsing. The AI is specifically instructed to exclude board members, administrators, and auditors — only active legal representatives with executive authority are returned.

Executive Roles (AI-extracted)

Portuguese Role	English Translation	Typical Entity Type
Gerente	Manager	Lda., Unipessoal Lda.
Administrador	Administrator/Director	S.A.
Presidente do Conselho de Administracao	Chairman of the Board	S.A.
Administrador Delegado	Managing Director	S.A.
Administrador Unico	Sole Director	S.A.
Director-Geral	General Director	Various
Presidente	President	Associations, Cooperatives
Representante Legal	Legal Representative	Various

AI-inferred role classification: Since all role data is AI-parsed from HTML content, the exact role names may vary depending on how the source presents them. The AI translates Portuguese role names to English and classifies them as legal representatives or other key persons based on context. Both individual and corporate representatives are supported.

Other Key Persons

Other key persons (supervisory roles, auditors, etc.) are excluded from the Portugal response. The AI parser is instructed to return only active legal representatives with executive authority.

Shareholders

Shareholders are extracted from HTML reports via AI parsing. Both individual and corporate shareholders are supported.

Extraction Logic

Data Extracted	Source	Notes
Shareholder name	AI-parsed from source report	Full name for individuals, legal name for companies
Shareholder type	AI-classified	`individual` or `company`
Share percentage	AI-parsed when available	`sharePercentage` field
Address	AI-parsed when available	When present in the report

Self-reference exclusion: The AI parser is specifically instructed not to include the queried company itself as a shareholder. Entries listed as “Outros” (Others) without specific details are also excluded.

Activity Code Mapping

Portugal uses the CAE (Classificacao Portuguesa de Actividades Economicas), currently in Revision 3, maintained by INE (Instituto Nacional de Estatistica / Statistics Portugal). CAE extends the European NACE Rev. 2 standard. The system maps activity codes across three levels:

CAE (Portuguese) -> NACE Rev. 2 (European) -> ISIC Rev. 4 (International)

Classification	Source	Example	AI Inferred?
CAE	Source HTML report (AI-parsed)	`62010`	No (extracted from source)
NACE	Derived from CAE or AI	`6201`	Sometimes
ISIC	Derived from NACE or AI	`6201`	Sometimes

CAE codes are extracted from the source report by AI parsing. The AI is specifically instructed to recognize the CAE classification format. NACE and ISIC derivations use formal mapping tables when possible, with AI fallback. The isAIInferred flag distinguishes official vs. AI-derived codes.

Data Availability

Data Availability Matrix

Data Type	Company Profile	Onboarding Profile (Publications)	Notes
Company Name & Address	✅	✅	AI-parsed from HTML
Legal Form	✅	✅	AI-inferred with ISO 20275 enrichment
Company Status	✅	✅	AI-inferred; publications use announcement type
Registration Date	✅	✅	When available in source
Share Capital	✅	✅	Amount and currency
Activity Codes (CAE)	✅	✅	Mapped to NACE/ISIC
Activity Description	✅	✅	Business purpose text
Legal Representatives	✅	✅	Executive roles only (AI-filtered)
Shareholders	✅	✅	Individual and corporate
Ultimate Beneficial Owners	❌	❌	Not available from the source or publications
Establishments	❌	❌	Not available from the source
Employee Count	❌	❌	Not available from the source

Legend: ✅ Available | ❌ Not Available | Async = Asynchronous processing

Documents by Company Type

All Companies (NIPC)

Document Type	API Category	Format	Catalog item	Availability	Notes
Certidao de Registo Comercial	`certifiedTradeRegisterExtract`	PDF	`PRT_CERTIFIED_REGISTER_EXTRACT`	✅ Commercial-register entities	Permanent certificate from IRN. The register does not issue it for entities that exist only in the FCPC (associations, foundations), so it is not listed for those.
Certidao do Ultimo Pacto Social	`articleOfAssociation`	PDF	`PRT_STATUS`	✅ Commercial-register entities	Latest company statutes from IRN. The register does not issue it for entities that exist only in the FCPC (associations, foundations), so it is not listed for those.

Document Delivery Time: Portuguese certificates (Certidao) are obtained through an email-based retrieval flow via the IRN portal. The process involves: (1) submitting a document request via the IRN portal, (2) receiving an access code by email (up to 5 minutes), (3) waiting for document availability (usually 1-2 hours, up to 24 hours).

Document Delivery Flow

Step	Action	Duration
1	Submit document request via IRN portal	~30 seconds
2	Receive access code by email	1-5 minutes
3	Wait for document availability	Usually 1-2 hours, up to 24 hours
4	Download PDF	~10 seconds

Access code reuse: Access codes are valid for 1 year. Subsequent requests for the same company and document type reuse the existing code, reducing delivery time significantly. The code allows retrieval of the most up-to-date version of the document each time it is used.

Example API Responses

All examples use placeholder data. Query: POST /v2/company with { "id": "<id>", "countryCode": "PT", "dataPoints": ["company", "legalRepresentatives"] }

Active Sociedade por Quotas (Lda.)

{
  "company": {
    "id": "501442600",
    "countryCode": "PT",
    "identifiers": { "NIF": "501442600", "VAT": "PT501442600" },
    "legalName": "Exemplo Tecnologia Lda.",
    "registrationDate": "2005-09-12",
    "activityDescription": "Consultoria em tecnologias de informacao.",
    "status": { "localName": "Ativa", "active": true, "statusDetails": { "status": "ACTIVE" } },
    "legalForm": { "localName": "Sociedade por Quotas", "standardized": "Limited Liability Company", "iso20275Code": "USOG" },
    "capital": { "amount": 50000, "currency": "EUR" },
    "activities": {
      "CAE": [{ "code": "62010", "description": "Actividades de programacao informatica", "isAIInferred": false }],
      "NACE": [{ "code": "6201", "description": "Computer programming activities", "isAIInferred": true }],
      "ISIC": [{ "code": "6201", "description": "Computer programming activities", "isAIInferred": true }]
    },
    "legalAddress": { "addressLine1": "Rua Augusta, 100", "city": "Lisboa", "postalCode": "1100-053", "countryCode": "PT" }
  },
  "legalRepresentatives": [
    { "type": "individual", "role": { "localName": "Gerente", "standardized": "Manager" }, "individual": { "name": { "fullName": "Joao SILVA", "firstName": "Joao", "lastName": "SILVA" } } }
  ],
  "shareholders": [
    { "type": "individual", "sharePercentage": 75, "individual": { "name": { "fullName": "Joao SILVA" } } },
    { "type": "individual", "sharePercentage": 25, "individual": { "name": { "fullName": "Maria SANTOS" } } }
  ]
}

Active Sociedade Anonima (S.A.)

{
  "company": {
    "id": "500100144",
    "countryCode": "PT",
    "identifiers": { "NIF": "500100144", "VAT": "PT500100144" },
    "legalName": "Exemplo Holdings S.A.",
    "registrationDate": "1990-01-15",
    "activityDescription": "Gestao de participacoes sociais.",
    "status": { "localName": "Ativa", "active": true, "statusDetails": { "status": "ACTIVE" } },
    "legalForm": { "localName": "Sociedade Anonima", "standardized": "Corporation", "iso20275Code": "DFE5" },
    "capital": { "amount": 5000000, "currency": "EUR" },
    "activities": {
      "CAE": [{ "code": "64202", "description": "Actividades das sociedades gestoras de participacoes sociais", "isAIInferred": false }],
      "NACE": [{ "code": "6420", "description": "Activities of holding companies", "isAIInferred": true }],
      "ISIC": [{ "code": "6420", "description": "Activities of holding companies", "isAIInferred": true }]
    },
    "legalAddress": { "addressLine1": "Avenida da Liberdade, 250", "city": "Lisboa", "postalCode": "1250-149", "countryCode": "PT" }
  },
  "legalRepresentatives": [
    { "type": "individual", "role": { "localName": "Presidente do Conselho de Administracao" }, "individual": { "name": { "fullName": "Carlos FERREIRA" } } },
    { "type": "individual", "role": { "localName": "Administrador" }, "individual": { "name": { "fullName": "Ana OLIVEIRA" } } }
  ],
  "shareholders": [
    { "type": "company", "sharePercentage": 60, "company": { "legalName": "Grupo Exemplo SGPS S.A." } },
    { "type": "individual", "sharePercentage": 40, "individual": { "name": { "fullName": "Carlos FERREIRA" } } }
  ]
}

Closed Company

{
  "company": {
    "id": "509000000",
    "countryCode": "PT",
    "identifiers": { "NIF": "509000000" },
    "legalName": "Antiga Empresa Lda.",
    "registrationDate": "2008-04-01",
    "status": { "localName": "Encerrada", "active": false, "statusDetails": { "status": "CLOSED" } },
    "legalForm": { "localName": "Sociedade por Quotas", "standardized": "Limited Liability Company", "iso20275Code": "USOG" },
    "legalAddress": { "addressLine1": "Rua do Comercio, 50", "city": "Porto", "postalCode": "4000-150", "countryCode": "PT" }
  }
}

Note: Closed companies have active: false. Data availability (legal representatives, shareholders) may be limited compared to active companies.

Sociedade Unipessoal por Quotas (Unipessoal Lda.)

{
  "company": {
    "id": "514000123",
    "countryCode": "PT",
    "identifiers": { "NIF": "514000123", "VAT": "PT514000123" },
    "legalName": "Exemplo Consultoria Unipessoal Lda.",
    "registrationDate": "2018-03-20",
    "activityDescription": "Consultoria para os negocios e a gestao.",
    "status": { "localName": "Ativa", "active": true, "statusDetails": { "status": "ACTIVE" } },
    "legalForm": { "localName": "Sociedade Unipessoal por Quotas", "standardized": "Limited Liability Company", "iso20275Code": "VF4C" },
    "capital": { "amount": 1000, "currency": "EUR" },
    "activities": {
      "CAE": [{ "code": "70220", "description": "Outras actividades de consultoria para os negocios e a gestao", "isAIInferred": false }],
      "NACE": [{ "code": "7022", "description": "Business and other management consultancy activities", "isAIInferred": true }],
      "ISIC": [{ "code": "7020", "description": "Management consultancy activities", "isAIInferred": true }]
    },
    "legalAddress": { "addressLine1": "Rua de Santa Catarina, 15", "city": "Porto", "postalCode": "4000-442", "countryCode": "PT" }
  },
  "legalRepresentatives": [
    { "type": "individual", "role": { "localName": "Gerente", "standardized": "Manager" }, "individual": { "name": { "fullName": "Pedro COSTA" } } }
  ],
  "shareholders": [
    { "type": "individual", "sharePercentage": 100, "individual": { "name": { "fullName": "Pedro COSTA" } } }
  ]
}

Note: Sociedade Unipessoal por Quotas has a single shareholder (100% ownership) and typically a single manager (Gerente).

Available Documents

Documents are returned when "dataPoints": ["availableDocuments"] is requested.

API Category	Document	Format	Notes
`certifiedTradeRegisterExtract`	Certidao de Registo Comercial	PDF	Email-based retrieval flow, up to 24h delivery
`articleOfAssociation`	Certidao do Ultimo Pacto Social/Estatutos Atualizados	PDF	Latest company statutes, same delivery flow

{
  "documents": {
    "certifiedTradeRegisterExtract": {
      "name": "Certidao de Registo Comercial",
      "description": "Permanent certificate from Portuguese authorities (Instituto dos Registos)",
      "type": "certifiedTradeRegisterExtract",
      "format": "pdf",
    },
    "articleOfAssociation": {
      "name": "Certidao do Ultimo Pacto Social/Estatutos Atualizados",
      "description": "Last updated company statutes from Portuguese authorities",
      "type": "articleOfAssociation",
      "format": "pdf",
    }
  }
}

Data Source Priority & Routing

For a given entity, data comes from a single primary source — the system does not merge attributes across data sources (all-or-nothing model).

Source Priority for Company Profile:

Commercial register source — A company report is retrieved from the aggregated commercial register source. If the company is found, all structured attributes are extracted via AI parsing from the report. This is the only source for the company profile datapoint.
If the company is not found in the source, a SourceError.notFound is returned.

Source Priority for Onboarding Profile (alternative datapoint):

Publications — The system queries for official commercial register publications. Up to 10 most recent publications are downloaded (HTML preferred, PDF fallback), combined chronologically, and parsed via AI.
If no publications exist for the company, a SourceError.notFound is returned.

Document Retrieval:Documents are retrieved directly from the IRN (Instituto dos Registos e do Notariado) portal. This is independent of the company profile data source.

Attribute-Level Source Mapping

All company profile attributes come from a single AI parsing of the source HTML report:

Attribute	Source	Notes
Company name	Source (AI-parsed)	Extracted from report header
Legal form	Source (AI-parsed)	Enriched with ISO 20275 code
Status	Source (AI-parsed)	Enriched to standardized status
Registered address	Source (AI-parsed)	Street, city, postal code
Share capital	Source (AI-parsed)	Amount and currency
Activity codes (CAE)	Source (AI-parsed)	Enriched to NACE/ISIC
Activity description	Source (AI-parsed)	Business purpose text
Registration date	Source (AI-parsed)	Incorporation/registration date
Legal representatives	Source (AI-parsed)	Executive roles only
Shareholders	Source (AI-parsed)	Individuals and companies

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Portugal coverage, pricing, and sources

Table of Contents

Data Sources

Company Profile Data

Official Documents

Publications (all company data)

Company Identifiers

Query Identifiers

Identifiers in API Response

Search Capabilities

Quirks & Gotchas

Mappings

Company Status

Legal Forms

Key Business Forms

Sole Entrepreneurs

Cooperatives

Non-Profits

Public & Government Entities

European & International Forms

Legal Representatives

Other Key Persons

Shareholders

Extraction Logic

Activity Code Mapping

Data Availability

Data Availability Matrix

Documents by Company Type

All Companies (NIPC)

Document Delivery Flow

Example API Responses

Data Source Priority & Routing

Attribute-Level Source Mapping

​Start here

Portugal coverage, pricing, and sources

​Table of Contents

​Data Sources

​Company Profile Data

​Official Documents

​Publications (all company data)

​Company Identifiers

​Query Identifiers

​Identifiers in API Response

​Search Capabilities

​Quirks & Gotchas

​Mappings

​Company Status

​Legal Forms

​Key Business Forms

​Sole Entrepreneurs

​Cooperatives

​Non-Profits

​Public & Government Entities

​European & International Forms

​Legal Representatives

​Other Key Persons

​Shareholders

​Extraction Logic

​Activity Code Mapping

​Data Availability

​Data Availability Matrix

​Documents by Company Type

​All Companies (NIPC)

​Document Delivery Flow

​Example API Responses

​Data Source Priority & Routing

​Attribute-Level Source Mapping

Start here

Table of Contents

Data Sources

Company Profile Data

Official Documents

Publications (all company data)

Company Identifiers

Query Identifiers

Identifiers in API Response

Search Capabilities

Quirks & Gotchas

Mappings

Company Status

Legal Forms

Key Business Forms

Sole Entrepreneurs

Cooperatives

Non-Profits

Public & Government Entities

European & International Forms

Legal Representatives

Other Key Persons

Shareholders

Extraction Logic

Activity Code Mapping

Data Availability

Data Availability Matrix

Documents by Company Type

All Companies (NIPC)

Document Delivery Flow

Example API Responses

Data Source Priority & Routing

Attribute-Level Source Mapping