Medical Certificate in Lisbon: Online, Same-Day from €34.99
- Certificate types covering every common Portugal use case
- Licensed physicians registered to assess cases in Portugal, reviewing every request
- Same-day delivery, usually within 30 minutes of doctor approval
- Full refund if the doctor cannot issue your certificate
- 🇵🇹 EUR pricing
- RGPD (Portugal's GDPR)
- Accepted by employers, schools & sports clubs
Yes. You can get a medical certificate in Lisbon online, assessed by a registered doctor and returned the same day in most cases. Pricing is flat at €34.99 for any of the six certificate types, sent as a PDF. It records what the doctor assessed, for use with an employer, school, club or insurer in Portugal. It is not a CIT, which only a doctor inside the SNS can issue.
Last updated: 10 September 2026
Reviewed by Dr. Anjum Ilahi (MBBS, MS) GMC · Cardiology and MRCPI
✓ 250+ customers served in Lisbon
Getting a Medical Certificate in Lisbon
As the capital, Lisbon has the largest and most varied employer base in Portugal — tourism and hospitality across the historic centre, a growing technology and startup scene, finance, and a substantial public administration sector headquartered in the city. That mix means sick-leave documentation gets handled very differently from one Lisbon employer to the next, even though what Segurança Social expects underneath it is the same nationwide.
Lisbon is also home to the country's largest student population, split mainly between Universidade de Lisboa and Universidade Nova de Lisboa. Illness affecting exams or coursework is normally handled through each institution's own process, with its own evidence requirements — worth checking before requesting anything, since departments differ.
There is no Lisbon clinic behind this: your case is assessed online by a doctor registered to assess cases in Portugal, the same as it would be for anyone else in the country. You do not need an address in the city, or a free slot at a local surgery, for the assessment to go ahead.
One detail about Lisbon is worth knowing before you assume the city works as a single place: family-doctor coverage varies enormously depending on which Unidade Local de Saúde covers your address. SNS transparency data for June 2026 shows ULS Santa Maria with 116,632 of 360,466 registered users without an assigned médico de família, about 32 percent; ULS São José with 116,265 of 452,801, about 26 percent; and ULS Lisboa Ocidental with 60,827 of 497,422, about 12 percent. Two people working in the same office in Lisbon can therefore face completely different odds of having a family doctor, purely because of where they sleep. The city average sits above the national figure of roughly 15 percent, and in the worst-covered parts of Lisbon roughly a third of registered users have no practice to call.
Lisbon is also where the two-track nature of Portuguese sick leave is most visible, because so many people here work for the state. SNS records distinguish CITs issued under the general Segurança Social regime from those issued under the convergent Função Pública regime, and public-sector employers frequently layer their own occupational health paperwork on top of either. That is worth understanding before requesting anything: the private route can document an assessment, but it cannot enter either statutory track. Alongside the public sector, Lisbon's tourism, hospitality, technology and finance employers generate a steady flow of non-employer certificate demand — Fit to Fly before departures from Humberto Delgado, Sports Fitness for the city's very large road-running and gym scene, and Return to Work documentation after longer absences.
The country's widest employer base
Tourism, technology, finance and a large public sector, all headquartered or heavily represented in Lisbon. What Segurança Social expects from a certificate is national; how your employer wants it submitted is not, so check your own contract.
Universidade de Lisboa and Nova
Both handle illness affecting exams or coursework through their own process, with their own evidence requirements. Read your department's wording before requesting a certificate.
A large public administration sector
Many Lisbon employees work for the state directly. Public-sector absence procedures can carry their own paperwork on top of the Segurança Social baseline — check with HR if you are unsure.
A long commute into the city
Plenty of people working in Lisbon travel in from further out in the district. Being too unwell to make that trip is a reasonable reason to use an online assessment instead.
All Certificate Types Available in Portugal
Every certificate type is reviewed by a licensed physician registered to assess cases in Portugal before it is issued. Choose the certificate that matches your situation, or get in touch if you're unsure which one applies. Each type is priced separately because the questions a doctor needs to review differ: a sports fitness assessment, for example, covers different ground than a short sick-leave request.
Sick Leave Certificate (Atestado Médico)
For work absence in Portugal, including documentation that can support a subsídio de doença claim through Segurança Social. Reviewed against the details of your specific absence, with the aim of giving you something you can hand to your employer the same day.
From €34.99Sports Fitness Certificate
For Portuguese sports clubs, school sport, and competitions that request medical clearance before allowing participation, including many youth and competitive categories. Valid 12 months, so it can cover a full season rather than a single event.
From €34.99General Fitness Certificate
For gym membership sign-up and general fitness programmes in Portugal where a health declaration or medical clearance is requested before you begin, including for higher-intensity training programmes.
From €34.99General Medical Certificate
For insurance claims, education-related absence documentation, legal proceedings, and other general purposes in Portugal that require a doctor's certificate confirming a specific health matter.
From €34.99How It Works in Lisbon
Complete assessment
Takes about 3-5 minutes. Select the certificate type you need, confirm Portugal as your country, and answer the relevant health questions honestly and in detail: the more context you give, the easier it is for the doctor to assess your case. No payment is taken at this stage.
Licensed doctor reviews
A licensed physician registered to assess cases in Portugal reviews your answers against your stated situation, generally during business hours (WET/CET), Monday to Friday, and may contact you if more information is needed before deciding whether it's appropriate to issue a certificate.
Receive your PDF
If the doctor is able to issue your certificate, it's emailed the same day, usually within 30 minutes of approval, as a PDF showing the doctor's credentials and a reference number an employer, school, or club can use to verify it. If the doctor cannot issue it, you receive a full refund instead.
Who Asks for a Medical Certificate in Lisbon
Lisbon employers
A certificate from a doctor registered to assess cases in Portugal supports the documentation an employer generally expects for a sick-leave absence. It is not a CIT, so it cannot by itself open a subsídio de doença claim. Larger employers with an occupational health function may ask for their own additional forms.
Your employer's own records
Supporting documentation for your employer's own absence-notification process. The statutory subsídio de doença route runs on a CIT issued inside the SNS, which this certificate is not. Exact submission steps can vary, so it is worth confirming current requirements for your case.
Universities and colleges
Commonly requested as supporting evidence where illness has affected exams or coursework. Each institution in Lisbon sets its own requirements, so check your department's wording.
Insurers and other bodies
General medical certificates for insurance claims and similar purposes. These generally want evidence that a genuine assessment took place, rather than a particular document format.
Portugal Pricing: All Certificate Types
| Certificate Type | Our Price | Typical Private Doctor Visit |
|---|---|---|
| Sick Leave Certificate | €34.99 | €50-€120 |
| Sports Fitness Certificate | €34.99 | €50-€120 |
| General Fitness Certificate | €34.99 | €50-€120 |
| Fit to Fly Certificate | €34.99 | €50-€120 |
| Return to Work Certificate | €34.99 | €50-€120 |
| General Medical Certificate | €34.99 | €50-€120 |
€30-60 is a typical range reported for a private in-person doctor consultation in Portugal and can vary by clinic, city, and whether it's a general practice or specialist appointment; public system costs differ and depend on your specific coverage. Our price is fixed and shown before you start, and you're only charged once the doctor has reviewed your case.
Portugal Legal Snapshot: What Applies in Lisbon
Sick-leave and certificate rules are set nationally, so what follows applies in Lisbon exactly as it does anywhere else in Portugal.
Yes — you can get a medical certificate (doctor's note) in Portugal online, reviewed by a registered doctor and usually issued the same day, from €34.99. In Portugal, an employee who is unable to work due to illness generally needs to notify their employer of the absence and, where the aim is to claim the statutory sickness subsidy (subsídio de doença) through Segurança Social, a medical certificate, the atestado médico or certificado de incapacidade temporária para o trabalho, is generally required and registered as part of that claim. Exact timing and documentation requirements can vary by employer and can be updated by Segurança Social, so treat this as general guidance rather than a substitute for checking the current process for your specific case. For sport, fitness, travel, or general purposes such as insurance, education, or legal matters, a separate certificate type applies: see the full list of certificate types below. In everyday English this is often just called a doctor's note for Portugal, even where the official local term differs.
| Local document name | Atestado médico / certificado de incapacidade temporária para o trabalho: commonly translated into English as "medical certificate" or "temporary incapacity for work certificate." |
|---|---|
| When it's generally needed | Generally required promptly for the specific absence, with the certificate registered through Segurança Social to support a sick-pay claim. Segurança Social's subsídio de doença also generally applies a 3-day "período de espera" (waiting period) before the subsidy itself is paid, with exceptions for cases such as tuberculosis, oncological illness, hospitalisation, and outpatient surgery; check current requirements as processes can be updated. |
| Who can generally issue it | A licensed physician in Portugal, following a genuine assessment of the individual case. |
| How it's typically used | Generally registered through Segurança Social as supporting documentation for a subsídio de doença claim, alongside your employer's own absence-notification process. |
| Governing framework | Segurança Social's rules on subsídio de doença (the statutory sickness subsidy), which are periodically reviewed and updated. |
| Data protection law | RGPD: the Portuguese name for the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) itself, which applies directly in Portugal. |
Note on subsídio de doença: eligibility conditions, any waiting days, and payment levels for Portugal's statutory sickness subsidy are set and periodically reviewed by Segurança Social, and the exact documentation an employer expects can vary by sector and company policy. When a certificate is transmitted electronically by the issuing health service, no separate submission is generally needed; where a paper certificate is issued instead, Segurança Social has generally expected it to be delivered to your local Segurança Social service point within a few business days. Confirm current thresholds, deadlines, and required paperwork directly with Segurança Social, your employer's HR team, or a local adviser before relying on this page for a specific case.
Our Portugal Medical Team
Every certificate issued for Portugal is reviewed by a licensed physician registered to assess cases in Portugal. Your doctor's credentials are shown on the certificate itself, so an employer, school, club, or airline can see who reviewed your case. A physician will only issue a certificate after genuinely assessing the details you provide and confirming it's clinically appropriate to do so for your specific situation; if it isn't, you receive a full refund.
We don't publish a single named "resident doctor" for Portugal, because your case is reviewed by whichever licensed physician on our team is available and appropriately qualified for the certificate type you've requested. This means review times stay fast even outside of peak hours, while every certificate still reflects an individual clinical judgment rather than an automated decision.
Registered practitioners, not a call centre.
Every doctor is independently verified against their national medical council before they see a single patient - including for patients in Lisbon.
Dr. Gonçalo D.
Reg. #Ordem dos Médicos: 53806Dr. Diogo F.G.
Reg. #Ordem dos Médicos: 53902GDoc Santarém
Reg. #Dr. Tarek A.
Reg. #Ordem dos Médicos: 67537Medical Certificates in Lisbon: Common Questions
No. The assessment is completed online by a doctor registered to assess cases in Portugal, so where you are in the country makes no difference to the process or the price. This page exists because people search for their own city, not because the service works differently in Lisbon.
Our certificate is €34.99 flat, covering the doctor's review, the PDF and its verification reference. A private doctor visit in Portugal commonly falls somewhere in the €50-€120 range depending on the practice. That said, a certificate is not a substitute for care — if you need to be examined or treated, see a doctor in person.
No — those are two different things. Segurança Social's subsídio de doença generally applies a 3-day período de espera (waiting period) before the subsidy payment itself starts, with exceptions for cases such as tuberculosis, oncological illness, hospitalisation and outpatient surgery. That waiting period is about when the money arrives, not about when you need a certificate — the certificate is normally still needed promptly for the absence itself. Current Segurança Social requirements are worth confirming for your specific case.
Not on its own. That claim runs on a CIT — certificado de incapacidade temporária — which only a doctor inside the SNS can issue and transmit to Segurança Social. This certificate documents a registered doctor's assessment for your employer; it does not open or replace that claim. Exact registration and submission steps can vary, so check current requirements before you submit.
Same day, usually within 30 minutes of the doctor approving your case during business hours. Some cases take longer where the doctor needs more information from you before deciding.
Not for our assessment, which is the same wherever in Portugal you are. It matters a lot for your alternatives. Coverage ranges from around 12 percent of registered users without a family doctor in ULS Lisboa Ocidental to around 32 percent in ULS Santa Maria, so whether ringing your own practice is even an option depends on your part of the city. If you are in a better-covered area it is usually worth trying the health centre first, particularly if you may need a CIT rather than a private certificate.
The statutory route is, yes. Public-sector absences run through the convergent Função Pública regime rather than the general Segurança Social one, and the SNS records CITs separately for each. Both are issued by doctors inside the public service, and we cannot issue either. Many public employers also require their own occupational health forms on top. Our Sick Leave certificate can document that a registered doctor assessed you, but for a state-sector statutory absence you should start with your department's HR and expect to need SNS documentation.
That is Sports Fitness, €34.99, and it is one of the more straightforward uses — no employer and no state benefit involved. A registered doctor assesses your fitness for the activity you describe. Race organisers and federated clubs set their own rules, and larger Portuguese events sometimes require an exame médico-desportivo on a specific form, so check the entry conditions before requesting. If they mandate their own form, a general certificate will not be accepted in its place.
That is what the Return to Work certificate covers, at €34.99: documentation of a registered doctor's assessment that you are fit to resume the work you have described. Larger Lisbon employers, and public-sector ones in particular, often run their own occupational health review before a return after a long absence, and where they do, their process takes precedence over any document you bring. Ask what they require before requesting the certificate, since some will want their own assessment and nothing else.
For anything beyond a very short absence, usually not. Portuguese statutory sick leave runs on the CIT, issued by an SNS doctor and transmitted to Segurança Social, and longer absences are exactly where employers and the benefit system expect that document rather than a private one. A private certificate can support an employer's internal record-keeping and is often adequate for a day or two where no benefit is claimed. If you are looking at weeks rather than days, get into the SNS and treat anything we issue as supplementary.
A certificate anyone can check - in seconds.
Every certificate is issued by a doctor registered with their national medical council, after a real assessment, and carries a reference code that resolves instantly - whether your employer is in Dublin, Berlin or Warsaw.
- ✓Issued only after a genuine clinical review
- ✓Unique reference code, checkable by anyone
- ✓Covers sick leave, fitness-to-work & carer's leave
- ✓Delivered as a signed PDF within the hour
